Another incident possible June 25

By Christina L. Esparza, Staff Writer

While council members did not say whether they'd set aside money for a reward, they used the discussion to outline the hundreds of e-mail and phone threats they are getting at City Hall and home.
Councilman Ricardo Pacheco said he's been called racial epithets and "illegal immigrant' by those who said they support Save Our State, the group rallying against a monument at the Metrolink station because they contend it is anti-American.

The monument, "Danza Indigenas,' is filled with quotes artist Judy Baca said came from community members, such as "It was better before they came,' and "This land was Mexican once, Indian always and is, and will be again.'

Save Our State charged those quotes were "seditious' and organized a rally May 14 to protest it and demanded they be brought down. However, city officials said they have no authority to do so, and even if they did, they wouldn't give in to Save Our State's demands.

Pacheco also said people called his daughter saying they were going to kill her father.

"You have been misled, you have been lied to,' Pacheco said, addressing the four women, arguing Save Our State and its founder, Joseph Turner, portrayed itself as a non-racist, peaceful organization.

Robin Hvidston of Upland, one of the three women who accompanied Dottie Dalton the woman hit with the water bottle to the meeting said she is not associated with Save Our State, but wanted the council to know her right to peacefully assemble was violated by the hundreds of counter-protesters who surrounded the group.

"It was utterly terrifying,' she said. "It was sheer domestic terrorism.'

Hvidston charged the group was called "white trash' by the counter-protestors.

Dalton said she couldn't stand or walk properly after being hit.

"I was the victim of a hate crime,' Dalton said.

However, Reyna Rodriguez, 22, of Baldwin Park, said supporters of Save Our State are nasty.

"They generalized the community members as gang members,' Rodriguez said. "We were called savages. We were families. We were students. We were university professors. We were children.'

Councilman Bill Van Cleave said he would not support ponying up for a reward because the group's protest cost the city thousands in police labor. "We want compensation for the problems you caused,' Van Cleave said. "You keep coming here and causing more problems.'

Save Our State announced it will protest the monument June 25. Members of the community, who are in the process of organizing, said they will defend the monument.

Christina L. Esparza can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2472, or by e-mail at christina.esparza@sgvn.com .