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Sunday, January 8, 2006

DID COSTA MESA POLICE CHIEF JOHN HENSLEY TARGET A
CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST?

Surprising video shot by Minuteman suggests the
lawman had Coyotl Tezcalipoca illegally arrested

By DUANE J. ROBERTS
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

COSTA MESA, CA -- During the past 48 hours, video
footage has unexpectedly appeared on the internet
containing a number of startling images which suggest
that Coyotl Tezcalipoca, a young Mexican civil rights
activist who has been openly critical of Costa Mesa
Mayor Allan Mansoor's proposal to merge city law
enforcement with immigration duties, was illegally
arrested by police officers at the Tuesday, January
3rd meeting of that municipality's City Council.

The footage in question, a high quality five minute
video clip of that meeting, was taken by a
self-professed "Minuteman" who lives in Los Angeles,
and was posted on www.immigrationwatchdog.com,
a website that is dedicated to fighting "the human
tsunami of millions upon never ending millions of
poor illegal aliens from Latin America ...
[threatening] ... our way of life."

A careful, but detailed analysis of this clip not only
completely contradicts newspaper accounts claiming
that Tezcalipoca was taken into custody because he had
gone over his time limit during public comments and
had refused to leave the podium, but shows that
Costa Mesa Police Chief John Hensley himself may
have acted improperly -- and possibly illegally --
when he ordered several of his officers to arrest
the young activist.

The video clearly shows that Police Chief Hensley
ordered Tezcalipoca arrested shortly after Mayor
Mansoor stated twice over his microphone that the
meeting was temporarily being adjourned for what
appears to have been a pre-planned recess or
"break." If this is the case, as it appears to be,
then Hensley had his officers take Tezcalipoca into
custody for "disrupting" a Costa Mesa
City Council meeting which, technically, was no
longer in session. This casts serious doubts over
the validity of the arrest.

In addition to this, the video establishes for the
first time that Mayor Mansoor did in fact abruptly cut
off Tezcalipoca two minutes and twenty seconds into
his public comments -- out of the three minutes that
were available to him according to the Costa
Mesa municipal code. Civil libertarians looking
into this case argue this was an outright violation
of Tezcalipoca's constitutionally protected right to
free speech and assembly.

A separate investigation being conducted by John Earl,
publisher of the www.ocorganizer.com, a website that
covers labor and immigrant rights issues in Orange
County, not only has uncovered additional evidence
corroborating some of the claims brought up in this
article, but has discovered video clips showing that
Mayor Mansoor did in fact allow Minuteman founder Jim
Gilchrist to do things he refused to allow Tezcalipoca
to do during public comments.

"It seems that Mansoor's message to the public," Earl
told me yesterday via Yahoo messenger, "was that if
you are a Minuteman you may stand for your beliefs,
but if you are Mexican, please remain seated."

The video also shows, contrary to claims that Police
Chief Hensley made to the press last week, that
Tezcalipoca, although appearing upset over the fact
his comments were cut short by Mayor Mansoor, not
only was fully complying with orders by officers
to leave the podium, but was in the process of
exiting the building shortly before they violently
pushed him out the door.

VIDEO CAN BE SEEN AT WWW.IMMIGRATIONWATCHDOG.COM

Click on the following links to download them to your
computer in the appropriate formats.

QUICKTIME:

http://www.immigrationwatchdog.com/media/costamesa/bad_2.mov

WINDOWS:

http://www.immigrationwatchdog.com/media/costamesa/bad_2.wmv

It's funny how you twist things around in that head of yours.

On Sunday, Jan. 08, 2006 at 1:56 PM, TheWatchdog wrote:

> It's funny how you twist things around in
> that head of yours.

Thanks for posting that video clip online.

What kind of camera do you use, if I may ask?

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

> www.immigrationwatchdog.com

Make the taxpayers pay.

Sony VX-2000. I've given it a lot of use and it's still working.

It's interesting how stuck in our own thinking that we can be. We can look at the same video clips and see completely different things.

I'm always surprised at the things you Indy folks say to me on the street when I do interviews with you. It's always completely unexpected. Until 7 months ago I had never heard of Indy Media or any of these groups that gather here. It's been a very eye opening experience.

