A highlight of the evening....
Posted on 05/06/2005 12:30:19 PM PDT by freebilly
Windows of police car, bank broken in Roseland Rocks, concrete thrown at police; officers fire rubber bullets, gas
A line of Sonoma County sheriff's deputies move forward at Sepastopol Road and West Avenue in Roseland as they fire off smoke bombs and tear gas to disperse Cinco de Mayo revelers Thursday.
Santa Rosa's Cinco de Mayo street celebrations erupted in violence once again Thursday despite a show of force by police, who used rubber bullets, pepper spray and smoke grenades to disperse disorderly crowds.
The clashes in the Roseland neighborhood mirrored events last year, when surging crowds on Sebastopol Road broke windows and pelted cars with rocks.
On Thursday, a Santa Rosa police sergeant, clad in a helmet for protection, was struck in the head with a chunk of concrete but wasn't hurt, authorities said.
The rear window of a police car was smashed and so were several windows at an Exchange Bank branch on Sebastopol Road, authorities said.
As many as 1,000 people turned out for what has become an annual rite: cars cruising up and down Mendocino Avenue and Sebastopol Road, many displaying Mexican flags, while crowds gather alongside.
The largest crowds were in Roseland, where for the third straight year people clashed with police and sheriff's deputies when revelry was replaced by violence after dark.
For at least the second straight year, police reported no arrests by late Thursday night.
The impromptu cruising and street celebrations have been marked by an increasing police presence since 2002, when five people were injured in gang clashes on Mendocino Avenue.
Although there hasn't been a repeat of the gang violence, vandals smashed windows at eight Roseland businesses last year. Authorities urged businesses to close early this year.
Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Sebastopol police, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department and county probation personnel were among about 150 law enforcement officers assigned to maintain order.
Crowds were noticeably smaller on Mendocino Avenue, where police cleared a group of young men with American flags who were watching from a parking lot near Steele Lane the passing parade of cars marking Mexico's victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
The large show of force and a zero tolerance approach, in which dozens of motorists were stopped and many cited for minor infractions, appeared to contribute to tensions in the crowd as the evening wore on.
"I'm here to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It's the only day that our people can get together," said one frustrated reveler, Adan Hernandez, 25, of Santa Rosa. "They take our cars. They don't give us licenses. They don't give us any respect."
Lydia Leal, who works in Roseland and got caught up in efforts to clear the street, said authorities overreacted.
"It's as if they're walking the roads of Baghdad," she said.
There were other criticisms and even "boos" aimed at police patrols in the hour before disorder broke out, beginning with a few rocks being thrown on Sebastopol Road.
Shortly after 8:30 p.m., earlier than in recent years, authorities closed Mendocino Avenue and prepared to move on Sebastopol Road, donning tactical gear and setting off smoke grenades in the packed Roseland Shopping Center parking lot, "basically saying the party is over," Sheriff's Lt. Roger Rude said.
One CHP officer told a group of five teenage girls to "get out of here, while you can."
"Take it seriously," he said, as the crowd started surging into the street.
Amid chants of "Mexico" and "Viva Mexico," some individuals began throwing orange traffic cones, and soon someone was pelting a Sonoma County sheriff's car with rocks.
The Sheriff's Department tactical squad then moved into a line across Sebastopol Road, backing the crowd east toward Dutton Avenue, where a squad of Santa Rosa police officers, including Chief Ed Flint, waited and blocked the road.
Rude said it was preplanned in event violence broke out.
"That way we moved more quickly and forced them to move quickly and scatter," Rude said.
But authorities continued to battle "hot pockets" around Roseland residential areas and the downtown area, Police Sgt. Steve Bair said, including one area on West and Sunset avenues where about 45 helmeted SWAT and tactical team members fired pepperballs to disperse an angry crowd minutes after Sebastopol Road was closed.
"It looks like it (the level of violence) is probably at least what it was last year because at one point we got road that they were throwing burning objects into the air," Bair said. "I think it's at least what it was last year, maybe a little bit worse."
But authorities said they generally were pleased with the law enforcement operation, which had cleared much of the crowd by 11 p.m.
"From my perspective it worked very well," said Sheriff's Capt. Dave Sederholm, who was in command of the sheriff's response Thursday night. "We had no injuries to officers or to anyone in the cruise."
I posted earlier about the riots in Richmond (CA).
It's getting so ridiculous!
A highlight of the evening....
Celebrate Diversity.
We must thank these folks for sharing their wonderful cultural traditions with us.
Even odds Adan thinks that Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day.
Amid chants of "Mexico" and "Viva Mexico".....
If they have such loyalty to Mexico, then why.......
Just doing the thuggery that American thugs are too lazy to do.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1397992/posts
I love the fact that it's a BS holiday - kinda like Kwanza!
"Well, the violence is becoming an annual tradition-- sorta like the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain..."
And Halloween on State Street in Madison, WI. That's nearly always a $70K party in police overtime, not to mention two or three businesses on that street that get trashed.
Oh, just let the irresponsible drunkards have their fun and we taxpayers will pick up the bill. No problem! /sarcasm
LOL!!!!!
Lydia Leal, who works in Roseland and got caught up in efforts to clear the street, said authorities overreacted.
---
Overreacted? Huh?
I guess the shots of smashed car windows and businesses are just something that happened by itself and are irrelevant anyway as the Stincko De Mejicos feeeel so disenfranchised. ,,
What a bunch of blippin' idiots that have no respect for the general public or others property.
Lock 'em Up and deport 'em!.
This was in Santa Rosa, California, not in Mexico...
C'mon, now, family values don't stop at the border...
And of course there has never been violence at any St. Patricks Day celebration either.
Not the point.
Cinco de Mayo violence, it's not like they won a NBA championship or the Rose Bowl or something.
..."It's as if they're walking the roads of Baghdad," she said....
Not yet, but getting closer all the time.
Huh how come you didn't say that when Boston was torn apart by drunken Red Sox fans.
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