Thread: 5 arrests, 10,000 people marched in immigration rally

5 arrests, 10,000 people marched in immigration rally
By Jason Kandel on May 2, 2008 7:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief William Bratton will hold a news conference this morning to discuss police response to yesterday's marches in support of the rights of illegal immigrants. An estimated 10,000 people participated in the marches. Five people were arrested for various infractions.

http://tinyurl.com/3v2bs5

Thousands march for immigrants' rights
By Rachel Uranga and Connie Llanos, Staff Writers
Article Last Updated: 05/02/2008 04:33:28 AM PDT






Some 10,000 people poured into downtown streets Thursday shouting protest chants and waving signs for immigration reform in a peaceful rally that saw none of the violence that marred last year's May Day protest.
Organizers of the giant march - made up of three separate demonstrations that merged into one over the course of the day - said the mood among protesters and LAPD officers was friendly compared with clashes last year between police and protesters and journalists.

"Everything worked really well," said Carol Sobel, an attorney representing demonstrators who are suing the Los Angeles Police Department for the heavy-handed response riot police took at the end of last year's May Day rally.

"But a lot of people were afraid to come out. There were rumors out there that (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) would be here."

Pro-immigrant advocates who demanded an end to workplace raids by U.S. immigration agents walked side by side with LAPD police officers, who were under close scrutiny this year. So far, two officers have been disciplined for their roles in what has become known as the 2007 May Day melee.

The incident led LAPD top brass to call for mandatory crowd-control training for officers.

"We are feeling very good about this," said LAPD Chief William Bratton as he watched the crowds near First Street and Broadway. "A lot of what we have done in the last year was certainly to better prepare us for today."

Turnout was lower than organizers anticipated. Originally, they estimated that anywhere from 20,000 to 100,000 demonstrators would fill city streets. But they said marchers were scared away by high-profile workplace raids and bad memories of last year's confrontations, in which police shot rubber bullets into a crowd of women and children and clubbed and stomped news reporters and peaceful demonstrators.

"At the end of the day, there is no other issue in this country that can mobilize, at minimum, 10,000 people," said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles. "People are coming out in large numbers despite the fact there are raids and (people are being) attacked and beaten down by the Police Department."

Juan Carlos Bautista, a 33-year-old North Hollywood construction worker, said he was shaking from nerves as he stepped onto the march route.

"I am afraid of the police," he said. "But somebody has to have a voice. We need to be heard. The movement is strong and there are so many of us."

Bautista was one of dozens of protesters assaulted by riot-clad officers trying to clear MacArthur Park during last year's May Day demonstration, and he is suing the LAPD. In addition to the claims and suits filed

May Day March Los Angeles 2008

More videos against the Police Department, the May Day melee became a public-relations nightmare for the department and the city.
To better prepare this year, the LAPD bought small vehicles to travel around the crowd to make crowd-dispersal orders more understandable, reached out in advance to the immigrant community and publicly apologized for the behavior of riot police last year.

Legal observers, a federal monitor and hordes of reporters kept a close eye on police interaction as they mingled amid Aztec dancers, mariachis and families with children.

"I am here so that the whole country knows that we are not criminals," said a 20-year-old immigrant who earlier this year was one of more than 100 rounded up in a raid at a Van Nuys ink-cartridge factory.

The crackdown on workplaces angered advocates and has prompted Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to demand that Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff focus on illegal criminal immigrants instead of businesses, saying that that only hurts the local economy. It was the focus for many at the march who were not in the U.S. legally or have family and friends terrified of going to work.

Thursday morning, Villaraigosa said he supported the marchers but would not participate. Instead, he released an economic development report with the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and others that stressed the city's heavy reliance on the immigrant work force.

May Day marchers walked through the heavily Latino business district, past bakeries, shoe repair shops and clothing stores - many closed for the day in solidarity with workers - and through parts of the financial district, where office workers waved from high-rises.

"Now more than ever, I am here expressing my solidarity with my immigrant parish," said the Rev. Steve Niskanen of Queen of Angels Church in downtown L.A., sporting a Guatemalan straw hat and towering over the crowd at 6 foot 5 inches tall.

"I, like many religious leaders, believe they deserve a chance. They don't deserve to be ostracized or demonized."

rachel.uranga@dailynews.com

818-713-3741

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_9125913?source=rv

Juan Carlos Bautista, a 33-year-old North Hollywood construction worker, said he was shaking from nerves as he stepped onto the march route.

"I am afraid of the police," he said. "But somebody has to have a voice. We need to be heard. The movement is strong and there are so many of us."

There are more of US against illegal aliens and OUR voices are being heard! Illegals have NO rights to anything in this country, they have NO voice. They do have the right to LEAVE and should take it soon!

Originally Posted by miguelina

There are more of US against illegal aliens and OUR voices are being heard! Illegals have NO rights to anything in this country, they have NO voice. They do have the right to LEAVE and should take it soon!

Exactly! Why is it we put up with this every year. My wife is a naturalized US citizen from Argentine. She says if an illegal came to Argentina and did this they woudl be beaten on the streets and have their countries flags shoved where the sun does shine.

This is like someone walking into your home and expecting to have everything you own. In Texas we have a right to shoot someone who does this.

Originally Posted by bigtex

Originally Posted by miguelina

There are more of US against illegal aliens and OUR voices are being heard! Illegals have NO rights to anything in this country, they have NO voice. They do have the right to LEAVE and should take it soon!

Exactly! Why is it we put up with this every year. My wife is a naturalized US citizen from Argentine. She says if an illegal came to Argentina and did this they woudl be beaten on the streets and have their countries flags shoved where the sun does shine.

This is like someone walking into your home and expecting to have everything you own. In Texas we have a right to shoot someone who does this.

Exactly! But in the US, we have been forced into being politically correct and it's ruining this country!

We need to keep encouraging others to stop the sickening ride of political correctness and start speaking out. No it may not be popular, and yes we will certainly take some heat for it, but it will be worth it when we are able to boot out everyone (or scare out) who does not belong here, and tell the libertards and their moronic socialist handlers to sit down and shut up they are not the majority they have imagined themselves to be.

Do I see those reconquista marchers carrying a sign that seems to advocate Socialism?

My god, that goes along way in explaining the illegal invaders self -entitlement attitude and demands they make on a regular basis.

Originally Posted by NoBueno

Do I see those reconquista marchers carrying a sign that seems to advocate Socialism?

My god, that goes along way in explaining the illegal invaders self -entitlement attitude and demands they make on a regular basis.

Yes, at rallies in CA we always see such signs. Lots of socialists out here.

"I am here so that the whole country knows that we are not criminals," said a 20-year-old immigrant

Uh, excuse me, but you ARE criminals. When citizens from another country sneaks across the border uninvited, without permission, and no proper documents, they just broke the law and committed an ILLEGAL act.

"I, like many religious leaders, believe they deserve a chance. They don't deserve to be ostracized or demonized."

"religious leaders" ARE NOT America's voice. America's policies ARE NOT decided upon the pulpits of "religious leaders".