Posted on 05/28/2005 2:39:36 PM PDT by TERMINATTOR
Harold Edmund Netkin, 69, was initially handcuffed Wednesday night, but was later released without being cited, said Garden Grove Police Lt. Mike Handfield.
Netkin's car was surrounded as he arrived at the Garden Grove Women's Club, 9501 Chapman Ave., and demonstrators rocked the vehicle and banged on it, Handfield said.
"We determined it was reasonable for him to move forward," Handfield said.
Two people who were standing in front of Netkin's car fell down when he moved forward, the sergeant said. One complained of knee and shoulder pain and was taken to a local hospital, he said.
According to broadcast reports, the other also went to the hospital.
Police were aware of the demonstration and had five dozen officers on scene "expecting to keep the peace," Handfield said. But some of the estimated 300 demonstrators were there "not to protest but to commit criminal acts," he said.
"A small contingent of people that were troublemakers had backpacks filled with full cans of soda that they were throwing and also cans filled with marbles that they threw," Handfield said.
Some of the protesters wore rubber gloves and donned sweatshirt hoods pulled tightly so only a small portion of their faces could be seen, he said.
Those arrested were identified by police as Hugo Sarmiento Vanlid, 24, Ivan Obed Silva, 26, Shane William Sparks, 21, Fernando Chirino, 23, and Kurt Takeshi Isobe, 18.
Their cities of residence were not immediately available.
"The case will go to the district attorney, who will have the opportunity to look at all the facts we did," Handfield said.
Prosecutors will look at the actions of both Netkin and the arrested protesters, he added.
About 300 people were outside the club as Minuteman Project founder James W. Gilchrist talked to about the same number of people inside, attendees said.
Handfield said some protesters went inside the meeting and appeared to be using cell phones to communicate with those outside.
"It got out of control in terms of protesters getting violent," he said.
Jan Tucker, chair of the California Association of Licensed Investigators, said he accompanied state and local leaders of the League of United Latin American Citizens to the talk.
He said the atmosphere inside the meeting "was the flip side" of what was happening outside.
"It was extremist inside," Tucker said. "The audience was so hostile inside we were afraid to ask questions."
Attendees who were not members of the club were charged $5 and reportedly had to write down their names, addresses and telephone numbers to get inside.
Tucker said he was not disruptive, but was still asked to leave. After refusing, an officer came over and spoke to him, but Tucker said he still plans to sue the California Coalition for Immigration Reform for allegedly violating his rights "because they tried to get me arrested."
Gilchrist spoke for about 90 minutes, blaming high housing costs and low wages on illegal immigration. He was presented with a cake for his earlier border monitoring, Tucker said.
Tucker said members of LULAC were outside demonstrating, but were strictly cautioned to remain non-violent and to refrain from provoking police.
Tucker said none of the people he spoke to after the event mentioned that Netkin's van was surrounded or was being hit, but insisted that he gunned the car at people.
Handfield said protesters broke a car window of "some innocent person coming to listen" to the talk. Police did not witness the vandalism, and no arrest was made.
At about 10 p.m., officers declared an illegal assembly, ordering the crowd to disperse.
The group, which recently patrolled a portion of the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, has announced plans to patrol a portion of the border in California on Aug. 1.
The Minuteman Project has been accused of racism. Gilchrist has denied the charge, saying his group merely wants to stop illegal immigration.
The group has drawn praise from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but its members were referred to as vigilantes by President George W. Bush.
Thanks for the tip. She has now reached official no credibility status.
Pathetic...
Yeah, all Law Enforcement wants the help of incompetent ironed up citizens. Call the professionals.
I'm not slandering them. They are jerks. Are they oath bound as LEO's? I can understand being fed up with border traffic, but work to change the laws. I have a number of family memebers in Law Enforcement, so it's not as if I am a neophyte.
Lower case intentional.
I didn't know that you were part of the very small and shrill Open Border bunch of anti-American loonies.
I'm one of those "jerks". You know nothing of what the Minuteman Project did. Your comments make this obvious. You are grossly misinformed. Come back and comment when you've educated yourself.
I'm not a Lib and you know it. I prayed for you when you had your surgery last year and sent Annette my best wishes for your health.
Keep drinking the kool-aid. This place has turned into the mirror image of DU.
You don't know anything about me other than what you read here. Tom.
Calling the Minuteman patriots vigilanties doesn't settle well with me. I didn't like it when Bush did it and I don't like it when anyone else does.
If nothing else it is innaccurate.
I'm grateful for your prayers but the jabs many of ya'll indulge in over at CP are pretty mean spirited. Clown Posse is much more like DU than this place in the tone.
You are a moderate on every social issue I've seen you comment on....which is your perogative.
There are border patrol, customs and INS officials who are members of this site and have voiced their support to me privately and I'm sure I'm not the only one to have recieved freepmail from them.
Onyx was just there and spoke with Customs officials who were hooray over Travis McGee and his role as sort of the resident leader of FR's Culture, Borders, Language gang.
That's all I have as proof that the Minutemen have allies in our border agencies.
I guess I'm out of it but what is "clown posse?"
What else would you call them? Vigilantes is about it.
That said, I can't stand the "take it to the roof-tops" crowd who are truly vigilantes.
Fair enough. And I welcome your thanks for my prayers on your behalf. I gave them up because I care about you and your family. Not for my own sake.
Just because we disagree on some issues doesn't qualify me as a "Lib" and I would ask you to refrain from that.
I would beg to differ about tone as per CP, DU and FR. I've seen more wholesale bannings on FR than I ever have on DU and very few on CP.
Yep, Travis McGee is famous on this board with at least one Custom's officer I met while being searched.
I am not pinging Trav, because he's busy writing and has privately requested he not be pinged.
The MM are not gun toting vilgilantes. They're welcomed by the BP agents in the field. POTUS is wrong on this issue and I am a Bush bot.
You aren't only clueless on the matter, but clearly (and hysterically) delusional.
Btw, is the action at Clown Posse a little slow this evening?
Traigamelo?
Define: vigilantes
Here, this might help:
http://www.dictionary.com
It doesn't make sense to discuss a word if we don't agree as to its definition.
I have a few of those t-shirts (vote from the roof-tops) and I bought a few for my friends.
Yeah. . .color me the same color. . .as well as many, many more people just as confused.
I'm not hostile. I'm just not a fan of viglilante justice. I guess name-calling, as you say, is okay if it comes from your side of the fence?
Lib? DU?
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