NEWS CONFERENCE
Sunday, April 9, 2006
12:00 p.m.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
710 S. Sultana Ave., Ontario, CA 91761

Actor Edward James Olmos and Movie Producer Moctezuma Esparza HBO’s “East L.A Walkouts,”“Selena,”“Milagro Beanfield War”) will be among the many community members who will join Louise Corales, the mother of Anthony Soltero, age 14, in a prayer for her son this Sunday, following the 11:00 a.m. mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Ontario, California. Ms. Corales will speak to the press and the community at 12:00 noon, after the 11 o’clock mass on Sunday, April 9, 2006.

Eighth grader Anthony Soltero shot himself through the head on Thursday, March 30, after the assistant principal at De Anza Middle School told him that he was going to prison for three years because of his involvement as an organizer of the March 28 school walk-outs to protest the anti-immigrant legislation in Washington. The vice principal also forbade Anthony from attending graduation activities and threatened to fine his mother for Anthony’s truancy and participation in the student protests.

“Anthony was learning about the importance of civic duties and rights in his eighth grade class. Ironically, he died because the vice principal at his school threatened him for speaking out and exercising those rights,” Ms. Corales said today. “I want to speak out to other parents, whose children are attending the continuing protests this week. We have to let the schools know that they can’t punish our children for exercising their rights.”

Anthony’s death is likely the first fatality arising from the protests against the immigration legislation being considered in Washington, D.C. Anthony, who was a very good student at De Anza Middle School in the Ontario-Montclair School District, believed in justice and was passionate about the immigration issue. He is survived by his mother, Louise Corales, his father, a younger sister, and a baby brother.

Anthony’s funeral and burial are scheduled for Monday, April 10, 2006, at 9:30 a.m., STRICKLAND & SNIVERY, 1953 Long Beach Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90806.

CONTACTS: R. SAMUEL PAZ, Weekend (310) 989-6815; Office (310) 410-2981 SONIA MERCADO, weekend (310 210-4445; Office (310) 410-2981
E-mail: samuelpaz@MSN.com LAW OFFICES OF R. SAMUEL PAZ

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This is not a game folks . . .

I never met you, and I miss you. I read your myspace.

I, and maybe a lot of us, will fight a little harder because of you. I know that isn't enough; I wish we could have done more to stop all this shit from coming down on you. I'm sorry.

I can't find news articles on this. could somebody provide links?

I wrote about this on my blog. I feel that the school official's career should be destroyed. They should be shamed into moving out of the area. While I'm sorry Anthony felt that he had to commit suicide he was young and impressionable and that vice principal played on his fears. That person is unfit to be an educator or administrator, not to mention a human being.

Daily Bulletin artilce.

Press-Enterprise article (login required)

Not a game? No kiding. Too bad someone didn't express the same more clearly to this kid before he shot himself. To be sure, it's gut wrenching. Not something anyone wants to see. I can't imagine what the school admin was thinking with those threats, and I hope our justice system does not condone such. The situation is preposterous. Our leaders are gaming the system -- they don't want to legalize so as to maintain cheap labor. And the masses don't want legalization, because they don't see the good in it. If our leaders would lead, instead of exploit, and fumble everything they touch, this wouldn't have happened. Welcome to Amerika. Is it everything you hoped?

If this is as reported, then the school official and/or school district might possibly be sued for wrongful death, since the school official's obviously false statements were meant to be threatening and inflict a personal fear in the student, and at that age such student would be considered vulnerable and likely incapable or discerning the truth of the threats...and such threats were made in an attempt to intimidate and frighten the student...

I'll be surprised if the family doesn't sue...as a result of this needless tragedy.

i think not all tv station reported this event 4-9-06

What ever happened to administrators who could tell when a kid is "troubled"? The dude was obviously angry, because he already did something "bad" and then was organizing these walkouts. You don't organize a walkout unless you're upset about not just the one issue, but several issues. Kids definitely have a lot of stress these days, with the war, the budget freezes, and the usual stuff in school.

The really messed up part was that he was putting himself on the right track, to becoming a participant in the community, and probably on the path to dealing with his feelings. The vice principal derailed him, and he shot himself.

