Anti-Arizona law protesters to unfurl banners on L.A. freeway overpasses

From wire service reports
Posted: 07/26/2010 07:03:59 AM PDT

Dozens of pro-immigration activists will let commuters know they think Arizona's pending anti-illegal immigration law is racist by holding banners on freeway overpasses during rush hour today.

Arizona's law, which empowers local law enforcement to check the immigration status of suspects they have stopped for other reasons, is to go into effect Thursday, unless legal efforts to stop it are successful.

A group of activists calling themselves "We Are All Arizona" plan to hold banners while standing on the Broadway Avenue, Spring Street and Grand Avenue overpasses to the Hollywood (101) Freeway in downtown Los Angeles during rush hours -- 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The group announced it would do the same thing Tuesday and Wednesday, and is planning a "major action" on Thursday.

Although it is illegal to hang banners from freeway overpasses, it is legal to hold banners as long as no state property is damaged, said Los Angeles police Sgt. Andy Mathes, who also said the group had not told authorities about the protest.

"Activists will highlight the racist nature of immigration enforcement measures that terrorize our communities, the increasing amount of collaboration between (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and local police forces such as the Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside county sheriffs, as well as in Costa Mesa and other cities in Orange County, and the private prison and immigration detention corporations who are profiting and receiving millions of taxpayer dollars through this enforcement regime," the group said in a statement.
In another protest of the pending law, 14 members of the same group

In this July 15, 2010 photo, Charlene Greenwood, of Glendale, Ariz., shows her support of Arizona's new immigration law SB1070 outside the Sandra Day O'Connor Federal Courthouse in Phoenix. As the days tick down until the Arizona immigration law takes effect, the state stands as a monument to the anger over illegal immigration that is present in so many places. The anger has been simmering for years, and erupted into a full-blown fury with the murder of a prominent rancher on the border earlier this year. The killing became a powerful rallying cry for immigration reform, but it does not tell the whole story about how Arizona got to this point. (AP Photo/Matt York) (Matt York)were arrested May 6 when they sat down in the street and blocked the entrance to the Federal Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles City Council earlier approved a resolution for the city to join an economic boycott of Arizona because of the pending law.

Meantime, the Southern California Immigration Coalition announced it plans to hold protests at 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles. The activists plan to go to Arizona Wednesday night.

"In L.A., we have to do our part to let the federal government know that we hold them (the DEMOCRATS) responsible for what's happening in AZ and all over the nation," the group said in a statement. "(Maricopa County Sheriff Joe) Arpaio, (Arizona Gov. Jan) Brewer and the rest of the Republicans couldn't be doing all of this if Obama and the Democrats had kept true to their promises of immigration reform."

http://www.presstelegram.com/breakingnews/ci_15603779