Stochastic Terrorism In Long Beach In 1926 And 2025

In 1926 the Ku Klux Klan held a national convention in Long Beach, California . 30,000 Klan members marched down Ocean Blvd. The City of Long Beach “Timeline of Racial Inequities” web page states that 5,000 of the members were local. In an article for the online grass roots news outlet Forthe.org, Kevin Flores does a great job sifting through the historical record to document the 1920’s infiltration of the Klan into “respectable” parts of Long Beach society such as the Long Beach Police Department.

When then-Long Beach City Manager Charles Hewes obtained ledgers containing the names of people belonging to local KKK divisions, he announced that among them were 180 Long Beach residents, including “several Long Beach policemen and firemen,” according to the May 4, 1922 edition of the Long Beach Press.[Hoods & Badges: A Look Back At How The KKK Infiltrated The LPBD In The 1920’s]

Were any of the 5,000 local members of the Klan in 1926 responsible for the lynching of non-whites in Long Beach? The historical record does not confirm or deny this. But the purpose of the march was clear. The Klan was known nationwide for violence against non-whites, Catholics and Jews. By parading down Ocean Blvd the Klan members were actively attempting to terrorize non-whites and non-Protestants in the city of Long Beach with the threat of violence even as the individual Klan members in hoods were “simply” exercising their 1st Amendment right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

On January 6, 2021 a mostly white mob of insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capital, criminally assaulted 140 Metropolitan and Capitol police, smeared human feces inside the Capitol Buildings and attempted to overturn the results of a free and fairly held 2020 presidential election. The mob was motivated and spurred on by outgoing President Donald Trump. During the insurrection, many of the insurrectionists carried flags and symbols wth right wing meanings.

On Sunday January 27, 2025 a MAGA truck caravan drove through Long Beach. The trucks blasted music, honked horns and clogged traffic on 2nd Street. The trucks also drove their caravan down Ocean Blvd. The trucks were festooned with some of the same flags carried by the violent mob of January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrectionists that were recently all pardoned by President Trump.

Were the drivers of the trucks caravaning down Ocean Blvd recently pardoned J6 insurrectionists? There is no evidence to suggest or deny that they are. But the majority of residents in Long Beach saw the footage from the violent January 6, 2021 insurrection, saw the same flags carried at the insurrection that were on the trucks and are aware that President Trump pardoned all those violent insurrectionists. So while the individual truck drivers may be “simply” exercising their 1st Amendment rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly [while violating noise ordinances with their blasting music] the signaling to the residents of Long Beach is still of intimidation and violence. Long Beach knows that MAGA supporters know that they can commit acts of political violence against groups targeted by the GOP (immigrants, LGBTQ, non-whites) and if they are held accountable for the violence by the judicial system, the president will simply pen away that accountability by signing a pardon. Why wouldn't anyone think this when the president just pardoned people who tried to upend Democracy by overturning a duly held election with violent mobsterism?

It's with this in mind that First Congregational Church of Long Beach is using its space to host a rally held by the non-profit SURJ, Standing Up For Racial Justice on Saturday Feb 1st. While the national SURJ organization describes itself like this;

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) is a national organization that brings hundreds of thousands of white people into fights for racial and economic justice. For too long, the Right has hoarded wealth and power by using strategic racism to convince white people that we have more in common with billionaires and corporate elites than with the people of color in our communities. At SURJ, we bring our folks in by offering a better alternative: a just, vibrant future where people of all races work together to win what we need. We do this work by building people power in multi-racial communities across our network — through campaigns, 200 chapters across the country, and deep local organizing projects.

the Long Beach chapter of SURJ does not include only White people, and is currently working with the family of Brandon Boyd on LBPD policing issues after his death. The purpose of the gathering is to come together on a day of Day of Action to resist Trump’s antidemocratic and immoral actions, and to champion the safety, dignity and basic human rights of all people. First Congregational is the location of the rally because the lead pastor, Reverend Petra Mallais-Sternberg, signed the SURJ Pledge To Protect And Resist.

If you're reading this and you're a Long Beach resident who is alarmed about the echoes between 1926 and 2025, you can take action by joining the SURJ rally Saturday, Feb 1, 2025 at 1:30pm in the courtyard of First Congregational Church Of Long Beach located at 241 Cedar Avenue 90802.