As California’s first fully-recreational marijuana event, the High Times Cannabis Cup, got underway in Sacramento this weekend, an unexpected gathering of Black Lives Matter demonstrators caused some commotion for a couple of hours on Saturday.
In the mid-afternoon, the California Highway Patrol closed the Business 80 entrance and exit ramps for Exposition Boulevard because of BLM protestors that were congregating there calling for justice in the police shooting death of 22-year-old Stephon Clark last year. 29-year-old Ryan Ellis, who died after plummeting from a moving patrol car, was also being remembered in the demonstration.
“And we want his name to be lifted,” protester Tanya Faison told CBS 5. “When you have a large audience like this in Sacramento, and we’ve been fighting on these streets like this for a long time, the name needs to be lifted up.”
But when police closed the ramps, protesters moved toward the entrance of the nearby Cal Expo and blocked incoming traffic to the Cannabis Cup which was happening there.
While some drivers waited patiently, others yelled at demonstrators, turned around, or got out of their cars and argued with those blocking the road.
“Even though I agree with Black Lives Matter, don’t hold me, hostage,” a frustrated Linda Dotson told CBS 5 while sitting in the line in her car. “And that’s what I feel like, I’m in a hostage situation. Go to the Capitol!”
The demonstration lasted a couple of hours, and even though tempers flared, there were no altercations, and no arrests were made.
