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‘We Can Be That Voice’ — Building Community Through Bold Protests
Animal-rights activists come together in San Diego to stand up for tortured animals and hope others will follow.
By The Revelator and John R. Platt
SAN DIEGO — I heard the protests about two blocks before I saw them.
It was a Wednesday night in mid-February and I was in California on a rare vacation, hoping to take a brief recharge before covering the latest environmental abuses of the second Trump administration. But I hadn’t fully disconnected: My news alerts carried continuous updates about mass program cuts and federal workforce firings initiated by Elon Musk’s DOGE team, not to mention the resulting protests that had started to pop up around the country.
So when I heard the chants and shouts on Pacific Beach that night, I wondered if people were out in force protesting Trump’s budget cuts.
Imagine my surprise when I realized I’d stumbled across a good old-fashioned animal-rights protest.
A small group of activists had gathered outside PB Shore Club, a second-floor sports-themed bar and restaurant just off the boardwalk. With their bullhorns blaring, the activists carried signs bearing slogans like “Every animal is someone,” “End…
