My main question is, why Laguna Beach to stage a rally? It doesn't make any sense to me.
First, Laguna Beach is geographically isolated. There are only three ways to access it: Pacific Coast Highway from either north or south having to wend its way through all kinds of beach communities that cannot withstand much in way of traffic volume, and the canyon road which likewise is very limited as to the amount of traffic volume it can handle. Why stage a rally where it's so difficult to access? Why not somewhere else that your throngs can easily get to?
Second, Laguna Beach has a long history of being an art colony, therefore not likely to be of the alt-right persuasion. In the Sixties, it was a center of hippiedom and for decades thereafter the annual Sawdust Festival has continued to reflect many of those same inclinations.
So for these far-right groups to organize such a rally in Laguna Beach seems far too similar to the American Nazi Party's decision to stage a parade through Skokie, Ill, which was strongly if not predominately Jewish, obviously with the intent of citing a violent reaction that they could publicize and propagandize.
Indiana Jones on several occasions: "I hate Nazis!"