St. Augustine protesters try to disrupt ceremony, say genocide and terror connected to founding of city

When Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed on what later became the Mission Nombre de Dios in 1565, he claimed the land in the name of the Spanish king.

His act sparked a protest on that same land 450 years later by a group of people who believe he “committed acts of terror and theft” against the indigenous people of St. Augustine.

The group, made up of members of the Resist 450 coalition, lined up Tuesday in front of St. Augustine’s Mission Nombre de Dios and in boats on the Mantanzas River to protest the re-enactment of Menendez’s landing. They say it was “celebrating the genocide” of the native population.

http://jacksonville.com/news/2015-09-08/story/st-augustine-protesters-try-disrupt-ceremony-say-genocide-and-terror-connected