Last nights protest outside Monohans Bar in Costa Mesa showed that the discontent within the local communities over recent votes by the Costa Mesa city council to train police in INS duties is growing.
Last Night protesters chanted in Spanish, sang un-requested music and randomly blasted Ozomotly from a bicycle boom-box in front of Monahan’s bar and restaurant to protest bar owner and city councilman Garry Monohans vote in favor of training Costa mesa’s police in INS affairs.
Last nights protest attracted the largest turn out yet.
It appears that the event is becoming a county wide social event with people showing up from around the county.
The protest consisted of Protesters marching through the Parking lot of the bar, chanting, dancing and even a musical outfit playing Spanish guitars from within the crowd of protesters.
The protest is practically changing the small section of Newport blvd on Friday Night into a small Los Angeles street for what felt like a few hours of fun and community within the protest.
The march through the parking-lot, though, led one man to show the dangerous undertones of the conflict when he stuck his head out of the bar and laughed with his friends that,
“If this were the1890’s we could just shoot them (the protesters) like buffalo”
This statement may be not be technically true, but it should be mentioned that around the 1890’s the Irish would also be living in segregated ghetto housing while being beaten for stealing “the white persons jobs” protesters pointed out when made aware of the statement.
And if it was 1790 Monahan’s in Costa Mesa would be Monahan’s in Mexico as well.
Monahan did call the police on two occasions last night.
Both times came when the protesters moved from the sidewalk to the parking lot of the bar in a semi-comical and very tense moment of chanting and playing Spanish guitars at the doors of Monahan as Monahan yelled back ‘you are trespassing” while pub-goers outside for smokes were told to go inside the bar to avoid confrontation.
Police showed up and confirmed to protest leaders that the Parking lot was off limits.
“(Garry Monohan) needs to get used to the changing political climate” said Duane Roberts during the protest, accept that if you support a law that negatively affects and singles out the Mexican-American community, that this type of stuff is gonna happen.
Protesters admit it will be an up-hill battle, though, because many in the Orange County community do not understand how threatening these laws are seen by the Mexican-American families of not just Costa Mesa, but Orange, San Diego and L.A County.
As one pub patron voiced her dislike for the protest said
“(Monahan) has a bunch of Spanish men who cook for him and make me blessed meals…Junito and Miguel are very happy”
Mexican-Americans at the protest shared that they hope their protests will make it clear how the Chicano’s in Orange County see a vote for this law as a sign of being disconnected from the reality of not only the North American world, but the local community.
“The mayor-who also voted for the law-and councilman Monahan have a real fragmented analysis of the Immigration issue” said Natasha who was one of the guitar playing protesters
“There is a whole Diaspora of (Latin American and Mexican) immigrants who are practically political refugees due to the very policies of the United States”… ‘Mexican and Latin Americans don’t want to leave there home, but U.S policies create the situations that force them to leave”, and then they get here, work hard, raise families, pay taxes and become the enemy, Natasha held her guitar and got ready to leave.
Protesters shared that they want the city council of Costa Mesa to realize that this is not a phase in the So-Cal Chicano community.
Protesters said that they see this law as violent and destructive. They see it as a threat to their families.
The felling within the community of protesters is that the Costa Mesa law giving some police INS powers is that the law brings the horrible thought to life of not knowing if family members will return home after school or work.
The law also creates fear of not being able to call the police in times of break-ins; domestic violence or rape, say protesters.
One protester confided that he felt that the people in the bar talked about not likening “illigals” but none of the bar drinkers will lose anything if the law gets repealed.
For Mexican-Americans though, protesters shared, if this law doesn’t get repealed it may mean that life becomes the constant fear of their fathers never again coming home, there mothers getting detained and harassed on the way to buying food, their children getting legally harassed on the way to school.”
And maybe that was the difference Friday Night. The bar was packed because the drinkers wanted to deaden the conscience and have fun for a little while. The Sidewalk was packed with protesters because they had been awakened.