Ventura, California, where the events you’ll read below happened, was founded by Saint Junipero Serra as mission San Buenaventura.
Obscenities, lies from nameless antagonists, lies, lies, and more lies. Police observe from patrol cars. Here is a typical lie: “Another speaker said that at some unspecified time [huh?] she had worked for the Franciscans and had been directed to go through their archives to destroy the records of the horrific abuses Father Serra and other padres had committed against the Chumash. She said that the day she finished, she quit her job and also left the Church. The statement, as were all statements that disparaged Catholicism, met with wild applause.” Does the speaker have a name?
More: “Event participants harassed and taunted those in support of the statue, disparaging the opinions, religion, race, and personal appearance of those they disagreed with. A man singled out a young supporter holding an American flag and shouted that the supporter had yelled ‘White power.’” The man denied it. “Others accused a supporter of spitting on them and she was immediately encircled, verbally abused, and scratched.” Liars. “One woman raced up, ripped signs away from two supporters at the base of the statue, and was dragged away, clawing, throwing things, and screaming obscenities. [Civilized? More like possessed] One man leaped up and spat on the statue.”
California Catholic Daily: Thanks to the presence of a small band of Catholics, a “Tear Down Junipero Serra” event in front of Ventura City Hall on Saturday concluded with the bronze statue of Padre Serra standing unharmed. Report is here.
