Orange County Bail Fund prepares to help protesters in the weeks ahead

With protests expected in the coming weeks as the presidential election unfolds, the Orange County Bail Fund is ready to support those who are arrested while demonstrating.

Meanwhile, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has prepared for potential unrest.

“Everyone in the O.C. Bail Fund has their perception of what’s to come,” said O.C. Bail Fund member Miguel Tenayuca. “Some of us are very worried about whatever outcome of the presidential election leads to. Myself, I don’t think we are on the verge of civil war. I think there are others who probably disagree with me. But in terms of what’s going to happen out there on the streets, there will be protests.

“Whoever wins, ultimately we lose. And when I say we, I mean the working class people at the bottom. Because, politicians, by and large, don’t have our interests at heart. And that’s going to make people angry. And the anger is going to pour out in the calle. And people are going to get arrested. And we’re going to be there to help out in any way we can.”

In the past few days, the young group has focused on spreading the word on social media. They also now have a general phone line where people can contact them.

Tenayuca said he will be out in the streets to connect with protesters and hand out fliers with details about the fund.

“I will let them know, as I always have, that this money is for all of you out there who have a righteous rage in their hearts,” Tenayuca said.

Protests are expected nationwide as vote counts continue in battleground states and President Trump makes legal challenges to the outcomes of those counts.

Protests have already been held in Washington D.C. and Portland, among other places.

Orange County has been fairly quiet just a few days removed from election day, though a “Stop the Steal” pro-Trump motorcade is slated to travel from Mission Viejo to Los Angeles on Saturday.

Protect the Results, a national coalition to demand that all votes be counted, postponed two rallies on Wednesday that were scheduled to be held in Laguna Beach and Santa Ana.

“While the coalition will not activate our event today, we know that Trump may say and do anything he can to cling to power — and that’s why, as part of the entire Protect the Results national coalition, we will remain vigilant in the days and weeks ahead,” the group said in an email. “We are ready to mobilize if needed to ensure every vote is counted and respected. For now, the event date has been updated to Dec. 1.”

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department has been preparing for protests.

“O.C. Sheriff is committed to ensuring you can safely exercise your right to vote,” Sheriff Don Barnes said in a Twitter statement this week. “Protection of 1st Amendment Constitutional rights also remains a priority. Peaceful speech will always be supported, but acts of violence or destruction of property will be addressed swiftly.”

Though the O.C. Bail Fund is a young organization, its members say they have prepared for what’s to come.

The O.C. Bail Fund was founded towards the end of May during the Black Lives Matter protests that broke out after George Floyd died after Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck during an arrest.

After a protest in Santa Ana escalated, O.C. Bail Fund member Diana Iñiguez said she and a few other members of the Orange County chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America realized that the county needed a more general bail fund.

So they started a GoFundMe fundraiser, which has raised more than $46,000.

Iñiguez pointed out that she set the goal for $10,000.

Since then, the bail fund has branched off from the rest of the OCDSA, which is a nonprofit. The seven-member bail fund includes some who aren’t with the OCDSA, like Tenayuca, who has worked with the local branch of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee.

“When we heard about the bail fund being formed by the DSA, we immediately jumped at the opportunity to help form a more solid fund in Orange County because it was definitely needed,” Tenayuca said, pointing out that the other fund in the county was the Orange County Justice Fund. “The only other fund that was out there was specifically for migrants ... And that’s one of the key points behind our founding, we wanted something that was more general.”

Iñiguez said the group came together with the goal of abolitionism — a rejection of incarceration in any form.

“We don’t believe in prisons, cops, I.C.E., or anything that’s part of the prison industrial complex,” she said. “We don’t believe it’s the solution to social problems.”

The group has spent about $26,000 posting bail for a handful of people over the summer.

Iñiguez said Orange County protesters were largely released without charges or had minor fines, so the group has so far posted bail for individuals unrelated to protesting. They partnered with the O.C. Justice Fund on an immigration-related case. They also helped a protester pay booking fees.

Iñiguez said the group doesn’t have limits on who they help.

“Because we’re abolitionists, we don’t really have limits on that,” she said. “We don’t really care what the person is being charged with, or if they have past charges or anything like that.

“Because as abolitionists we don’t believe in prison as an institution. We don’t believe anyone should go there. That being said, we haven’t gotten any requests that might be challenging to that. But yeah, for the most part we will help anyone that asks us.”

The fledgling group is still working on developing a website and attaining its nonprofit status.

“We’re going to keep doing this for as long as we can,” Tenayuca said. “We’re not going to let this fire burn out. It was lit during the Black Lives Matter uprisings, and the fire is not going to die any time soon.”

The O.C. Bail Fund can be reached at (657) 200-5335.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.