Why Whittier canceled its Freedom Walk but is moving forward with fireworks show

The city of Whittier canceled its annual Fourth of July Freedom Walk, which was originally scheduled for this Friday morning at Palm Park. However, the city’s fireworks spectacular is still going forward as planned, taking place at York Field. 

“While celebrating our nation’s founding is very important to me and to Whittier residents, my colleagues and I also want to be sensitive to the recent feedback we’ve received from some community members asking that we pause this year’s Freedom Walk event,” said Mayor Joe Vinatieri in a statement released on Friday, June 27. 

Various cities around Los Angeles, including Huntington Park and South Gate, have either canceled or postponed Fourth of July events altogether. 

Many Whittier residents had expressed concerns over the city not canceling the fireworks show to express solidarity and protection against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids occurring around the city, including Whittier resident Johnny A., who asked to keep his last name private.  

“It's confusing, and it makes you wonder what the motive is behind canceling the Freedom Walk. What were they trying to avoid? One of the thoughts is that there may have been protests, and they just didn't want to deal with that,” Johnny said.

“I think what the most triggering thing was, it’s actually kind of reckless and dangerous, in the mayor's statement, that by blaming some community members for the Freedom Walk cancellation, to me, is sending a signal to his conservative base to get loud and push back. It's a divisive move that makes immigrants the problem, instead of standing with them. It's kind of like victim blaming. It's finger-pointing,” he said. 

Johnny said the day after the cancellation of the Freedom Walk was announced, a flyer started going around of a right-wing group having a rally at the Whittier Five Points bridge on Tuesday, July 1. 

“The day after the city and Joe Vinatieri posted this, it's divisive, it alerts the other side that it's, you know, that they're the victims, and they start finger-pointing. The very next day, a Trump rally was promoted,” he said. 

In response to the rally, members of the community who did not agree with the right-wing group showed up to express their opposition.

Whittier resident Alex R., whose last name remains private, drove around the Five Points bridge with a friend. A group of people she knew also arrived together.

“As I was driving, I did see a lot of people flipping them off, telling them things, and playing Mexican music. And then we got people there with flags. The opposition also grew; it was pretty contentious,” Alex said. “ I'm glad there was that presence. I was really proud of everybody for showing up.”

The next day, on Wednesday, July 2, was an “ICE Out of Whittier” rally at the same location. 

“It’s not as scary as they think to stand up to people. If we don't confront the fascism in any way, they're going to be more comfortable, and they're already more … empowered by the current administration,” Alex said. 

Last Tuesday, June 24, the city had to change the location of its council meeting from City Hall to the Whittier Community Theater to accommodate more attendees. The theater can accommodate up to 400 people, versus the 70 that the City Hall room can hold. This was the second time the city had to change locations. 

“Residents packed the room at both the last two meetings, and every single person there was there to talk about their frustration with the local government,” Johnny said. “The mayor and city council are not doing enough.”

There have been various ICE sightings around the city, along with reports of people being taken. Videos of people being detained have been circulating on social media, including workers from Pacific Auto Spa on the corner of Hadley Street and Whittier Boulevard.

One of the workers was seen running across Whittier Boulevard, trying to avoid an agent, before being tackled on the street. 

Johnny was emotional when he saw videos of the worker running on the street.

“I felt like crying, because that's the car wash I go to. And I never got to know who these employees were, but I recognized them… and even though I don't know them personally, just knowing that they've been providing a service to me for so long. They did an honest and fair job, but to see them being dehumanized and treated like criminals was just really heartbreaking,” Johnny said.

He’s worried about young people witnessing these events in real life and watching videos online. 

“It's summer, so all the kids are out, and it's being recorded by teenagers. Young people are witnessing this, and just think about the trauma that they're all going through,” Johnny said.

Both Johnny and Alex, as well as many people, will not be celebrating on the Fourth of July. Alex hasn’t celebrated the holiday since 2020. 

“Since the George Floyd protests, the BLM protests, that's when I decided, there's no freedom if all of us aren't free. That's my attitude. There's so much wrong in this country. I'm not going to celebrate in an open way like that,” Alex said.