No subject

LAPD practices for May Day protest 

Hoping to learn from past mistakes, police meet with organizers 
and train officers in crowd control. 
By Joel Rubin and Anna Gorman 
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

April 27, 2008

On a warm morning earlier this month, about 600 Los Angeles police
officers gathered in the empty parking lot at Dodger Stadium for some
high-stakes role playing.

Most pretended to be protesters -- standing in for the ones expected
to converge on downtown Los Angeles on Thursday as part of May Day
immigration rallies planned across the country.

As some in the mock crowd threw bottles and acted the part of
agitators, officers assigned to undercover "extraction units" quickly
and quietly isolated the rabble-rousers and hauled them away.

"Is everyone clear on chain of command?" Michael Hillmann, a deputy
chief in the Los Angeles Police Department, asked afterward.
"Everyone clear on who is in charge of what?"

--------------------------------------------------------

This year, immigrant rights activists will march to push for
legislation that would include a path to citizenship and urge the
presidential candidates to present their reform plans.

They also are emphasizing the economic and political contributions of
immigrants and calling for an end to raids and deportations. Marches
are planned across the country, including cities in Texas, North
Carolina and Florida.

In Los Angeles, protesters will gather at two sites: the corner of
Olympic Boulevard and Broadway, and MacArthur Park, and at 2 p.m.
will begin marching toward City Hall, converging at 5th Street and
Broadway.

Some of the people caught up in last year's melee don't plan to
return this year. Guatemalan immigrant Jazmin Marroquin, 32, was
listening to music in MacArthur Park with her youngest children --
ages 3 and 4 -- when she heard shots and saw police closing in. She
dropped to the ground, covering her children, but she said an officer
kicked her in the back and hit her with a baton.

Marroquin said that when she saw the news about the upcoming rally,
the dread of last year returned. Her children are still afraid of
police and the family avoids the park, she said.

"It's something I will never forget," she said. "Instead of taking
care of us, they were the ones who attacked us."

But many will return, said Kristina Campbell, staff attorney at
MALDEF. They are shaken and angry about what happened to them, she
said, but still want to be heard. Campbell said she expects the tone
of this year's march to be much different.

"What happened last year was unfortunate and unlawful, but that
doesn't mean that people should be fearful," she said. "It's a new
day, and we are going to continue to go forward."