I hope this burden weighs heavily on the VP's conscience, for a long time, because it cuts to the heart of what his purpose in life was supposed to be.

I remember the assholes running the schools when I was a child, half of them were total psychopaths. THe man commit a crime and one he should be executed for, in my opinion. What a complete devil!
All I can say is that this is one more example of how our school system is a communistic control system, which endangers the lives of it's participants at worst and controls them at best, it has nothing to do with education. Ever notice how all the rich fuckers don't dare send their kids to public school? You think that is a mistake?

the vice prinicipal should be ashamed! Un sinverguenza! Where does this administrator come from? Telling a child false information, is not appropriate! I believe all school administrators who conduct themselves inapropriately with regards to the student walk-outs should be fined and fired! Our school systems is already f***ed up. Its time to change the priorities of the education system - and change the curriculum to popular education!
In grief, Solazo

What fools we tolerate in our schools! That idiot vice-principal should be charged with manslaughter. What a ridiculous nation America has become!

Students, even defiant ones, are often intimidated by the educational system. It has real power over them.

The point is basic: administrators should not lie to the students, especially not to intimidate them. What the VP did was tantamount to threatening the boy with "fucked life" of dead end jobs. How would anyone react to someone who has the power to ruin your life, ruining it. Suppose you were speeding, and instead of getting a ticket, you were told you were going to spend years in prison with a felony charge. That's what this situation is.

Now, imagine you're young, without the life experience that teaches you that lots of bad things happen, and you'll get through them okay. That's where this kid was probably at.

as of today, this story has finally reached the mainstream media. On a google search you get 18 stories.

The story was also featured on Democracynow.org for about 5 minutes. The lawyer representing the family of Antony was interviewed by Amy.

Thank you Pachuco for your post and to LA-IMC for breaking this important story.

Local TV channel 4 also ran the story last night. But they did not tell the whole story.

An audio interview with the attorney was up on this site 4 days ago. See the link: http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/04/153092.php

The Indymedia newswire is for real and the whole world is watching.

ANTHONY,
I LEARNED ABOUT THIS TRAGIC EVENT FROM ONE OF MY PROFESSORS AT SCHOOL. I AM A FRESHMEN IN COLLEGE. AND WHEN I HEARD WHAT HAD HAPPEN I WAS IN SO MUCH SHOCK HAD TO LEARN MORE AND FIND OUT WHAT HAPPEN. IM SORRIE THAT YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH THIS. BUT I KNOW PEOPLE WILL FIGHT FOR YOU AND THE RIGHT OF THE MEXICAN AMERICAN PEOPLE. I JUST HOPE YOU KNOW THAT YOU HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING WRONG. YOU WERE JUST STANDING UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN! YOU WILL BE TRUELY MISSED!

ANTHONYS FAMILY:
MY SINCERE CONDOLENSE TO YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS, FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART! IM SORRIE YOU AND ANTHONY HAD TO EXPERIENCE THIS LOST. I KNOW THAT YOUR SON WAS A WONDERFUL AND INTELLIGENT STUDENT! JUST REMEMBER HE WILL ALWAYS BE THERE WITH YOU. TO HELP YOU GROW STRONGER! AND FIGHT CON MAS GANAS!

TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS!

ALWAYS, ANGELINA PEREZ

I sure I'll get flamed for this but how does anyone of you actually know what happened between the VP and this kid? None of you were there. It seems like there is a whole lot more to this stroy thatn is presently coming out. Let's see what happens when more facts come out. I'd also like to point out that any kid taking his life is an absolute tragedy, regardless of the circumstances.

I don't know of too many people who have written on this topic--how authority consistently deals with the public, child or adult, but I do know of one source. The topic was discussed at some length in:

_The Myth of ADD and other means of child control_ by Peter Schrag and Diane Divoky, 1970s.

Let's see if I can find any excerpts. Ah-hah!:

...comes directly from the book, tho edited for reasons of its original length. This part on self-defense was located in the Appendix between pages 230 and 235.

