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IMMIGRATION MARCH

Updates from the scene
From Staff reports

May 1, 2006, 1:28 PM EDT

1:55 p.m.

The march is winding down and becoming more like a pep rally. The marchers have stopped marching, and the crowd definitely grew. It looks at least twice as big as it was when it started. There is no official estimate as to how many people are here, but Stephanie Porta, Orlando organizer for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, said that they are estimating that there are at least several thousand people here and close to the 10,000 that they had anticipated.

"We surrounded the downtown," she said. "What more could we want."

1:28 p.m.

The march grew by hundreds more after leaving the TD Waterhouse Centre with more buses arriving from Miami and southwest Florida. It took about 45 minutes for the entire march to make its way across Orange Avenue in the downtown area.

There were some protesters along the way, but march volunteers encouraged marchers to ignore them and keep moving along.

Most of the marchers are Hispanic from different countries, including many from Puerto Rico who are U.S. citizens.

"I'm not affected by this because I am a U.S. citizen," said Carlos Megron Morales, 42, who moved here from Puerto Rico a year ago. "But I also came from somewhere else, and for me this is the way to let the city know that we're here and that we're going to show our faces without causing any problems."

-- Sentinel reporter Victor Ramos

1:12 p.m.

Before the rally started, the organizers told people put away your flags, so as not to offend anybody, but you can tell from the marchers flags and clothes that people were from Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala.

There are a lot of American flags, bandanas, flags worn as capes, lots of placards, some of which said, "Liberty, Justice for all;" "Be fair, USA was built by immigrants;" "Today we march, tomorrow we vote."

-- Sentinel reporter Jeff Kunerth

12:59 p.m.

It is very ugly at the corner of Orange Avenue and Central Avenue with counter protesters holding up signs that say, "Be legal or be gone."

The parade of about 3,000 marchers came to a dead stop for about five minutes as the marchers and the people on the side had a shouting match. Some of the counter demonstrators were shouting, "What have you done for America, what you done for this country?"

The marchers responded, "I work for America."

Some of the counter protesters were making obscene gestures to the marchers and one woman was yelling, "Go home, you criminals."

A short shoving match ensued with people on both sides standing between them, breaking up the match. One of the counter protesters had a sign that said "Why not one year without? (immigrants)" He gave his name as Paul Benson of Orlando.

-- Sentinel reporter Rich McKay

12:25 p.m.

The march is leaving the TD Waterhouse and starting to come onto Livingston Street and proceeding east, according to Barb Jones, spokeswoman for OPD.

12:14 p.m.

As the crowd started to get organized for the march around noon, farmworker Irso Moreno said his estimate was there was from 2,000 to 3,000 people around the TD Waterhouse center - still less than what was expected.

"We are still feeling good about it because we are not all the people who will come. We are still expecting people from outside of the region who are on their way, and we are hoping more will join us as we march through the streets."

Jeanne Economos, also with the farmworkers group, said they had not heard from coalition groups coming from Miami and southwest Florida. " I am a little disappointed at the numbers we are seeing, but hopefully more will come."

-- Sentinel reporter Victor Ramos

12:10 p.m.

Estimates varied widely on how many people would join the immigration protests. Organizers applied for a permit that said they expected 7,000 people, but others had higher estimates, said Orlando police Deputy Chief Eugenio Bernal. "That's our biggest problem. We don't know how many people there are going to be," Bernal said Monday morning. To prepare, police organized a massive police presence along the 3.5 mile route.

About 160 officers were set to close down roads and manage crowds, said Deputy Chief Eugenio Bernal. Officers planned to each intersection and close them as the protesters make their way through downtown.

Police also contacted schools and businesses along the parade route--some of which said they would close--plus sent an officer to walk the entire proposed route for planning purposes.

Since traffic officers would be busy handling the protest, they cancelled Orlando traffic court cases. If crowds were to grow beyond expected levels, they had patrol officers and other agencies ready to assist.

-- Sentinel reporter Willoughby Mariano

12:04 p.m.

Rally organizers were discouraging people from carrying flags from any other country to avoid offending anyone but still most people were waving the American flag and wearing the colors of the flag on their clothes. As they prepare for the rally they sang a romantic ballad from Latin America.

There were helicopters circling the Waterhouse center as well as a plane carrying an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe and a message that read, "Pray before voting."

Organizers also rallied the crowd, surveying where they came from. Most of the people who cheered were from Orlando and Haines City. Heriberto Naba, a volunteer with the Farmworkers Association, asked those in the crowd who were "the beautiful people of the United States" to cheer, "just like our babies who were born U.S. citizens and the reason why we are staying here."

The crowd also observed 60 seconds of silence to reflect on the meaning of the march.

-- Sentinel reporter Victor Ramos

11:48 a.m.

Just over 1,000 people, according to some of the organizers, have gathered about a half an hour before the march is said to start, which seems to be a lower number than many of the estimates that advocates had given of the expected turnout. But sister Anne Kendrick, a Catholic nun with the Farmworkers Ministry in Apopka, said the rally was just beginning."There is a lot of support for this, but some people feel intimidated and think there is going to be a border patrol raid, " Kendrick said. "But still I think more people will come as afternoon comes and more people get off work."

-- Sentinel reporter Victor Ramos

11:41 a.m.

At about 11:35 today police escorted three counter protestors away from the immigration rally and off the property of TD Waterhouse Centre. In the background people were yelling, "Get the f--- out of here." They were also doing catcalls and yelling, 'Bravo' as they left as an OPD officer said, "You have two seconds to turn around and walk or you are going to jail."

