Two protests in Anaheim Saturday followed a training conducted by members of Occupy Orange County that was intended to help keep demonstrations peaceful in the wake of a series of protests of police shootings.
Members of the Occupy movement met Saturday morning at Stoddard Park in Anaheim to provide training on non-violent demonstration tactics and press relations, said George Olivio, an organizer with Occupy Orange County.
"We don’t want to see anymore of the violence," Olivio said. "We’re making an emergency outreach, trying to do as much training as possible … to keep demonstrations peaceful."
The meeting was followed by two demonstrations on Saturday afternoon -- one outside Disneyland and one near the site of a police shooting that left an unarmed man dead a week ago Saturday.
At the Disneyland event, a group of demonstrators held anti-police signs while tourists streamed by. A row of officers mounted on horseback watched from nearby.
One protester's sign featured Mickey Mouse in Nazi uniform. "Anaheim is the Disney company," the sign read, demanding the arrest of Anaheim officers involved in the shootings.
Protesters said they wanted Disney to place pressure on the city to have officers prosecuted. They said they planned to return to Disneyland Sunday and in future weekends.
Meanwhile, at Anaheim police headquarters, a barrier had been erected around the the brick building's front entrance. Officers said it was a stressful time.
"If it becomes unruly, you will hear us issue our unlawful assembly order," Sgt. Bob Dunn said.
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"We have the right to defend ourselves. We have the responsibility to make sure the city of Anaheim is safe," Dunn added.
At the side of the shooting a week earlier of Manuel Angel Diaz, protesters held a "speakout" Saturday. They said they wanted officers to be "held accountable."
No arrests for protesters were made Saturday, authorities said.
The protests Saturday and earlier in the week were prompted by the July 21 shooting of Diaz, who was killed after a foot chase through an Anaheim alley. He was unarmed.
"As long as there's no violence, I'm for every protest," said Genevieve Huizar, Diaz's mother.
Tensions were heightened when Anaheim police fatally shot a second man, Joel Acevedo, in a separate incident on Sunday.
The shootings have prompted protests in solidarity with Anaheim police critics in several cities across the country.
Also on Saturday morning, some 300 protesters gathered in Downey, just up the Golden State (5) Freeway from Anaheim, to bring attention to a the killing last October of Michael Nida, a father of four who was shot in the back by police investigating a robbery.
Protesters in Downey, pictured at right, said they were among "activists in the police brutality movement."
They called for a federal investigation into the Downey shooting. On Friday, the FBI said it was reviewing police shootings in Anaheim.
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