What to do when there is turmoil far away? Organize a protest here at home.

Sara Rubin here, starting the new year by renewing my focus on the local—it’s on this level that we can hope to make a difference, or even just show up. And that principle was on display on Saturday afternoon in Monterey, where roughly 200 protesters gathered with only a few hours’ notice to make their voices heard opposing the United States’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. 

I spoke to Justin Loza, president of Chapter 46 of Veterans for Peace, and one of the organizers. Like most of us, he learned about our country’s intervention first thing when he woke up on Saturday morning when he checked a group chat on his phone. He then started reading the news and was alarmed. "It's shocking to wake up to this," the Air Force veteran told me. "I support our military, but how we use it for foreign intervention is just un-freaking real."

Loza enlisted right after he graduated from high school in Aptos, and was deployed to Afghanistan and the UAE during his service. He was motivated to respond to the 9/11 attacks. But he began reading about the American military and started to question the integrity of the mission even during his service, from 2005-11. 

Now, he represents a new generation of leadership emerging in Veterans for Peace. “I realize society has put veterans on a pedestal, and I’m using that pedestal,” he says. 

For Loza, that includes organizing regular protests outside the gates of the Naval Support Activity Monterey installation, home to the Naval Postgraduate School. It includes mobilizing rapidly on a day like Jan. 3 when faced with shocking news of American intervention abroad, something that he views as a successful test for local organizers. “We can mobilize quickly if we need to,” he told me. 

And for Loza and many of the protesters I spoke to, the local response was about something else—it was an act of community building and solidarity. I asked protesters who they were addressing. Some wanted their House representative, Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, to hear from them—but in this case they were there to agree with him, understanding his party is outnumbered in Congress. 

Everyone I asked told me they did not expect to change anybody’s mind by protesting. But they felt connected in an act of solidarity, finding common ground with each other on a day of confusion. 

Bob Belvin of Carmel Valley told me he participates in protests because he wants members of Congress to know that locals care, and showing up is itself an act of fighting against President Donald Trump by creating a sense of community and togetherness. “It is all part of fighting against tyrannical leaders who want to make us feel isolated,” Belvin says. “[We’re here to be] connected with people.”