There are no assured means of resistance...Even the most comprehensive formal regulations assuring due process...are no guarantee against violations of privacy, subtle forms of manipulation or overt intrusions into the lives of children and their parents. As the techniques of control become more complex, "scientific" and "humane" --and as they become less overtly [noticeable]--resistance will become that much more difficult. Where the institution (school, police, court) acknowledges that the objective is punishment or deterrence, formal modes of defense --lawyers, trials and hearings --are regarded as necessary and proper; where the objective is said to be "treatment," resistance becomes more difficult and the potential for manipulation more extensive. The rationale of therapy, education and rehabilitation almost inevitably clouds due process and individual liberties. It creates great opportunities for obfuscation (deceit) and mystification: claims of expertise and the invocation of special knowledge (or the use of sophisticated technology) are no less intimidating than naked authority. [imagine if they really were naked!]

There are, nonetheless, certain techniques and resources (hope to soon have link to this) which have been used successfully in the past (1-10):


1) The beginning of almost all resistance is demystification. Ask dumb questions, and be bold. What do the words mean? Is the person behind the desk talking about a real disease or is he merely using pseudo-medical terms to describe subjective impressions of behavior, to excuse [ideological] failure, or to conceal institutional biases or demands [sometimes known as interests]? ...What, if anything, does the test or screen really measure?...is [its] validation based merely on the biases of other "professionals" in other institutions?...What does the therapist ([or] teacher, counselor) know about the instruments he is using and why is he really using them?...Will [your] information lead to genuine...help, or will it merely produce [more] labels...[and] serve as a rationale for failure in the future? A series of such questions may quickly indicate that under the guise of the kindly counselor there is just another administrator concerned about order and management or a beureaucrat protecting his own flanks. Such a revelation may not be very reassuring...but it will at least alert all concerned parties about the nature of the "problem" they are dealing with.


2) Don't let the old feeling of being a child take over when dealing with authorities... Don't be brushed off or patronized. Agents of public institutions --welfare, police, schools, hospitals, courts --are often adept at patronizing or intimidating clients and at taking advantage of some primal feeling on the part of the client that he is The Child and that the [adult] sitting across from him is The Principal. (Or criminal and cop, patient and doctor, examiner and applicant, IRS agent and taxpayer.) If you are sitting in an office waiting for someone to interpret a record, open the file and read it. [but be careful, some administrators have been known to call the police when they've found a parent reading her own child's file--maybe that's not so bad if you don't want your adult looking at such things...]


3) Get everything in writing --laws, regulations, directives. Do not take the explanations of adminstrators as gospel. Take notes, insist on seeing everything in writing and keep copies. A [negative] confrontation may not be necessary --nor is it [good for] the best relationship with [those who have power over you]--but it is important to remember that it takes two parties to create such a confrontation, and that the client's fear of offending authorities is precisely the thing that many administrators count on when they try to patronize and intimidate Some school adminstrators seem to have a natural tendency to treat everyone as a child; in general the weaker their position, the more they will be tempted to bluster and bully.


4) Have as many [tools] available as possible. In [many places] there are [independent] community groups with some experience in dealing with [institutions]... The important rule here is to disregard ideology; the [ACLU] and the John Birch Society may sometimes be fighting the same battle...[and each may be able to assist you]


5) Stay on the side of suspicion. Even [someone] who loves [their] school, teachers and administrators and respect their competence and concern is not assured that they will honor [your] privacy, or that they can. People are transferred, teachers change, administrators move on, but the system, the records and [your] life go on indefinitely. Such problems may be tempered by the nature of the system itself; in general small school systems are more candid, suburban systems more friendly, urban systems more bureaucratic and less responsive. Yet it may be the very friendliness or candor of a system that will make privacy more vulnerable. The warm treatment extended by the school to [you] may also be extended to the chief of police, ...or anyone else... Similar principles apply, of course, to courts, probation departments, police and clinics.


6) Act in advance. When your child is first enrolled in school, make it clear that you will be checking his record every few months, that you want no screening or testing unless you've given informed consent, in writing, for that particular test. Do not give blanket consent, either for screening or for the release of records. Put appropriate statements in your child's file, and send copies to the superintendant. Take along a copy of the Buckley Amendment, in case no one knows the law.


