La.indymedia.org reports and Youth Justice Coalition representatives state that “The controversy caused by some of the May 1st organizers [MIWON] repeating the police cover story in interviews with the media appears to have been resolved,” out of concern for “maintaining an alliance in the struggle for immigrant rights.” MIWON, however, has refused to publicly retract its official position that “a very small number individuals, not associated with the otherwise peaceful, family-themed rally engaged in a scuffle with police,…cause problem and got many hurt…put the safety of my children and hundreds of others at risk…” (MIWON.org as of 5/8, since removed from its webpage). This is the position that was immediately broadcast worldwide in answer to “What caused the LAPD attack on the mayday worker’s & immigrant rights march?” It remains the position attributed to MIWON & the basis for LAPD deflection of responsibility for its designed, paramilitary attack.

It is critical to keep the struggle for workers’ & immigrants’ rights at the front of the discussion. It was workers & immigrants, documented & otherwise, who made up the majority of the march, & who suffered the brunt of the paramilitary assault, on their bodies, in the damage done to their public right to assemble, and in their ability to safely conduct their day to day business. When L.A. police units can brazenly execute designed attacks under obvious command direction, and have the “official” leadership of the event promptly confuse & shield the police’s otherwise undisputed responsibility, it is the struggle for workers’ & immigrants’ rights which suffers the most. The “YJC's Statement Regarding Police Attack in MacArthur Park on May 1” makes clear that MIWON’s “accusations” are not only “untrue” and “serve to divide the community” but also ensure “the police who are responsible for the violence and degradation that took place that day are not held accountable”. This is the precisely the greatest damage—not merely in defaming community activists and youth, but in allowing the police and their political commanders to evade public accountability for a direct, open attack on immigrants, workers and their supporters (even reporters!). The harm caused to workers’ & immigrants’ struggle by MIWON’s public position cannot be “resolved” by a quiet, non-public meeting with certain offended organizations. The individual relations between those specific groups may have been smoothed, but the greater harm inflicted upon workers’ & immigrants’ struggle, by enabling the LAPD to cover its tracks, can only begin to be “resolved” by MIWON publicly renouncing their fabricated story, publicly explaining why they made such claims? (who gave them their information?), publicly explaining e.g. who directed their commissioned security agents (wearing union shirts) to assist the police in using physical force against the peaceful assembly?

These public explanations must be demanded not only from MIWON, the permit holder of the event, but equally from those whose signature also appeared below the false statement now missing from MIWON’s webpage:

Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Angela Sanbrano, Executive Director, Central American Resource Center (CARECEN)

Victor Narro, UCLA Labor Center, Attorney

It should be clearly understood that Maria Elena Durazo is widely known as “one of Mayor Villaraigosa’s close advisors”, that it is in Villaraigosa’s best personal interest, as well the best interest of his personally esteemed LAPD chief Bratton, that the LAPD escape legal & public responsibility for its assault. Bratton has carefully maintained that no disciplinary actions have taken place within the LAPD. It should also be clearly understood that the LAPD’s directed exercise occurred before the locally gathered leadership of the national Republican Party in town for the May 3 Republican presidential candidates’ first debate at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, and especially Republican front-runner Rudolf Guiliani, who also held a May 2 campaign fundraiser in Irvine. Once-NYPD chief Bratton & once-NY mayor Guiliani conducted a similar paramilitary assault on the ’98 Harlem Million Youth March, whose leader and New Black Panther Party founder Khalid Muhammad mysteriously turned up dead (officially “aneurysm”) in ’01, soon after the Bush’it selection. Former Executive of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Miguel Contreras, husband to Durazo, mysteriously turned up dead 11 days before Villaraigosa was elected mayor 17 May 2005 (http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/the-final-hours-of-miguel-contreras/14873/). Contreras had endorsed incumbent Mayor Hahn against Villaraigosa. The vast immigrant community in Los Angeles carries untold strategic importance for any local labor or political amibitions. The “official” leadership of the Mayday march cannot alienate this community, but they also are married to Bratton’s LAPD. This is why the blame for the assault must be thrown onto unnamed “outside” “agitators”. But the emerging truth of the Mayday assault now force MIWON & its advisors to dance around publicly blaming “outsiders” and simultaneously “holding police accountable” LATimes coverage of the May 8 police commission meeting reports: Maria Elena Durazo, head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and a close advisor to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, said: "We are saddened that on May 1 our rights were not protected."



These groups and others (CARECEN, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), COFEM, Garment Worker Center (GWC), Instituto Popular de Educacion del sur de California (IDEPSCA), Koreatown Immigrant Worker Association (KIWA), Los Angeles Archdiocese Social Justice Committee, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the Multi-ethnic Immigrant Worker Organizing Network (MIWON), Pilipino Worker Center (PWC), SEIU 1877, and the We Are America Coalition) are calling for a “vigil & procession” (not a march) 5/17 for “Justice, Civil Rights, Liberty & Immigration Reform” under a reported “ full street permit by LAPD”. We should expect a carefully staged embrace of vague “worker & immigrant concerns” in full regalia, with representatives from City Hall prancing before news cameras. Bush also claims to support “immigration reform”, “liberty” &c. So it must be defined concretely what is meant. True supporters of workers’ & immigrants’ struggle will demand Full Amnesty for all Immigrant Workers! & Community Control Over the Police! & maintain principled community criticisms. Others will pimp the movement.

jubilee shine

mayday defense committee