Unrest and Arrests at Immigration Rally
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By ANTHONY RAMIREZ
Published: July 29, 2007
Five people were arrested and two people were slightly injured yesterday at a rally in Morristown, N.J., that attracted hundreds of demonstrators both for and against stricter immigration law enforcement, the police said yesterday.

Morristown police officers, in riot gear and using a fence to separate the rival demonstrators, broke up several fights at the rally, held in front of the Morristown town hall.

In the most serious clash, a man threw two small metal cylinders at a pickup truck. When the driver of the truck and his female companion confronted the man, they were set upon by about 10 other men, said Lt. David Ackerman of the Morristown police.

Three men were arrested and charged with assault, disorderly conduct and other charges. The rest fled, Lieutenant Ackerman said.

The woman was treated at Morristown Memorial Hospital, he said. The injured man had been one of the speakers at the rally, organized by the ProAmerica Society, which urges stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

Also arrested were a man and a woman who had jumped on the stage. They were charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing.

Morristown has attracted controversy because the mayor, Donald Cresitello, has applied for a federal program that would deputize police officers to enforce immigration laws.

Mayor Cresitello spoke at the rally, protected by a phalanx of police officers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/nyregion/29rally.html