Elian seized in pre-dawn raid on Miami home United Press International - April 22, 2000 07:07 MIAMI, April 22 (UPI) -- Armed U.S. Immigration agents Saturday seized 6-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives where he has been staying. The raid by about 20 agents in two white vans took place at 5:15 a.m. while the federal government was negotiating with the family's attorneys. Agents broke down the door and there were reports of the use of pepper spray or tear gas. A female agent surrounded by male officers ran out of the house with Elian in her arms. The boy was placed in the White van and driven to nearby Watson Island where a helicopter was waiting. He was flown to Homestead Air Reserve Base and put on a jet which flew him to Atlanta. He will be later flown to the Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland where he will be reunited with his father. One woman who said she was inside the house said federal agents carried rifles, shot teargas inside the house and asked people to lie on the floor at gunpoint. Another witness said the agents shouted "bingo, bingo" when they located the boy in a closet. Television pictures showed agents pushed a woman to the ground outside the front door of the Gonzales home just as other agents emerged with the boy. An angry crowd lingered around the Gonzalez home after the boy was taken, occasionally throwing rocks, chairs or other objects. Family attorney Kendall Coffey was obviously angry that the raid took place while negotiations were taking place, but declined to make any comment until later. Miami Mayor Joe Carollo said he was outraged by the raid over the Easter weekend.. "These are atheists. They don't believe in God," he said. "There was no need to do this like this. These are hard-working men and women. I had no information at all that this was going to happen." Ramon Saul Sanchez, head of the anti-Castro Democracia Movement, called for a work stoppage but cautioned against violence. He said he was outraged that the raid took place on Easter weekend. Elian was taken away from the Miami home after hectic negotiations through Friday night failed to work out a cooperative transfer to his father. Elian Gonzalez has been the cause of a bitter custody battle between the United States and Cuba since he was rescued while he was clinging to an inner tube following a trip from Cuba that took the lives of 11 others, including his mother. He was placed in the care of the family of his great uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, who with the support of Miami's Cuban-American community tried to keep him in this country rather than send him back to his father in Cuba. His father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, wanted him back and the federal government backed him. He came to Washington more than two weeks ago and is being reunited with the boy Saturday. The family has appealed a court ruling allowing his return to his father, and oral arguments are set for the week of May 8. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html <A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
