Protesters Just Barely Outnumber Officers

An antiwar rally at a Santa Ana street corner that prompted nearby Mater Dei High to cancel classes for fear it would turn violent drew about 50 people Wednesday afternoon, including two dozen students and several alumni.

The number of protesters was nearly equaled by the 40 Santa Ana police officers on duty. Most stood hundreds of feet away in a school parking lot next to their cruisers, while 18 on motorcycles circled continuously through the intersection. An additional three officers were on horseback.

Two Mater Dei security officers paced the roof of the school’s science building, videotaping rally attendees gathered at Bristol Street and Edinger Avenue. Four others observed the demonstration through the school fence.

No confrontations were reported. During the three-hour rally, demonstrators chanted antiwar slogans, accompanied by a trio of ukuleles, one of which was played by event organizer and Mater Dei junior Luis Sarmiento, 17. When passing cars honked, the docile crowd flashed peace signs. “I don’t know why they felt the need to cancel school for this,” Luis said. “This is definitely not in danger of getting out of control.”

An informal group of Santa Ana community activists organized the event, partly to draw attention to Mater Dei, which, as a Catholic institution, Luis said, has a duty to support Pope John Paul II and denounce the war.

The event was “pretty peaceful,” said Santa Ana Police Sgt. Baltazar De La Riva.

The police presence was high because the department was unsure of the response the well-advertised demonstration would receive, he said.

“You never know what the final number of participants will be until you get to that event. We’d rather be over prepared than under prepared.”

De La Riva said the police were not involved with what Mater Dei security officers were doing and had not been in contact with them. School administrators were unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Mater Dei students at the rally said they weren’t worried the school would penalize them for attending.

“They can’t punish us for exercising our right to freedom of speech,” said junior Liz Sbardellati, 17, of Tustin. “And since they canceled school, they can’t even get mad at us for ditching.”

Rally attendee Monika Galluccio, who taught religion at a high school in Austria before moving to the United States several years ago, said she disapproved of Mater Dei canceling classes.

“They must not trust the education they’re giving their children if they don’t think they can handle a demonstration,” said Galluccio, 44, of Huntington Beach.

She has considered applying to teach religion at Mater Dei and sending her two young children there when they reach high school age. “I don’t think they’d take me now after this,” she said, eyeing the security officers on the roof.

For Luis, the rally went as planned.

“This was always going to be really peaceful, really small, just a bunch of local activists getting the word out,” he said.

“It was Mater Dei that blew it out of proportion.”