7) If a child is to be referred to a psychologist, ...or other specialist, choose the practitioner yourself. The school (or the clinic, or the police) may have a list, but chances are that [those] on the list will be those that the institution regards as most sympathetic to its purposes. That does not necessarily mean that all are drug pushers [etc.]. Still, it is important to find one who is personally and ideologically in phase with your own interests. ...remember point 1 (above). Ask dumb questions.


8) In all formal disciplinary confrontations with institutional representatives, and particularly with police and juvenile authorities, get legal advice and, if possible, have a lawyer or lay advocate experienced in the field present at all meetings. ...Not any lawyer or advocate will do: the highly paid counsel to a corporation doing a parent a favor may be a babe in the woods of a police station. A lawyer or even an experienced layman from an organization of community advocates is usually preferable. [Goes on to cite 1975-era Supreme Court cases;see info from the Student Law Press Center in Washington, D.C. for updated info about legal procedures. One that may be useful here is:] ...For the first time parents and students have been given a genuinely powerful weapon in the enforcement of students' rights: the ability to sue for money damages and the chance to collect.


9) In every case, be certain that you obtain all applicable statues and regulations and that you understand local practice, which may very considerably from place to place. ...In one community truancy laws are rigidly enforced; in an adjoining community they are neglected. One principal beats children (or has his assistants do it) while the principal in the school five blocks away does not.


10) In all cases involving the rights of juveniles, remember that prevention is probably the only remedy. The courts have been highly reluctant to award damages or order compensation to the victims of official abuse, and the administrators of public institutions--schools, hospitals and police--will almost never acknowledge [wrongfulness] on the part of their subordinates. Although there are exceptions, the general rule is that administrators know that there is very little they can do for which they may be punished later. This means that anything they want to do, they will do, unless they are stopped before they do it. Even in those cases where parents have proved that a school beating adminsitered to their child resulted in a permanent physical injury, little or no compensation was awarded by the courts. Damages are sometimes awarded for neglect in violation of state school laws (e.g. injuries in an unattended gym class) but not for acts committed in fulfillment of "official" duties.
One final note: individual bargaining power is almost always enhanced when the issue is punishment or institutional management; punishment is usually subject to some due process, but therapy is not. Despite the harsh connotations, and despite the temptation to play the sickness-and- treatment game with a friendly administrator or counselor, individual rights are subject to more respect when the institution concedes that the issue stems from infractions of the rules, a teacher's inability to deal with a child or just plain bad behavior.

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Pssst, pass this around, and maybe we can better avoid this situation in the future (how about youth publishing this in an underground zine for example!)

The article about Anthony's death brought tears and a severe pain in my heart. Iam a mother, sister, wife and a friend and it really hurst me when people say or do hateful things towards young children. Anthony life was cut at the tender age of 14 and it is just inhuman. It is sad that our society has become senseless but it makes it worst when instead of helping our youth; the future of this country and the world there some people who are evil and work againts good.

I believe that the family should sue the assistant principal for doing that. The school has no right to tell us that .

I believe that the family should sue the assistant principal for doing that. The school has no right to tell us that .

I believe that the family should sue the assistant principal for doing that. The school has no right to tell us that .

This is a very tragic thing that happened, and my heart goes out to Anthony's family. I am a mother, and i cannot imagine what Ms. Corales must be feeling, however, I don't think that the assistant principal is to blame for this! Our children are being missled, our kids don't even know what this new law means. I am a proud Mexican-American woman, but on May 1st when the hispanic community decided to boycott all american products, and kids missed school, I truly believe that the children who missed school should be punished! It is not about freedom of speech. It is about responsibility, and just as some people lost their jobs for not going to work that day children should be reprimanded!
Again, My heart goes out Anthony's family, but our society is to blame, not the assistant principal of the school. We have to educate our children and let them know that not going to school or walking out of school is not the way to get what they want! Besides when they miss school they are not hurting anybody but themselves! They should be grateful to be here and to be able to go to school here!