(I finally watched the video.)

I don't understand why Mansoor cut off his time. The period for comments, in my limited experience, is a "free speech" time, where the council lets everyone have their 2 or 3 minutes. You get all kinds of comments, some of them totally off-topic. Some are accusatory or mean. They don't get cut short unless they wander way off-topic (and Coyotl stayed on topic). The councilmembers, at worst, grin and bear it.

Also, the issue of asking supporters to stand up is not unusual. I've seen it done several times, sometimes "competitively" between two sides who want to show off how many supporters they have. It's protected speech, and, in America and England, I think it's part of the democratic tradition to bring people to a meeting who won't say anything due to lack of confidence, but are willing to stand.

The problem with these suburban municipalities is they're too used to a compliant populace who don't come to meetings and speak up. The elected officials aren't used to dissent, or anything less than brown-nosing and effusive praise.

Costa Mesa got themselves a lot more publicity than they would have otherwise. I get the weird feeling that it'll work out in the activists' favor again, if they take it to court.

You get three minutes but the cut off time is 7:00pm. You can hear someone say that in the tape, but it is a little mumbled.

the officer state "public comments are over at 7:00pm"
The fact that he has a history of disrupting meetings and swearing at council members probably did not help.

On Sunday, Jan. 08, 2006 at 8:32 PM, witness2 writes:

> the officer state "public comments are over
> at 7:00pm"

I'm sorry, but it doesn't work that way. If you start speaking at 6:59 pm, you can stay at the podium until you complete your three minutes. And besides, are you saying that it's a good thing to cut off somebody before their time is up? If Coyotl was the last speaker, he should have been allowed to finish what he was saying even if it went forty seconds past the hour. That's what other city councils do.

By the way, friends of mine have noted that Mayor Allan Mansoor allowed other people at that meeting to speak way beyond their three limit time limit. Is that a good thing? Or do you think he should be allowed to pick and chose who speaks longer based on his particular political preferences?

> The fact that he has a history of disrupting
> meetings and swearing at council
> members probably did not help.

Could you please provide me with evidence proving your assertion that Coyotl has a "history of disrupting meetings and swearing at council members"? How many times has he "disrupted" meeting? Ten? Twenty? Thirty?

And I hate to disappoint you, but there is nothing in the video to suggest that he did anything wrong at the last Costa Mesa City Council. In fact, all the evidence shows that what the Mayor and Police Chief did was illegal and in direct violation of his constitutional rights. I suppose that may be a tough pill for you to swallow, but that is a fact.

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

TheWatchdog writes on Sunday, Jan. 08, 2006 at 4:05 PM:

> Sony VX-2000. I've given it a lot of use and
> it's still working.

All I can say is that I'm quite impressed with the high quality camera work you do. Are you a photographer by profession?

> It's interesting how stuck in our own thinking
> that we can be. We can look at the same video
> clips and see completely different things.

In my case, I'm very much acquainted with the laws dealing with the rights of the people to applaud or criticize public officials. I've probably been to more than two hundred meetings of city councils, school boards, and other public bodies over the past decade alone. So it's pretty easy for me to pick out all the stuff that the Mayor and Police Chief did wrong at the last Costa Mesa City Council meeting.

> I'm always surprised at the things you
> Indy folks say to me on the street when
> I do interviews with you. It's always
> completely unexpected. Until 7 months
> ago I had never heard of Indy Media or
> any of these groups that gather here.
> It's been a very eye opening experience.

You find out we can find common ground on various issues, yes?

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

P.S. By the way, if the press asks me for information about how to go about contacting you regarding the video you shot, how would they go about doing that? Should I just refer them to your website?


> www.immigrationwatchdog.com

that comments would be cut off sharply at 7:00. Also, the fat women in the pink who had been told several times durring the meeting to stop distrupting, started yelling and moving toward the front.

There were also people using large signs to try to blockl the police from coming down the walkways. They had been told repeatedly that signs were not allowed and the meeting had to be stopped while the police insisted they take the signs out. Even so, the kept coming back.

They all started yelling and moving toward the front. It looked like some kind of organized disruption.

