On Monday, the minutemen, including Save Our State, will be protesting outside of the Jurupa Unified School Board meeting at 5:30 p.m. in defense of Joshua Denhalter, a high school student suspended for 3 days for passing out flyers for an unauthorized anti-immigration and anti-MEChA rally at the school. Denhalter will be asking the school board on Monday to ban MEChA clubs across the school district. Counterprotests are being organized.

Denhalter was attempting to organize his demonstration without school approval, to counter a school-approved MEChA rally on campus. Although Denhalter’s punishment is minor compared with expulsions and police confrontations met by pro-migrant students across Southern California in the past week, he has become a minor cause célèbre in local anti-migrant quarters.

According to the Press Enterprise, on Friday, about 60 minutemen, including members of Save Our State and Jim Gilchrist, head of the Minuteman Project, took up the Denhalter controversy before the Juruba High School lunch hour, where they were match by a nearly equal number of counterprotestors. Denhalter organized the minuteman protest, according to the San Bernardino Sun.

Save Our State is discussing plans to blare Twisted Sister and Tom Petty music to disrupt the school board meeting, and bringing in children from other school districts “to show we do not represent a ‘dying population’”. The discussion on their message board indicates this is emerging as an effort to shut down more MEChA chapters in schools and on college and university campuses, much as they tried to do with day labor centers.

Counterprotestors are encouraged to attend. The school board meets at 4850 Pedley Rd. (Pedley and Jurupa) in Riverside (right on Pedley Rd. off the 60). It will probably be raining: come prepared.

MEChA should be thrilled!