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Tuesday, March 28, 2006

ORANGE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKE
OVER RIVERSIDE FREEWAY

Traffic snarled up for miles as young Mexican
activists march against proposed law

By DUANE J. ROBERTS
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

BUENA PARK, CA -- A group of young high school
students, all marching in opposition to legislation
passed in the U.S. House of Representatives which
would criminalize undocumented workers, took to the
streets late yesterday afternoon and seized control of
a major Orange County freeway.

Stunned Buena Park police officers just sat inside
their patrol cars and did nothing but watch as a group
of about 150 young Mexican activists holding signs and
waving flags casually walked up the Beach Blvd. onramp
and headed eastbound on the Riverside Freeway.

Several students who spoke on the condition of
anonymity alleged that the group fanned out and
marched on all six lanes of the freeway for about
fifteen minutes, causing rush hour traffic to be
snarled for miles in both directions.

Shortly after exiting the Magnolia St. offramp, they
were greeted with at least 40 cops equipped with riot
gear from the Buena Park, Cypress, and Anaheim police
departments. Although briefly detained, all were let
go without incident.

Some students participating in this action claimed
they attended both public and private high schools in
Anaheim, Westminster, Garden Grove, and Huntington
Beach. They said this was one of several walkouts that
took place in Anaheim that day, drawing upwards of 500
young people.

This reporter first came across this group of students
while they headed northbound on Magnolia St. in
Anaheim. About twenty Anaheim policemen and a
helicopter monitored them as they proceeded toward
La Palma St.

Once they hit La Palma St., they veered west into
Buena Park, passing in front of the the Buena Park
Mall. At Beach Blvd., they headed north, through an
entertainment district adjacent to Knotts Berry Farm.
They then entered the Riverside freeway from Beach
Blvd. onramp.

Although nobody was arrested or brutalized at the
hands of cops, several students alleged that a number
of citations had been issued earlier in the afternoon
for jaywalking and other traffic offenses; others said
two persons had been taken into custody, although
that is unconfirmed.