One of the counter protestors who was escorted, Cliff Kwitowski, of Orlando, says he is not against immigrants, he is against illegal immigration. His sign said, 'Amnesty for Mexicans because they are better than other immigrants" and he said he is there to point out the hypocisy in the immigration argument.

The second one was Christopher Klemetson, of Lakeland, and he says that he is counterprotesting because illegal aliens are overburdening the healthcare system. His sign said, "Learn to speak Spanish America, do it for the illegals."

The third one was a woman named Georgina Courtley of Orlando, who is originally from England. Her sign said 'Legal immigrants first, 'and she said it took her three years to enter the country legally and she should be ahead of the line in getting legal citizenship.

-- Sentinel reporter Rich McKay

11:32 a.m.

Hundreds of immigrants were having a pep rally in the parking lot before the march from the steps of the TD Waterhouse Center. As more continue to flow in for the noon march, people were chanting in Spanish and Creole, and organizers continue to remind participants to be orderly as they march through the streets of downtown Orlando. There were children in the crowd, many of them missing school to come here with their parents. There were even women pushing baby strollers.

Violeta Ramirez of Apopka,said she had never attended a protest in her life, but she had to come to this one to defend the future of her two children. It is also was a first for her three-year-old, Ana, and three-month-old baby, Jeriel, who was sleeping in his stroller. "I am an immigrant, and we all want a fair solution for our families and our children so they can grow as part of the community here."

-- Sentinel reporter Victor Ramos

11:07 a.m.

The crowd is up to at least several hundred, carrying mostly American flags, dressed in white t-shirts and holding up pro-immigrant signs. A lot of blue, red and white signs handed out by the AFL-CIO union said, "Liberty and justice for all" in English and Spanish. People were chanting, "Yes we can." And warming up for the rally, one group of farmworkers was rehearsing the march chant in Spanish, "We ask for fair laws because you (Americans) like the fruit that we harvest. We ask for fair laws because you enjoy my services."

Construction workers are arriving in groups, saying that they skipped a day of work to be here. Angel Aguirre, 46, a landscaper from Winter Park, said that all the construction workers he knows were joining the march today. "We want work permits for all our people because that's why were here. We come to work not to steal or take anything from anyone."

-- Sentinel reporter Victor Ramos

11:05 a.m.

According to Orlando police, the charges John Butler Book faces are trespassing after a warning and resisting arrest without violence. Book refused to leave the grounds of the T.D. Waterhouse Centre where the immigrant march organizers had a permit to stage their event.

-- Sentinel reporter Willoughby Mariano

11: 03 a.m.

Some of the march organizers applauded Book's arrest, saying that Reverend Book had the right to protest but not to be in the middle of this march. George Crossley, who represents the ACLU in Central Florida, said his organization supported the rally and condemns anyone trying to disrupt it. Crossley said volunteers from the ACLU will be videotaping along the march to make sure no one is intimidating people who participate in the rally.

"The gentleman (Book) is a racist and a bigot, and he didn't have a license or permit to do what he was doing", Crossley said. "I am all for free speech but totally opposed to racism, bigotry, and he represents both very well."

The crowd is growing. More than 200 people are in the TD Waterhouse south parking lot.

-- Sentinel reporter Victor Ramos

10:23 a.m.

Reverend John B. Book, a televangelist, was arrested. Details to come.

-- Sentinel reporter Victor Ramos

10:18 a.m.

The crowd has grown to more than 100 people, many of them volunteers from the Farmworkers Association of Florida, Latino Leadership and ACORN. They formed a human chain of about 50 men to carry water and supplies to stations for volunteers who will be handing them out.

Marytza Sanz, president of Latino Leadership in Orlando, lead them in chanting as they worked, "Si se puebe," (yes, we can) as they handed out the water. She also gave volunteers some last-minute directions and encouragement "I don't know about you, but I couldn't sleep last night because I was already marching in my mind. There will be people who will try to provoke us, but we are not going to let it happen, and we will leave clean and orderly streets as we walk along."

The first counter protesters showed up to the parking lot where the volunteers were gathering. Reverend John B. Book, a televangelist, said he was not here with an anti-Hispanic or anti-immigrant message but rather to speak for other Americans. "We wouldn't be in this precarious position with all these illegal immigrants except for the politicians who have been saplings in the breeze," he said. He was carrying a sign that said, "Would any country in the world allow 11 million aliens and give them free... welfare, free education and dual citizenship? NO!"

-- Sentinel reporter Victor Ramos

9:35 a.m.

Sentinel reporter Victor Ramos called in this report this morning from the parking lot at the TD Waterhouse Centre. Volunteers are getting organized, and there is a crowd of about 50 people including volunteers and the first few people who got in here for the noon march. One of the first here was an Orlando activist, Jose Bosque. He was covering his face with a white mask (he said he got the idea from the movie "V for Vendetta") and holding a sign that said "Immigrants died in 9-11."

"We know people have been trying to intimidate us [to] not to come out, but even if we have to wear masks, we'll be here," he said.

Among the first groups of immigrants to arrive was a group of high school students from Deleon Springs, who said they were skipping class to participate in the rally. They said they attend Taylor Middle-High School in Pierson, where many of their classmates were also taking the day off to come to the rally. Carlos Murgia, 15, said, "We know we are missing class, but we have school day every day, and this rally only happens once. We came to support our people."