Orange County Activist Jailed on July 4, at Costa
Mesa Nike Town Protest
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — On July 4, 2002,
approximately thirty protesters convened upon Nike
Town in Costa Mesa, to protest against corporate
abuse and sweatshop labor. The protest was
peaceful, fun, and colorful, from 12:00 until 3:00PM.
Around 3:30, three young white males waving an
American flag approached the protestors, shouting and making obscene gestures toward them, and
began kicking their signs. A crowd gathered, and one
of the men threw an apple, which hit one of the
protesters in the face. At that point, one of the
white males began grabbing his genitals, and shouted “suck my dick, bitch" to one of the female protestors. He then proceeded to shout at her, and another demonstrator, Naui Huitzilopochtli, telling them to “Go back to Mexico, you fucking wetbacks.” All three were telling them, “Let’s go, come on motherfuckers, I’ll kick your ass.” They began throwing pennies at the protestors, taunting and spitting at them.
All of a sudden, a masked person ran up, and
squirted the men with red paint. The unknown
assailant fled the scene, and the Costa Mesa police
(who had been present the whole time) intervened on
behalf of the three white males. One of them told an
officer that he had been assaulted with paint, and
when the police asked him who did it, he pointed to
Naui. Without question, the officer grabbed Naui, and
handcuffed him. Numerous protestors who witnessed the event told the officers that Naui was innocent. But
the police told them to "shut up," or they would all
be arrested. The police then declared the demonstration to be an unlawful assembly, and they
gave the protestors two minutes to disperse. The
police allowed the three white males to fill out crime
victim reports at the scene of the incident, but would
not allow any of the protestors to fill out reports
against them. In fact, the police told the protestors
that if they did not leave, everyone would be
arrested.
The protestors then went to the Costa Mesa
police station, where the clerk at the front desk
asked, “Why didn’t you fill out a report at the crime
scene?” They informed her that police officers would
not allow them to do so. Approximately twenty
protesters arrived at the station to file complaints,
but the police threatened to arrest them. They had to
fill out the reports in the parking lot.
It is very disturbing how Naui and the
protestors were treated by Costa Mesa police officers.
The police refused to listen to witness testimony at
the scene. Naui’s family had to post bail, for a
crime he did not commit. Despite the fact these three
white males shouted racial slurs, threw objects, spit at,
and sexually harassed the protestors, somehow, THEY were the crime victims.
This is serious police repression, and the worst
case of police abuse, racism, and misogyny that we
have ever seen. We plan to go to the Orange County Human Relations Committee, the Costa Mesa City Council, and pursue whatever legal methods we can use to ensure that justice is served. This case has placed financial hardship on Naui and his family. He is in great need of legal defense funds, and court
solidarity. He will not plead guilty to a crime he
did not commit. If you can send legal defense funds,
and/or support our case against the Costa Mesa Police Department, please call (714) 303-0004, or e-mail atlachinolli_front@yahoo.com.
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