Onward America plans demonstration Sunday in Laguna Beach
The man who organized an August demonstration that drew more than 2,500 people to Laguna’s Main Beach, including thousands in opposition, plans to return to the same location Sunday, albeit with a different focus.
Johnny Benitez, founder of the group Onward America, said Tuesday that he wants greater transparency from the U.S. government about attacks on Extortion 17 and American government facilities in Benghazi, Libya.
Unanswered questions surrounding both events remain, he said.
The Taliban shot down Extortion 17, a U.S. Army helicopter, killing all 38 occupants in 2011, according to Air & Space Magazine, a news division of the Smithsonian Institution.
Those killed ranked among the world’s most highly trained and experienced commandos, including 15 men from Gold Squadron of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, also known as SEAL Team 6, the magazine reported.
Benghazi refers to a 2012 coordinated attack against two U.S. government facilities in the Libyan city by members of an Islamic militant group, killing four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya.
“I feel that these and other events are demonstrative of a political system that lacks transparency, and ultimately victimizes soldiers and citizens,” Benitez said, who has said he is from Orange County, but declined to say which city.
Dave Oakley, a Laguna Beach resident and treasurer of the Democratic Socialists of America — Orange County, said the group would not organize a protest Sunday as it had in August. .
“[Benghazi] is not an issue that puts people’s lives in immediate danger nor threatens to tear families apart,” Oakley said.
Laguna Police Chief Laura Farinella did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the department’s preparations for Sunday’s event.
Police arrested four people, including one man who allegedly carried a knife, in connection with August’s demonstration. Officers also found pepper spray, sticks, poles, chains and metal pipes, according to a city staff report.
The City Council on Sept. 12 passed an ordinance that prohibits participants or others attending public demonstrations, rallies or protests at city beaches and parks from carrying items police consider weapons or capable of being used as weapons.
The demonstration will begin at 7 p.m. at Main Beach, near the intersection of Broadway Street and South Coast Highway.
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
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