http://nctimes.com/articles/2006/04/..._134_13_06.txt


L.A. immigration march to be dedicated to student who killed self

By: Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- A student coalition says it will dedicate an upcoming immigration march to an eighth grader whose family claims he committed suicide because he was threatened by a school official for participating in an immigration protest.

Officials with the Ontario-Montclair School District dispute the allegations made by the family of 14-year-old Anthony Soltero, who shot himself in the head on March 30.

"The information we have obtained thus far is very different from the accusations made and reported by the media," the district said in a statement released Wednesday. The district declined further comment, citing privacy concerns and litigation threats.


Soltero family attorney Sonia Mercado said Monday that Soltero killed himself because he was distraught after a school administrator told him he could be jailed for three years and that his parents could be fined for his involvement in a March 28 protest.

Leaders of the Coalition of United Students said Soltero was simply exercising his First Amendment rights when he took part in the march at DeAnza Middle School and should not have received punishment greater than a truancy ticket.

The coalition, which includes Southern California high school, college and trade school students, plans to hold a student march in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday. The focus of the march is a call for legislation to let illegal immigrants become U.S. citizens and to publicize problems urban Latino students face, organizers said.