Napa protest draws 300+ to condemn attacks on Iran
More than 300 people turned out to Veterans Park in downtown Napa on Friday afternoon for a rally denouncing the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military attacks in Iran and the Mideast. Since Saturday, Feb. 28, more than 1,300 Iranians and six U.S. service members have been killed.
“This attack on Iran is unauthorized, unconstitutional, and it is a war,” Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) told the crowd. The rally, called “No Forever Wars,” was organized by Thompson and a group of veterans and their families, including American Canyon Mayor Pierre Washington and Napa County Supervisor Liz Alessio.
“The Iranian regime was horrible, terrible, the absolute worst,” Thompson said. “I will be the first to tell you that we need to do everything to defend the United States of America and the people of the United States of America.” But, he said, “This war has to stop.”
The airstrikes on Iran came just over a month after the U.S. initiated airstrikes in Venezuela and captured Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro, another action initiated without congressional approval.
“Military intervention, especially one without congressional authorization, should not be taken lightly,” cautioned U.S. Navy veteran and American Canyon Mayor Pierre Washington.
As of Friday, the U.S. and Israel have launched around 4,000 airstrikes against Iran, which began Feb. 28, when U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized a bombardment of Tehran that resulted in the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, and other top Iranian officials.
In response, people around the U.S. have mobilized to speak out against war, from small protests on street corners to massive rallies in cities.
Yountville resident Iren Jenny was born in Tehran, Iran and emigrated to the U.S. when she was a child. Her response to Trump’s bombardment of Iran was mixed.
“I was very happy the regime was knocked off,” she told the Times. “But I don’t know what the future is. It’s a story that is still unfolding.” Jenny said that while Ayatollah Ali Khomeini needed to go, the results of Trump’s actions worried her.
By all accounts, Rep. Thompson agreed: “There was no plan … there’s no exit strategy.” He went on to describe attending an hour-long briefing on the strikes on Iran in Washington, D.C., earlier this week.
“I left with more questions than I came with,” he said. It was a stark contrast to former President George W. Bush’s numerous briefings on the Iraq War, which Thompson said he voted against.
Friday’s rally in Napa focused on the dangers of a rogue president and the impacts of war-related trauma on U.S. veterans and their communities, with some talk of the Iranians killed in U.S.-Israel airstrikes.
Napa Supervisor Liz Alessio told the crowd she’s “not a fan of the regime [in Iran]” and condemned the killing of more than 30,000 people protesting Ayatollah Ali Khomeini’s reign during an internet blackout in Iran in January.
“Why? And why now?” Alessio asked, speculating the strikes on Iran were orchestrated to distract from dismal employment rates in the U.S., Trump’s plummeting popularity and the release of the Epstein fFiles, which contain emails referencing Trump.
Some attendees of the rally were pleasantly surprised by the turnout.
College students Reya and Athena Dila came to Veterans Park with their mother, Kristie Dila, as part of a trip to Napa from their home state of Michigan. “I don’t like our part in it., I don’t like Israel’s part in it,” Reya said of the strikes on Iran.
All three had attended No Kings protests in Michigan. For Reya, seeing so many older adults attending Napa’s rally was heartening. In Ludington, Michigan, where she’s from, older adults tend to be conservative and don’t talk politics.
“That’s refreshing,” she said.
19-year-old Malachi Davis, 19, who attends Napa Valley College, brought a sign to the protest denouncing Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Napa resident Erika Cox, chatting with Davis, said the airstrikes on Iran would cause harm across multiple generations of Iranians, likening the trauma to family members of people taken by ICE here at home.
Davis agreed. “It’s my job to speak on it,” he said.