CMRESIDENT writes on Monday, Jan. 09, 2006 at 6:13 AM:

> that comments would be cut off sharply at
> 7:00.

I was at the meeting, but didn't hear that statement. I'm not doubting what you're saying, but it's irrelevant. You can't use that argument to defend what Mayor Allan Mansoor did to Coyotl. At every City Council or School Board meeting I've been too, the last person up at the podium shortly before cut off time is allowed to finish what they are saying even if it goes a minute or two over the deadline.

And it doesn't matter what Coyotl may or may not have done at a previous meeting of that body. What's important is what he was doing at that meeting. There isn't any evidence to prove that he did anything wrong other than exercise his constitutional rights. If you don't like what he's saying, that's fine. But the First Amendment protects his rights to express his opinions just as much as it protects yours.

> Also, the fat women in the pink who
> had been told several times durring the
> meeting to stop distrupting, started yelling
> and moving toward the front.

I'm not going to defend anybody else who might have disrupted the Costa Mesa City Council meeting that night.

> There were also people using large signs
> to try to blockl the police from coming down
> the walkways. They had been told repeatedly
> that signs were not allowed and the meeting
> had to be stopped while the police insisted
> they take the signs out. Even so, the kept
> coming back.

There was some confusion with Costa Mesa Police department over the issue of signs. I told Sergeant Glass basically that it's illegal for them to prevent people from bringing in signs. He backed off after I said that.

But the police can, for quite understandable reasons, prevent people from bringing in signs if they can be used as a weapon, prevents others from seeing the meeting, pose a fire hazard, or obstructs the movement of people.

> They all started yelling and moving toward the
> front. It looked like some kind of organized
> disruption

I don't recall seeing that happen. But then, I wasn't inside at all times.

I did witness Coyotl's arrest, however. I was a couple of feet away from him when it happened.

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

It's an eye opening experience talking with you people because you have no idea who you are protesting against and why we are fighting to enforce immigration laws.

One big area we have in common is in our disgust with corporate globalism and free trade agreements, NAFTA, CAFTA, FTAA, WTO, etc. Illegal immigration is just a symptom of this, but somehow you think that you will be able to raise the standard of living for Latin American's by allowing millions upon never ending millions of poor people who will always be willing to work for less into the United States. You can't fix the world by allowing everyone to come here. All you'll do is bring down our standard of living and overpopulate America.

I can appreciate the idealistic views that many of you have. It would nice to live in a world without borders and have everyone live in peace but this is not reality and it never will be. We can't even agree to disagree with one another. The lies, misinformation, hatred and hypocrisy I see in you people is indeed eye opening.

I was at the meeting. When Mr. Gilchrist asked for all the minutemen to stand, the mayor told him to stop. The Mayor implied that we might be able to stand at the conclusion of the 3 minutes to show the numbers that supported zMr. Gilchrist. But there was no minutemean standing ovation.

I tapped it ( I'm the middle aged white guy from another thread) during the first half from the back and the second half from the front. On my tape I only hear the mayor calling for a recess AFTER he was arrested but it was noisy so its possible it was garbled.

to say that Coyotl was cut off because 7:00 p.m. is the pre-determined (by ordinanance or not) cut-off time for public comment and that his public comment happened to IN PROGRESS as it was exactly 7:00 p.m. is the most ridiculous, most unreasonable thing i have ever heard. and because most city councils do not want to appear obviously, steadfastly fascist, they allow the speaker who started before the cut-off time to finish, EVEN IF it forces the public comment to go past the official cut-off time. in the case of Costa Mesa, the most the council would have to bear is approximately 2 minutes past 7:00 p.m. is it possible that a man was forcefully dragged out and beaten because the city couldn't spare 40 seconds or is it that they would not allow him to ask supporters (in this case, those who opposed the Mayor and the city's ICE proposal) to stand? in any case, all reason and analysis points toward an unreasonable city council and police personnel.

thus, the 7:00 p.m. argument is complete and total crap. it will never sound reasonable to either a judge or a jury.

I was there. The cops repeated the rules for the night over and over.

The Benito Facists were disrupting, swearing, and preventing others from speaking all night.

