3 arrests in suburban protest

By Oscar Avila
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 15, 2005, 1:58 PM CDT


Three activists were arrested Saturday in Arlington Heights as they protested a meeting of the Chicago Minuteman Project, a new group that opposes illegal immigration.

Police said the three had assaulted police officers who were trying to keep order.

About 120 police officers with riot gear and police dogs were summoned from other suburbs to restore order.

The protesters arrested were part of a group that included dozens who identified themselves as members of socialist, anarchist and anti-war groups.

Protestors blocked the entrance to the Minuteman meeting site at Christian Liberty Academy, 502 W. Euclid Ave. They briefly scuffled with police with some throwing water bottles as police tried to make arrests.

No major injuries were reported.

About 100 participants attended the gathering by the Minutemen, a spinoff of a group that has been patrolling the United States-Mexico border to detect and report illegal immigrants.

In Illinois, the group is asking elected officials to strengthen immigration enforcement. Members say illegal immigration is a security risk and an economic threat.

"We're trying to use reason and logic to address the issue. Then you have these protesters ranting," said Robert Vasquez, a commissioner in Canyon County, Idaho, and one of the conference's speakers.

But Arlington Heights Police Sgt. Richard Marcinkowski said some Minutemen participants escalated the situation by coming outside to debate protestors.

"We had two unreasonable factions," Marcinkowski said, "and we got caught in the middle."

A second counter-protest of about 300 immigrant advocates also materialized and briefly joined the first protest of leftist activists.

Police said the second group, organized by the Coalition of African, Asian, European and Latino Immigrants of Illinois, had nothing to do with the violence or disruptions.

Similar Minuteman events in other states have also resulted in counter-protests, some of which turned violent. About three blocks of Euclid Avenue remained blocked at noon, but most protesters had left.



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