Masked Agitators Harassing People on State Street this Weekend

Group of masked men reportedly harassing and filming people in downtown Santa Barbara on May 19, 2024 (Photo by an edhat reader)

A group of masked agitators were harassing people on State Street in Santa Barbara this past weekend.

A few friends reported they were seen outside Chase Restaurant in the 1000 block of State Street. One friend was eating at the time and reported these men were harassing employees and diners prompting them to engage and try to escalate the situation, apparently to be caught on video.

Police were called by several people, apparently they couldn’t do anything. Are these the same white supremeacist jerks with the banner over the freeway a few weeks back?

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38 Comments

  1. The internet says these ding dongs are trying to monetize their videos so if you play really loud copyrighted music at them, they can’t use any footage. Disney songs work best, according to the internet.

  2. Gravy Seals / Y’all Qaedas?

    First Amendment protects offensive people from saying offensive things, but not if they’re filming children without permission or threatening harm, etc.

    I wonder why they chose Chase, though?

  3. I recently spent some time in Del Mar, and it’s happening in San Diego county as well. Evidently these groups don’t have any political agenda. Their objective seems to be to harass and enrage the local citizens. Their favorite places to harass people are shopping centers and post offices. The theory that I hear is they want people to get so enraged that they push or shove them, in which case they can post it to social media and maybe create lawsuits. Everybody has cameras and are completely covered so you can’t recognize them at all. These people have way too much time in their hands.

  4. The law is quite specific: If a person believes that the actions of another are a threat to them, the person who believes that they are threatened can defend themselves. If anyone gets in my face or space I consider it a threat. These masked people are cowards and bullies.

  5. these guys have been in town before. There are videos on youtube. SB Library was visited by them and shortly after, my friends from SBPD came along and tackled them and arrested them. They tried to sue, and got nothing but embarrassment and admonishment. They do claim what they are doing is protected under their first amendment, which is only partially true.
    Frankly, i’d pop them if they started filming my kids. I’m a bit surprised no one walked up and grabbed their phones and tossed them. I would have. Then again…i’m not much of an arm chair warrior….id rather deal with these tools myself than film them filming and post it online and cry about it. Get involved.

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