Undocumented Fear

In May of 2007, a violent confrontation erupted between the Metropolitan Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and more than 6,000 people celebrating International Workers’ Day in a public park.

The park, named after General Douglas MacArthur, became a battleground. The battle became known as the May Day Mêlée. Civilians and media representatives located inside of the besieged park found themselves on the brutal frontlines of the immigration debate.

One year after the May Day Mêlée, the LAPD returned to Macarthur Park in preparation for another International Workers’ Day. When protesters took to the streets in support of immigration reform they faced familiar badges and the promise of new tactics.

Meanwhile, an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants continue to toil in the United States.

Video from the 2007 event documented police in riot gear targeting both civilians and the media. In one video, officers pushed reporter Christina Gonzalez and her camera operator to the ground.

Orbiting above the chaos, an LAPD Air Unit violated department policy when it broadcasted only a partial dispersal order in English. The air unit failed to broadcast a Spanish dispersal order to the predominantly Hispanic crowd.

In less than two hours, police officers launched 146 less-lethal impact munitions and delivered more than 100 baton strikes to people in the crowd. Metropolitan Division officers are the only members of the LAPD equipped with a 36-inch baton. The baton is designed specifically for crowd control.

In the end, the LAPD had forced thousands of people from MacArthur Park. Public allegations of excessive force by the LAPD against the largely peaceful crowd resulted in an internal investigation of the incident by the LAPD. The final report examining the May Day incident was presented to the LAPD Board of Police Commissioners on Oct. 9, 2007.

The report isolated the decision to employ a team of LAPD motorcycle officers to force people eastbound on Wilshire Boulevard as the critical “tipping point.” The rationale behind ordering motorcycle officers to redirect a hostile crowd into the park remains unclear.

In addition, the investigation identified systemic failures within the LAPD. “Notwithstanding the problems in planning, tactics, command and control, situational awareness, training and individual responsibility, the larger issue was the fact that not a single supervisor or member of the command staff involved attempted to intervene,” the report says.

The LAPD internal affairs group received 321 complaints relating to the MacArthur Park incident. Twenty-six officers have been identified. The Los Angeles District Attorney is currently reviewing the investigation. To date, no criminal charges have been filed against any officers involved.

“What occurred last year should not have happened,” says Sergio Diaz, Deputy Chief Operations- Central Bureau of the LAPD. “The LAPD failed. There were several failures, primarily human failures. Failures in our training.

“The officers involved last year are here,” Diaz says at this year’s rally. “They are working today. No one has been relieved of their rank or responsibilities. The officers have been retrained. We have complete confidence that if they were required to take action, that it would be in compliance with department policy.”

Andres Jacobo and his brother Robert have no confidence in the LAPD. The two young men are two miles from MacArthur Park at the crowded intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Broadway.

“I do not think the cause of the problems last year was only a training issue,” Andres says. “The LAPD should already be trained. They went into MacArthur Park and started hitting people. Non-lethal weapons can kill people.”

A sudden burst of mariachi music causes the brothers to defiantly raise their arms toward the afternoon sky. The crowd begins to move forward. Several thousand people begin walking north on Broadway. The brothers quickly disappear behind hundreds of signs and banners.

Two days later, the brothers are seated outside of their apartment in South Central Los Angeles. Andres is speaking openly about his family and the LAPD.

“It has been real hard since my father was deported four years ago,” he says. “No one in my family shows it, but the pain is there. I think about it every day. We do not know if he is alive.

“I felt good being at the march. I was there for everybody, not just my family. I will keep going until all undocumented workers are seen as people with rights. Not just Mexicans but all workers.

"What the police did last year in the park is reality. We see that every day. It was wrong.”

Standing nearby, Robert says he has been stopped by police more than 20 times in the past three months.

“The police make fun of the way we dress,” he says. “They always talk shit. The police think that a badge gives them the right to do whatever they want. They just sit there and laugh at us.”

One hour later, Terresa Guiteres and her younger brother Pedro cut ripe pineapple at a roadside stand near the Interstate 105 freeway. Pedro wears a T-shirt that says “Idealism” across the chest. Both of their parents are undocumented immigrants.

“I am only afraid of two things,” Pedro says. “My parents being deported and the LAPD. The police do not like Mexicans.”

Back in Ventura County immigration activists held a “March for Dignity” in Oxnard as the work day came to a close May 1. Elsewhere, advocates handle the day to day concerns of immigrants.

Alicia Flores, the executive director of Oxnardbased immigrant advocacy center La Hermanandad, said in 2007 her organization processed more than 3,000 applications for United States citizenship.

Outside of her office, several undocumented families wait patiently for help. Alicia is concerned about the level of fear commonly experienced in the undocumented immigrant community.

“The conduct of the LAPD in MacArthur Park and raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents has driven undocumented families into hiding,” Flores says.

“Our people are living in fear. People are afraid to answer their phones or go outside.

“Fear experienced by undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles can be found throughout California, including Oxnard. Our people are just trying to survive and go to work. Local families are living in fear of deportation.”