Thousands of rallies protest ice raids and arrest union leaders after a “chaotic weekend”
Thousands of union members, immigration rights activists and supporters gathered in the Great Park in downtown Los Angeles Monday afternoon to demand that California Alliance President David Huerta release David Huerta last week, arrested and injured in immigration and customs law enforcement attacks last week.
Protesters are peaceful and crazi. They sing, chant, and carry slogans like “Warm Margarita b-cuz f-ice”. Their presence contrasts sharply with the surrounding downtown, which is quiet and severely damaged police and National Guard vehicles.
“It’s a chaotic weekend, not initiated by working people, working immigrants in Los Angeles,” Arnulfo de la Cruz, president of the Coalition for Service Employees International, said in an interview at a rally organized by the Coalition in 2015.
He added: “The ice raid is having a traumatic and devastating impact on our community…We are in a very serious condition for the people they receive.”
It is important to remember that in Los Angeles, he said, “Thousands of immigrant workers now have to pass through the National Guard, LAPD, LAPD, Los Angeles County Sheriff just to be able to go to work, worrying that they may not go home and that their children may not be out of school.”
“I don't think these are California values,” Delacruz said. “Real?”
President Huerta, 58, who was arrested during an immigration enforcement raid in the downtown fashion district, was arrested Friday, according to union members.
Federal authorities said he deliberately blocked their vehicles, blocking federal agents from entering the workplace where search warrants were executed. Video of the arrest shows him being pushed toward riot equipment by authorities until he fell backwards and seemed to have hit his head on the side of the road. He was treated in the hospital and was transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Huerta made his first appearance in Federal Court on Monday afternoon, accusing him of conspiracy to obstruct officers. He was ordered to release on a $50,000 appearance margin. As part of his conditions, he cannot intentionally be within 100 yards of federal agents or operations.
Thousands of rallyings were held in the Grand Park on Monday in support of union leader David Huerta, who was recently detained by an ice driver and faced federal charges.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Raymond Gutierrez, 39, of Whittier, has two nephews, Raymond Gutierrez and Thomas Magdelino Gutierrez, standing quietly in the crowd. Thomas said he was worried about his uncle's safety in federal custody, and he, like many others, was sad and scared by members of the National Guard on the streets.
He said he had a different feeling about graffiti-covered buildings throughout the city. He said he believes the Trump administration and its supporters will lock on it, showing that they claim to justify the use of military power amid chaos.
But at the same time, he learned about the anger behind spraying emails.
“We don't like seeing our city tear up,” Thomas said. “But I understand the anger. Buildings and property can always be rebuilt and painted, but once they collapse, they can't rebuild the family.”
Jason Petty, a 46-year-old musician from Boyle Heights, said he attended the rally because “it’s our community – the immigration is us.”
Petty, a former ninth-grade history teacher, said he was born and raised in Los Angeles. He was black and his grandmother lived in Watt during the 1965 Ware riot. His father is Black Panther. He also lived in the riots of 1992.
He said the protests on the ice raids over the weekend have not been elevated to the level where the National Guard needs it.
“There is no comparison,” he said, adding that the military's call was “totally unnecessary.” “No need to do this,” he said. “It's intentional cruelty.”
Petty said he has a fourth-grade daughter and immigration agents recently came to her school. He said he had to have a tough conversation with her to make sure she was safe, but told her: “You don't have to worry, but mom and dad are sticking with your friends.”
“I don't have to have this conversation,” he said.
Petty said he had been thinking about his late grandmother during the turbulent weekend. He remembers talking to her during the 1992 riot. She didn't seem shocked after living in Watt's Uprising, telling her family: “Until I saw the tanks sailing down the street, I wasn't everywhere.”
He said if she was alive this weekend and saw the National Guard rolling in, “she wouldn’t represent it,” he said.
Dolores Huerta, a 95-year-old civil rights leader and union activist, came to power while police helicopters lingered overhead, where she spoke about nonviolent protests in Ghandi, India.
“If Gandhi can win with nonviolence, can we win with nonviolence?” she asked.
“Yes!” the crowd replied.
“We are all angry about hell, but we have to turn this anger into organizational energy and convince people that we can win with nonviolent tactics through our parades and protests.”
Brittny Mejia, an era worker, contributed to the report.
