Vice President Kamala Harris landed Friday via Air Force Two in San Diego where she was scheduled to attend a political fundraiser and was met with protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Harris was scheduled to speak at a "political event" at 3:40 p.m. Dozens of protesters were outside the Fairbanks Ranch community, where the event was scheduled with flags and chants against the Israel-Hamas war.
Deputies detained a protester who was blocking the motorcade from entering the neighborhood. Another protester stepped in and enabled the first protester to get away, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said.
The second protester was arrested for obstructing a peace officer. She was cited and released, authorities said.
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The approximately 50 protesters left after 45 minutes. No injuries or damages to property or vehicles were reported, according to SDSO.
Protests have increased in recent months across the U.S. as students demanded their universities stop doing business with Israel or companies that they say support its war in Gaza. Organizers seek to amplify calls to end Israel’s war with Hamas, which they describe as a genocide against the Palestinians.
Earlier Friday, police arrested 80 people during an encampment protest at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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Harris was scheduled to depart Miramar shortly after 5 p.m., en route back to Los Angeles International Airport.
On Thursday, Harris spoke at a graduation ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, then flew to Los Angeles, where she has at home in the Brentwood area on the western end of the city. She is scheduled to fly from Los Angeles and arrive at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar shortly after 2 p.m., according to the White House.
Harris' trip will be the first presidential administration visit to the San Diego area since March of 2023, when President Joe Biden met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss plans for Australia's acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.
During that visit, Biden also spoke at a fundraiser in Rancho Santa Fe. He previously visited San Diego in October 2022, making stops in Oceanside and Carlsbad.
In her remarks at the Air Force Academy Thursday, Harris noted the approaching 80th anniversary of D-Day, which she called a "shining moment of Allied bravery and sacrifice made possible because of America's air power."
"In the months leading up to the landings, it was our pilots, our planes, and our air crews that knocked the enemy from the sky," Harris said. "It was America's forces in the air that bombed train tracks and fuel depots to prevent Nazi reinforcements from reaching the frontlines and helped defeat tyranny and fascism in Europe.
"Eighty years ago, over the beaches of Normandy, America won control of the skies, and we have kept it ever since."