If you were in the room, in the back, like I was, you could see them rushing to the front, yelling and carrying signs.

The police took him out to avoid a riot.

Why can't you Anaheim Greenies stay in Anaheim?

Ass kicked

Richard S. wrote on Monday, Jan. 09, 2006 at 5:55 PM:

> I was at the meeting. When Mr. Gilchrist asked for
> all the minutemen to stand, the mayor told him to
> stop. The Mayor implied that we might be able to
> stand at the conclusion of the 3 minutes to show
> the numbers that supported zMr. Gilchrist. But
> there was no minutemean standing ovation.

A friend and I listened to parts of the Costa Mesa City Council meeting on their website and couldn't hear anything to suggest that Mayor Allan Mansoor told Jim Gilchrist to have his people sit down. However, we've seen the video clip where Minuteman supporters stand up when Gilchrist is at the podium, but then appears to suddenly sit down, as if they had been admonished. Was Mayor Mansoor speaking into his microphone at the time this happened?

> I tapped it ( I'm the middle aged white guy
> from another thread) during the first half from
> the back and the second half from the front.
> On my tape I only hear the mayor calling for
> a recess AFTER he was arrested but it
> was noisy so its possible it was garbled

The video that "Watchdog" shot and the one on the Costa Mesa City Council meeting website make it perfectly clear that Mayor Mansoor makes two comments over the microphone where he mentions that they're "on break" only a couple of moments before Coyotl is forcefully taken into custody.

Understand that when Costa Mesa policemen surrounded him at the podium, he was technically not under arrest. He was only being asked to leave. At least, that's how it appeared to me. There didn't appear to be any attempt to take Coyotl into physical custody until Police Chief Hensley instructed his men to take him away. However, by that time, the meeting was in recess, and not legally in session.

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

By Jury on Monday, Jan. 09, 2006 at 7:27 PM:

> I was there. The cops repeated the rules for
> the night over and over.

I never heard any of the Costa Mesa Police officers talk about that rule where people speaking during public comments get abruptly cut off by the Mayor before their time is up and then end up getting arrested for "disrupting" a public meeting that wasn't legally in session. Can you please tell me what part of the Government Code gives law enforcement agents the authority to do this? Is it the same Code which gives them the authority to raid people's homes in search of lost flashlights?

> The Benito Facists were disrupting, swearing,
> and preventing others from speaking all night.
> If you were in the room, in the back, like I
> was, you could see them rushing to the
> front, yelling and carrying signs.

When did this occur?

> The police took him out to avoid a riot.

So the best way to "avoid a riot" is for the Costa Mesa Police department to mix together all the ingredients you need to create one on the scale of what happened, say, in the City of Los Angeles in 1992, right?

Let's see: Mayor Mansoor violates Coyotl's constitutional rights to free speech and expression by abruptly cutting off his public comments before his time was up. Then Police Chief Hensley orders his officers to illegally arrest him on trumped up charges of "disrupting" a public meeting that isn't legally in session. And to top it off, the cops drag Coyotl outside with one of their arms locked around his neck and give him a few good kicks -- the exact same moment, coincidently, that Telemundo aims its cameras in their direction.

Sound good so far?

Now let's put things in their proper perspective, shall we?

A white Mayor, a white Police Chief, and white Policemen attack a young Mexican because he actually had the audacity of exercising his constitutional right of criticizing a proposed city policy that would affect his own community in an adverse way. And the white Mayor gives all the white people in the room all the time they want to speak that night. But for the Mexicans? Naahhh. The only right they have is the right to remain silent, yes? And If "they" dare speak up against the white people running the Costa Mesa, we'll just get the white Police Chief to have his white Policemen haul them away to the slammer!

Got it?

> Why can't you Anaheim Greenies stay in Anaheim?

I'll stay home if Jim Gilchrist does! :)

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

TheWatchdog writes on Monday, Jan. 09, 2006 at 11:14 AM:

> It's an eye opening experience talking with
> you people because you have no idea
> who you are protesting against and why
> we are fighting to enforce immigration laws.
>

[extra text deleted]

Hi Watchdog:

When I have more time, I'll continue this discussion with you. I'm interested in discussing this further.

