[EMAIL PROTECTED] Raquel Vega wrote:
> Repost Widely > Solidarity Protest > Come out and show your solidarity with LA comrades by demonstrating > against the disgusting racist attacks on families by the LAPD on May Day. > > Federal Plaza > Thurs. May 17, 2007 @ noon. > bring posters and drums. > > Thursday May 17 youth in LA are organizing a demonstration outside > city hall against the actions of excessive use of force displayed by > the LAPD on the peaceful May 1st Immigration Rights rally in MacArthur > Park, a family event. The LAPD gave no warning in Spanish to clear the > park and some said they never heard one in English either, they > continued to used tear gas and rubber bullets against those marchers > who did not move fast enough. This was a disgusting display of racism > against the largely Mexican demonstration, in a city with the largest > Mexican immigrant community, with some of the countries most racist > cops. The LAPD is currently under federal investigation for previous > violations. Some are already calling for the head of the police chief. > There is plenty of coverage on You Tube if you haven't seen the videos > and scroll down for an article about it. > > for more info contact 708-715-7397 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > sponsored by UIC students for immigrant rights and open to further > endorsements. > > > PS. repost! > Coverage: > Outrage at LA cops' May Day assault > By Randy Childs | May 11, 2007 | Page 9 > > SWINGING CLUBS and firing dozens of rounds of "less-than-lethal" > rubber bullets, officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) > terrorized some 15,000 participants in a peaceful May Day rally for > immigrant rights in historic MacArthur Park. > > This was the second immigrant rights rally of the day, with more than > 50,000 people marching through downtown Los Angeles earlier that > afternoon. > > The LAPD has a long history of violently suppressing peaceful > protests, but this assault made national news when the cops' > indiscriminate use of violence led to attacks on several journalists > reporting on the rally. > > "I was dumbfounded," said Patricia Nazario, a reporter for local radio > station KPCC. "I've covered riots. I've covered chaos. I was never hit > or struck or humiliated the way the LAPD violated me yesterday." > > Nazario was struck twice by LAPD batons while attempting to retreat > from the police lines. The second blow to her left leg knocked her to > the ground. "I was shocked, trying to scramble to my feet," she said. > "At that point, I just started crying...I just felt totally vulnerable." > > Nazario was one of at least nine reporters injured by police. A live > report on the rally by the Telemundo network was interrupted when > police attacked both reporter Carlos Botifoll and news anchor Pedro > Sevcec. > > The police assault on reporters was a blatant violation of a 2002 > court ruling upholding the rights of journalists to remain at the > scenes of civil disturbances even after police declare an "unlawful > assembly." This ruling was a result of a lawsuit by several > journalists who were injured while reporting on the protests outside > the 2000 Democratic National Convention--which were also violently > attacked by the LAPD. > > Predictably, the police are trying to blame a handful of "anarchist > provocateurs" for the violence. > > But that doesn't explain why the LAPD arrived at the peaceful rally in > full riot gear. No "threat" to the helmet- and armor-clad officers has > been confirmed, other than the tossing of a few plastic water bottles > towards police lines. > > Los Angeles teacher and Socialist Worker contributor David Rapkin was > an eyewitness to the events. "The police were spoiling for a fight," > he said. "They demanded that a small group of young protesters clear a > street that had already been blocked off. The protesters > understandably resisted this arbitrary order, which the cops used as > an excuse to violently shut down the whole rally." > > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > ALMOST THREE hours before the protesters' permit expired, the phalanx > of LAPD riot cops cleared everyone from the park. As both professional > and amateur video footage of the incident clearly shows, not only > journalists, but children, the elderly, entire families and even > homeless people living in the park felt the blows of police batons and > rubber bullets. > The images of Latino families fleeing for safety from advancing lines > of riot cops were reminiscent of the Chicano Moratorium march in 1970, > when 30,000 protested in East LA's Laguna Park (now Salazar Park) > against the Vietnam War. > > The LAPD violently suppressed the rally, culminating their assault > with the murder of Los Angeles Times reporter Rubén Salazar, famous > for exposing the LAPD's record of brutality and terror against Latinos. > > Faced with indisputable video evidence of police misconduct, LAPD > Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have gone into > damage control mode. "I feel comfortable apologizing," Bratton said at > a meeting of reporters. "Things were done that shouldn't have been > done. This was my best, and that was what was extraordinarily > disturbing about this." > > Bratton is promising investigations by the LAPD itself and the > supposedly independent Police Commission. But such investigations in > the past have consistently whitewashed numerous cases of LAPD brutality. > > Many activists and community leaders are speaking out against this > outrage, calling for an independent investigation. "When we see the > police shoot rubber bullets at members of the media and families > sitting at picnic benches," wrote A.J. Duffy, president of United > Teachers Los Angeles, in a statement released the day after the rally, > "when the media and families with children are herded out of a park > like cattle, and then attacked when they don't move quickly, something > has gone seriously wrong and must be corrected." > > The cops who ordered and carried out this disgusting assault on > peaceful protesters and reporters should be fired, and their victims > deserve compensation for the injuries and terror they experienced. > > But in this latest in a long history of LAPD outrages, justice will be > denied unless we continue to organize and hold city officials' feet to > the fire. > > > http://www.socialistworker.org/2007-1/631/631_09_LAPolice.shtml > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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