Arab American Protest
I wanted to add one more dimension to your report about the March 27 rally against Israel’s elimination of Sheikh Yassin, held in front of the Israeli Consulate (“Arab Americans Stage Protest at Israeli Consulate,” April 2).
I was there as part of a quickly organized counter-rally. Even though the rally was held on Shabbat, there were Orthodox Jews who joined the group after attending services. There were Christians who felt so strongly that they drove in from Orange County. And there were secular Jews. It was an honor for us to have human rights activist Ted Hayes at our side. About 25 of us stood together in the hot sun, on Shabbat, because we felt it was vital to deliver the countermessage. Our signs read: “Hamas, stop killing children,” “Yassin was Israel’s bin Laden” and “Stop Justifying Suicide Bombing.” Just like their message, our message also got out. Those who organized the rally supporting Yassin found that they could not dominate the streets or the media.
I remain convinced that it is essential to continue countering the disinformation and moral confusion that marks the anti-Israel positions.
Roz Rothstein, Executive Director StandWithUs
.
In the article about the Arab protest, I was the one referred to as a “Jewish Activist with Israeli flag.” I was holding the flag with Ted Hayes and had an Israeli flag in my other hand. Ted is black, I am an American of Mexican descent and on the other side of Ted was Paul Nissan, an American of Japanese descent. Israel has supporters from all ethnic groups and we will continue to fight and present a vocal and visible presence in the face of those who would threaten Israel and our Jewish community.
David Hernandez, Valley Village
Cops shoot homeless hero Ted Hayes
Rubber bullet to the chest of man who organized event to prevent violence
Matt Welch
NEWSFORCHANGE
08.15.00
LOS ANGELES (August 15, 2000) -– Ted Hayes, L.A.’s best-known homeless advocate, was shot in the chest with a rubber bullet last night just as President Bill Clinton was finishing off an inspirational address to the Democratic Convention.Hayes, organizer of the concurrent “Homeless Convention” in the Dome Village homeless project a few blocks west of the Staples Center, has ironically spent much of this year advising the L.A. Police Department and Democratic Party how to avoid violent confrontations with street protesters Aug. 14-17.
"We are trying to educate these ignorant Democrats on the issue,” he told the L.A. New Times in June. “And the issue is that if things get ugly in the streets downtown, and that is shown all over TV, you know it's going to blow in South Central, on the Eastside, all over the place."
As has long been planned, Hayes and other demonstrators from the innovative Dome Village made a short vigil down Olympic Blvd. to Staples Center last night at around 8 p.m. – after a highly anticipated concert featuring political rap-metal band Rage Against the Machine and bilingual salsa-punk-hip-hop group Ozomatli had already finished, said Dome Village volunteer Frederick Graf.
Then, according to several witnesses, baton-wielding police forces on horseback and foot swept suddenly into the “protest pit” area by the concert stage, clearing out fans by firing pepper spray and rubber bullets. Witnesses said the cops did not adequately warn the young crowd to disperse.
“It was like, ‘Get outta here! Move on!’ And then two seconds later they were charging in,” said Tony Castrellon.
Some fans had reportedly started a bonfire, delegates and media were beginning to stream out of Staples, and Capt. Stuart Maislin of the LAPD said his forces gave ample warning to kids he said were throwing broken glass bottles. “We were giving them 15 minutes to disperse, after receiving information that bonfires were lit … and we went beyond that 15 minutes to 20 minutes, and the crowd did not disperse,” Maislin said. “Something had to be done to disperse the crowd, so that’s what happened.”
Meanwhile the homeless coalition, coming onto the scene at approximately 8:20, got caught up in the melee. One eyewitness said that Hayes “came out with a big flag, and the crowd went nuts.” So, apparently, did some of the several hundred cops marching and running through the streets of downtown L.A.
“They shot him right in the chest,” said an understandably shaken Graf. “He might be dead, for all I know. Then they shot bullets at me, and clubbed me in the back.”
Hayes collapsed on the sidewalk, suffered respiratory difficulties, and was sitting semi-conscious with electrodes taped to his bare chest for at least 20 minutes, before being hauled off in an ambulance. One paramedic described his condition as “stable.”
One hundred feet or so away, another bystander was trampled by a horse, and lay crumpled in the weeds for half an hour before being taken in an ambulance as well.
“It was so terrible,” said Rachel Bruhnke, a Green Party supporter and teacher, crying and shaking her head. “The cops were just in their full testosterone sickness.”