On a recent Thursday night (February 2) about eight demonstrators showed up in front of Co
sta Mesa city councilman Gary Monahan’s restaurant business (Skosh Monahan’s Steakhouse and Irish Pub, 2000 Newport Blvd, Costa Mesa on the corner of Newport Blvd and 20th) to protest his recent vote to have Costa Mesa police act as quasi immigration officers.
A Republican Party fundraiser to benefit Diane Harkey, a far-right contestant for the 35th state senate district, was the other featured attraction. There was some chanting and hollering--one demonstrator walked back and forth in front of the pub yelling out “Mr. Mansoor, come out! You are being arrested for violating the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” and others shouted “racist go home” and similar slogans.
But the circus began when members of the neo-fascist Minuteman Project came to counter-protest and engaged in shouting matches as well as polite debates with immigrant rights advocates. The highlight of the evening was when Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist arrived and, as usual, began to rant about the little Green men who he imagines are out to get him and claimed that the neo-fascist group had 240 million supporters in the United States, up from his previous claim of 200 million about a week earlier.
As the demonstrators left, Monahan came outside and was engaged by one of the demonstrators, Naui Huitzilopochtli, who allegedly yelled out “Gary, you’re a racist pig. Ha ha! We’ll be back!” To which, Monahan allegedly replied “You...you’re a fag.”
The following day, just after attending a press conference of a coalition of unions and community groups announcing a future boycott of Costa Mesa businesses and police, OCO caught up with Monahan at his restaurant. Accompanied by Duane Roberts, who witnessed the racist/fag shouting incident, I was cordially allowed inside where Monahan spoke about the demonstration, boycott and the city’s plan to have police trained by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE), which he voted for. Most notable is Monahan’s admission that he has no statistical basis whatsoever for the claim that making local police immigration agents is necessary because criminal “illegal aliens” are falling through the cracks. –
Read and hear the full interview at
http://www.ocorganizer.com/html/monaham.html See and hear Jim Gilchrist worry about little Green men at
http://www.ocorganizer.com/html/j__gilchrist.html#sequel