Incidents in the (4th of July) protest
[Translation by an anonymous Latino member of Voice of Citizens
Together]
LA OPINION Friday July 5, 1996 - By Joseph Treviño ·
Independent group, separate from demonstrators, generates scenes of violence.
A demonstration organized by an anti-immigrant group-and that also had
the presence of opponents- turned violent, yesterday morning, in front of
the Federal Building in Westwood, leaving six persons wounded, one of them
taken to the hospital. The authorities responded to the incidents and closed
the on and off freeway ramps of the San Diego Freeway, and blocked part
of Wilshire Boulevard. No arrests were reported of the aproximately 400
people that were present.
"Once we placed enough policemen, we could respond to the situation,"
said leutenant Anthony Alba. Around 10:00 a.m. several anti-immigrant groups,
among them Voice of Citizens Together (VCT) and United we Stand (UWS), started
a rally between Veteran and Wilshire in front of the Federal Building in
Westwood. From very early in the morning, groups who favor immigrants, that
include members of CARECEN, the Aztlan Organization, the Brown Berets and
several groups of university students, situated themselves across the other
side of Wilshire Boulevard, in front of the Veteran Cemetery.
Members of the PLP arrive
The demonstration had barely started, when a group of aproximately 50 people,
with red flags and black letters that read "Progressive Labor Party"
(Partido Progresista Laboral (PLP), of (Communist) Maoist tendencies, who
had been at the corner next to the Veterans Cemetery-away from the other
two groups-moved towards the anti-immigrant group.
After exchanging insults, members of the PLP, who say they are of communist
ideology, started throwing soda cans, sticks and stones. The violent encounter
lasted aproximately five minutes, after which, the PLP members returned
to their corner, where others were waiting for them in vans to take them
away, and disappeared. When they were pulling back, several members of the
PLP, said that they were communists, opposed to fascism and racism. Their
spokesperson, Linda Baughl, said that it was already time that their organization
confronted the anti-immigrant groups. Very soon (?) about 30 patrol officers
of the LAPD and two copters arrived to the scene.
At least 120 policemen-among them in Anti-Riot gear with kevlar helmets-separated
the two groups, to both sides of Wilshire Boulevard. "They, the communists,
illegals, criminals, gangsters, all of them together came to our side. They
had young people, younger than us, who came prepared with sticks and bottles.
They came ready to fight," complained Martin Francis, a man in favor
of Prop 187, who had a bloody cut in his forehead, a sample of the encounter
with the PLP. "We are not with the PLP," said Jerry (Steve?) Zimmer,
who organized the pro-immigrant group. "Our group does not believe
in violence. The true violence in all this is what is happening with the
Prop 187 legislation." (Note: Zimmer is a teacher).
Confrontation despite the police presence
The violent encounters did not end with the PLP and the anti-immigrant group.
Despite that the police, and the Anti-Riot Patrols were present, in several
ocassions when the patrols moved away from the demonstrators, then both
groups went at each other insulting and spraying pepper gas, used normally
for personal defense. The gas was used mainly-although not exclusively-by
the anti-imigrant group.
Not even the press was spared. Carlos Granda, CBS reporter, received pepper
spray on his face. Joel Palma, from KWKW, La Mexicana, was hit in the head
with a flag stick. The ethnic components of both groups were mixed. Although
the majority were anglosaxons, the anti-immigrant group had Latinos, Asians
and Afro-American people, such as Jesse Lee Peterson. "When they, the
pro-immigrant groups are going to wake up and realize that we have to stop
illegal immigration?", yelled to a Native American demonstrator, who
refused to give his name. "You, the whites and Afro-Americans are the
strangers in my land," replied the Native American, adding: "They,
the Latinos have Indian blood as I have! They are my brothers!
"We are not fascists," yelled a man of the anti-immigrant group,
wearing a green shirt and a military hair-cut: "In the Second World
War we defeated the Nazis. "How do you say that we are fascists?"
A man with the Che Guevara (Marxist-Communist) emblem in his shirt, pointed
towards the cemetery, and yelled: "Here, in this cemetery there are
many Latins. Why the whites only want us for war?"
Climate of Tension
At the same time that the temperature climbed, the heated verbal encounters
escalated towards violence. From senior citizens, that taunted the Aztlan
Organization youngsters, to a young woman with violet hair, that insulted
an Afro-American man, the tension was even. There were songs of "America,
the Beautiful" and Aztec dancers. Maria Cornejo, that was in the side
of the pro-immigrant group, had the impression that the police took sides
with the anti-immigrant group. "When the police saw that the conflict
was big, they started protecting them (the anti-immigrant group), instead
of us. That means that here, in Beverly Hills, the police is part of the
Ku-Klux-Klan." (said Maria Cornejo). On the other hand, Francis, the
man who had his forehead split open with a soda can, had a different opinion.
"The police came very late to defend us," stated. "When the
communists arrived, I asked them: "Do you have something to say or
do you have bricks?" Two seconds later I had the answer." (A bloody
face).