The town of Los Gatos will be taking a stand against hate as the community will gather for a solidarity march Sunday.
It comes after a series of racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic incidents over the last several months.
The Oct. 5 Los Gatos Town Council meeting is not the first incident in what's turned out to be a tense year in Los Gatos, but it was the flashpoint.
At the meeting, Los Gatos resident Eden Berg and others made several hateful comments about Mayor Marico Sayoc's 16-year-old son. It prompted the mayor to pause the council meeting and clear the chambers after the mayor's husband became angry at Berg and other members of her group.
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All meetings are now held on Zoom because of the incident.
"It was a shocking moment. I think anybody who has seen it who has children, really felt it,” said Los Gatos resident Karen Rubio. “I know my inner mama bear came out. It's absolutely not OK to go after somebody's kid."
Rubio and Diane Fisher are two of the organizers of Sunday’s community-wide march and rally in Los Gatos.
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The disruptive Town Council meetings are not the only concern. Fisher, who's with the Jewish Silicon Valley organization said they have also been targeted.
"In our community, we've had just a proliferation of swastikas first on our building on the holiest day of the year, the Jewish New Year."
The organizers’ hope for Sunday’s rally is to bring together diverse parts of the town of Los Gatos and to show support for each other.
"I think people, for a long time, thought if we didn't address it, it would just kind of go away, you know, don't add oxygen to the fire. But I do think it is important to stand up,” Rubio said.
