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 3:00, 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.