- SAN DIEGO BRIGADE
- BLOG
- PHOTO GALLERY
- PATRIOTS IN ACTION
- TRAITORS TO AMERICA
- SAN DIEGO MINUTEMEN
- BOYCOTT MEXICO FLYER
- STOP THE NAU
- PREDATORY ALIENS
- ESCAPING JUSTICE
- FROSTY WOOLDRIDGE& LINKS
- VETS FOR SECURE BORDERS
- HIRE A PATRIOT
- NO INVADERS ORG.
- THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
- CONGRESS AND IMMIGRATION
- BLOG4BORDERS
- IMMIGRATION COUNTERS
- IAATS
- VIDEOS
- GUESTBOOK
- CONTACT US
- SDCB CALENDAR
- Photo Gallery
BLOG
MINUTEMEN, OTHERS MARCH IN L.A. TO PROTEST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
Posted by sandiegobrigade
at 06:01 PM on June 22, 2008
|
CALL AND WRITE YOUR OFFICIALS TELL THEM WE SAY NO TO SANCTUARY CITIES! TELL THEM TO ENFORCE OUR IMMIGRATION LAWS AND TO SECURE OUR BORDERS! PUNISH EMPLOYERS OF ILLEGALS AND STOP ALL THE BENEFITS TO ILLEGALS! LET'S TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY! WAKE UP AMERICA!
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-protest22-2008jun22,0,6118988.story
Minutemen, others march in L.A. to protest illegal immigration
Benjamin Reed / Los Angeles Times
Dozens of protesters, including anti-illegal-immigration Minutemen and community activists, march along Broadway in downtown L.A. to decry violence by illegal immigrants and to demand that the Los Angeles Police Department change its controversial policy limiting when someone can be questioned about their immigration status.
The group of about 50 sought to draw attention to the slaying of a black youth by an alleged gang member in the country illegally. Counter-protesters call the marchers 'racist.'
About 50 protesters marched in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday to decry violence by illegal immigrants and to demand that the Los Angeles Police Department change its controversial policy limiting when someone can be questioned about their immigration status. The marchers, including anti-illegal-immigration Minutemen and local community activists, also called for justice for Jamiel Shaw II, 17, a black athlete who was shot and killed in March by an alleged gang member who was in the country illegally.
A few dozen counter-protesters walked alongside the crowd, shouting, "racists" and accusing the marchers of being Ku Klux Klan members. They held a large Mexican flag and chanted, "No human being is illegal."
A line of uniformed officers separated the groups, which remained peaceful despite heated verbal confrontations.
The march and rally at City Hall comes days after a judge ruled that Pedro Espinoza, 19, will stand trial in Shaw's slaying.
Shaw's father, Jamiel Shaw, walked at the front of the protest, wearing a shirt with a photo of his son and the words, "An illegal gang banger killed me."
"This guy just happened to be in the neighborhood and wanted to kill black people," Shaw said.
A few steps behind, protester and local attorney Sam Zislman said the slaying showed that the LAPD needs to reform its long-standing policy, Special Order 40, that prohibits officers from initiating contact with people simply to determine whether they are illegal immigrants.
Zislman and others are pushing a change called "Jamiel's Law" that would allow LAPD officers to routinely check the immigration status of known gang members who are suspected of committing a crime.
Zislman said police should be using "every possible tool" to detain illegal immigrants, especially known criminals and gang members.
But counter-protesters, including Najee Ali, argue that the slaying had nothing to do with race, but instead was gang-related. Evidence in last week's preliminary hearing showed that Jamiel Shaw II may have been associated with a gang at war with a rival group.
During the march, Ali held up a photo of Shaw flashing gang signs and said the family is trying to use the slaying to push their own anti-illegal immigrant political agenda.
"This was not a hate crime," said Ali, founder of Project Islamic Hope. "They are allowing their son's death to racially divide the city even more."
The case is part of a larger debate over the role of race in homicides in the area. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has said that race is at the heart of the gang problem. On the other side, LAPD Chief William J. Bratton has said that gangs are battling over turf and drugs and that race-driven violence is rare.
anna.gorman@latimes.com
Categories: None
