"There's a lot of uncertainty up in the air so you know while we have it, we should take advantage of our freedom and our community,"
"I feel very proud to be able to celebrate for those who can't and to show representation that we're not going away - we're all here and there's a lot of us,"
"We have armed police officers, we also have private security and again this is all to protect our community to be safe try to make it as safe as possible. We're just trying to do the best we can for our community, show that we belong,"
Downtown San Jose filled with people celebrating Mexican Independence Day in front of City Hall. Attendees came from across the Bay Area, with some traveling from Santa Cruz. Participants emphasized cultural pride in food, music, art, and family. Heightened immigration enforcement led to cancellations or scaling back of other California celebrations, but the San Jose El Grito event continued. Organizers doubled security, deploying armed police officers and private security to protect the community and convey belonging. Attendance was thinner than in previous years, yet attendees said the smaller crowd did not diminish the joy of celebrating.
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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