More recently, new chapters of Wall of Moms collectives have mobilized across the country, with several turning out at demonstrations on Saturday. A group of about 50 Wall of Moms participants marched in Seattle as clashes between police and protesters intensified, said Christine Edgar, who helped organize the local chapter. One of those arrested, Sonia Alexander, 46, a mother of two, said she was taken to the emergency room after a flash-bang grenade exploded near her leg.
A delegation in Oakland, Calif., waved large peace signs and marched at the front of a demonstration; one mom carried a sign that read, “Schedule: Bath time, Bed time, Fight fascists, Defend Black lives, Repeat.” In Aurora, Colo., on Saturday, the Wall of Moms held arms and flowers at a protest in honor of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old who died last summer after police in Aurora restrained him with a chokehold. At Saturday’s demonstration, a person was shot and wounded after a car drove through the crowd.
Wall of Moms groups in Missouri, North Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Chicago and Maryland are reaching out to local activists and plotting their next steps, organizers from each group said in interviews.
Gia Gilk, 45, a mother in Albuquerque, N.M., started a Facebook group to organize a local Wall of Moms chapter last week, thinking she would attract 30 or 40 members. Within 24 hours, she said, almost 3,000 moms had signed up. “I’ve never done anything like this before,” said Gilk, about coordinating the group. “I just think it’s time for us to finally stand up.”
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