Mr. Cisneros, who writes on "Instagram" as "the.right.latino" and describes himself as a "conservative influencer / Man of God, nationalist / constitutionalist," has uploaded a graphic to Instgram touting a "Liberate Long Beach" event for May 1 coupled with text stating in pertinent part:

Join the March against total government control. We aren't allowed to have our businesses open, we aren't allowed to work to feed our familiar, we aren't allowed to go to church, we aren't allowed to take our kids to the beach or the park! No more! We live in a free country!

Mr. Cisneros writes that the Long Beach event "is not a Democrat, Republican or a Progressive march," but his announcement follows an April 17 event that drew roughly 200 people to Huntington Beach, some carrying "Trump in 2020" signs, in calling for lifting CA"s COVID-19 restrictions. In recent days, President Trump has encouraged residents of other states (not California at this point) to "liberate" their states from their Democrat governors' COVID-19 restrictions.

In urging people to bring flags, flashlights ("or anything that lights up"), bullhorns and signs to the "Liberate Long Beach" event, Mr. Cisneros adds: "bring your face mask" and says "Yes, we will march 6 feet apart."

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Online responses to Mr. Cisneros' planned protest march ran pro and con. In opposition, "beachbum_love" wrote:

This is so selfish and irresponsible. You guys are prolonging the situation and putting others at risk for ur own selfish needs. Which will only result in more people getting sick and businesses being close long till it blows over...And u can't control people keeping a distance AT A PROTEST because people CROWD TOGETHER. Your [sic] going to be the reason these people go home to a loved one and infect them and put their kids or parents at risk. The stupidity of this is just outrageous.

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In response to similar pushback, Mr. Cisneros wrote: "I have donations of face mask [sic] coming in and if they want to assembly they have to wear them. Plus a lot of people want to come in their vehicles and drive around the community with signs and flags..."

In a separate development, Long Beach Parks & Recreation Commissioner Ben Goldberg has used his personal Facebook page (in his individual capacity, not as a City Commission appointee) to urge LB officials to consider re-opening LB golf courses, parks and beaches and let some Long Beach businesses by early May, in both cases applying CDC guidelines. Mr. Goldberg, part of the leadership of Long Beach Area Republicans and a staunch supporter of President Trump, echoed the President's stance in writing: "Waiting too long to reopen businesses and Parks with the low numbers of LB Citizens impacted by Covid-19 could cause more harm than the disease itself," he wrote (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

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President Trump didn't issue a national COVID-19 stay at home order (leaving such orders to state Governors.) On March 16, the White House issued guidelines it called 15 Days To Slow The Spread. On April 2, it extended its guidelines through April 30 in a document it titled 30 Days To Slow the Spread of the Coronavirus

But on April 16, the Trump administration signaled its intention to begin easing at leas some of those restrictions, issuing a document it titled Guidelines for Opening Up America Again. It offered a "three-phased approach based on the advice of public health experts" that it said would "help state and local officials when reopening their economies, getting people back to work, and continuing to protect American lives."

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The next day at the other end of the political spectrum, CA Governor Gavin Newsom voiced caution over lifting CA's restrictions too quickly but at the same time announced formation of a "Task Force" headed by former Democrat Presidential candidate Tom Steyer to help fashion a CA plan to begin lifting restrictions. (The Governor's "Task Force" members can be viewed in full here.)

Long Beach Mayor Garcia has echoed Governor Newsom's approach, choosing former LB Mayor Bob Foster to head a "Task Force" (members not yet announced) presumably to provide local political buy-in for City Hall actions. (Under LB's City Charter, the Mayor has no policy setting authority; the City Council sets policy, although to date LB Councilmembers have let city management promulgate COVID-19 public health policies and orders, which have mainly mirrored Sacramento recommendations.) .

Developing.

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