California separatists declare independence on July 4: 'Stand up against American occupation'

While other Americans celebrate the holiday with picnics and parades, California secessionists are taking Independence Day literally.

The Yes California independence campaign, known as Calexit, plans to rally Wednesday at the state capitol in Sacramento, calling on like-minded residents to “stand up against American occupation of California” and for Trump supporters to “get out of California.”

“The Fourth of July is no longer a day to celebrate in California,” said the campaign, which is collecting signatures to place a secession measure on the 2020 ballot, in an Independence Day message.

Calexit has generated plenty of fireworks with its effort to spin off California as a separate country, but billionaire Tim Draper generated the biggest bang in April when he qualified his three-Californias measure for the November ballot.

The initiative, now named Proposition 9, is aimed at making California more governable by dividing it into three more manageable states named Southern California, which would include San Diego and the Central Valley; Northern California, encompassing San Francisco, and California, which would hold Los Angeles.

“It’s beautiful weather, I love California, but it’s now 50th in quality of life because people can’t afford to live here, and they move,” Mr. Draper said Monday on Fox Business.

So far Proposition 9 has shown little support in the polls, but Mr. Draper said the proposal is moving in the right direction.

“It started at 13 percent in favor and then it went to 17 percent in favor and now you said 27 percent in favor,” Mr. Draper said. “What happens is as people start thinking about it, they say, yeah, I’d like to see my kids have a better education, yeah I’d like to have better infrastructure, yeah, I’d like to have lower taxes, and I think you could have all that.”

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