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

> you have no idea who you are protesting against
> and why we are fighting to enforce immigration laws.

That's the logic fallacy known as "begging the question." These SOSMM / Aryan Nations / National Alliance / Stormfront et al. people aren't motivated by any desire to "enforce immigration laws." If you look at what these people represent by their actions, rhetoric, and web sites, what they're opposed to is people with brown skin by all available appearances.

Now that may be inaccurate or mistaken but then you would have to explain why these people's hate speech, hate actions, hate rhetoric, and web sites paint a picture that's in stark opposition to...

Well, it's all the same debunking of the SOSMM types that you've no doubt seen before -- and ignored.

I can't imagine how anyone can stand next to people waving Nazi and Confederate flags, enjoy the support and acolaids of Storm Front, National Alliance, and Aryan Nations, and then proclaim to be motivated by "enforcing immigration laws."

Do you honestly think that non-racists are that stupid?

No offense intended.

My opinions only and only my opinions.

> The police took him out to avoid a riot.

See, non-white people riot. White people don't.

And as we saw the right-wing media explain in the aftermath of New Orleans, black people loot, white people find.

The notion that there was any possibility of the anti-racists rioting is pretty telling. It describes the mentality of the person who spewed that notion, and the mentality of the SOSMM / National Alliance / Storm Front / Aryan Nations et al. people who view non-whites as if they're subhuman monsters -- who riot.

Fact is, the racists were given preferential treatment by the city of Costa Mesa and by the rules of the Council meetings of that city, the non-white Americans were screwed in the ass -- as usual.

No offense intended.

My opinions only and only my opinions.

Fredric L. Rice wrote on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2006 at 12:25 PM:

>> The police took him out to avoid a riot.

> See, non-white people riot. White people don't.

Thank you for pointing that out.

When white people rebel against unjust conditions, they're called "heroes," "patriots," and "revolutionaries." But when non-white people do the same thing, they're called "thugs," "looters," and "rioters."

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

I've never seen a City Council (or any other official meeting for that matter) cut off someone's speaking time because the period for comments was over. I've only seen the comment period extended if there are only a few people left to speak, regardless of their opposition to the City Council.

I haven't been to that many public meetings -- maybe twenty in the past decade -- but what they did to him was surprisingly unusual.

omg i can hardly contain myself! there are so many good points here, many good observations that will only bolster Coyotl's legal position. the city, the police, and the DA's office would be incredibly (i'd say precedently but remember Theresa Dang's flashlight case??) STUPID to pursue a criminal case against Coyotl. hahahahaha... the person of color resister is going to win again!!! :)

*** in the face of oppression, resistance is a natural response ***.

Johnk wrote on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2006 at 7:54 PM:

> I've never seen a City Council (or any other
> official meeting for that matter) cut
> off someone's speaking time because
> the period for comments was over. I've
> only seen the comment period extended
> if there are only a few people left to
> speak, regardless of their opposition
> to the City Council.
>
> I haven't been to that many public
> meetings -- maybe twenty in the past
> decade -- but what they did to him
> was surprisingly unusual.

As I mentioned in a previous posting, I've probably attended somewhere in the neighborhood of about 200 meetings of city councils, school boards, and other public bodies over the past decade.

I've seen a couple of situations where people have gone up to the podium during public comments and have made incredibly vile and derogatory statements about the elected officials they were addressing.

When that happens, the Mayor or Board President usually asks them to stop in a polite way. If they don't, they just turn off the microphone and let them continue rambling away until their time is up.

If they go over their time limit, the Mayor or Board President would then politely ask that person that they must leave the podium. They never sent an army of cops up to remove them.

I recall only one situation where a person that refused to leave the podium at an Anaheim City Council meeting was asked to leave. But the police dealt with that person so gently that no arrest was made.

What happened at the Costa Mesa City Council meeting on January 3rd was the first time I've seen police officers anywhere behave so aggressively against someone during a public meeting.

People need to understand that as Coyotl was being violently dragged out the door, one of the policemen had his arm around his neck. His facial expression indicated to me he was being choked.

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

he is Egyptian

It's probably irrelevent though being from Egypt doesn't preclude being a racist.