MadameButterfly
06-28-2005, 08:02 AM
Activist Vows to Continue Protests (http://venturacountystar.com/vcs/ve/article/0,1375,VCS_251_3888057,00.html)
If Baldwin Park officials won't do what Joseph Turner wants, he said he'll make them pay for it.
It's a strategy the Ventura anti-illegal immigration activist calls "transference of pain."
Because the San Gabriel Valley city refuses to remove two expressions on a public monument there, Turner said he will continue to hold protests that stir up the illegal immigration debate.
So far, these demontrations have cost the city at least $30,000 in wages to police and city officials, said Baldwin Park officials. One protest last weekend drew about 60 protesters, 600 counterprotesters and more than 200 police officers to control the scene. Other cities had to pay officers to help keep the peace.
"The idea is our opponents are not going to change their behavior unless we make it painful for them to continue doing so," said Turner, 28, who heads Save Our State, a grassroots anti-illegal immigration group. "We measure success by the economic pain inflicted by these protests."
Baldwin Park Mayor Manuel Lozano said people will just ignore Turner and his group and hopes that costs will go down as fewer people react.
"This is a person who is a racist," Lozano said. "He could come next week and we aren't going to pay attention anymore."
Turner said he's not a racist but doesn't care if others label him as such.
The issue started this spring when Turner, a stay-at-home father, learned of two inscriptions on a 12-year-old monument at a Baldwin Park Metrolink station. One reads "It was better before they came" and the other says, "This land was Mexican once, was Indian always and is, and will be again." The $200,000 taxpayer-funded monument was created by Judy Baca, a well-known artist who painted murals in Venice Beach.
Turner, who started his group mainly through Internet chat rooms and message boards, heard about the inscriptions and started rallying supporters to have them removed. He says the expressions are seditious and racist against whites.
In recent weeks, Baca has said the comment about it being better before they came was actually an insult a white man hurled at an immigrant. Turner said Baca has yet to produce the person who said that. Baca could not be reached for comment.
Adan Ortega, a public relations specialist hired by the city just to handle the controversy, said Turner is protesting illegal immigration in the wrong place.
"In terms of the immigration issue, it's pretty obvious that the issue is not going to be resolved in Baldwin Park," he said. "The city is not in a position to do anything about immigration. ... Mr. Turner is in the middle of an esoteric debate about the meaning of art, not about immigration."
Turner said that the monument is a rallying point as much as anything. He said his small group -- which he says has about 700 people registered on its message board -- can't stop illegal immigration so it has to take on smaller issues one at a time.
People are tired of letter writing and not getting anything done, he said, so they are taking on more aggressive means of protest.
"We're trying to take on issues that, while they are not going to be world changing, will have small victories and make waves," he said.
In previous weeks, his group has protested in front of Home Depot stores in Alhambra and Victorville because he said illegal immigrants wait in front of the stores for work.
Ventura County Latino activists said while the illegal immigration issue needs to be addressed, the way Turner is doing it is not the answer.
"This doesn't promote a healthy discussion," said Hank Lacayo, a member of El Concilio del Condado de Ventura, a Latino advocacy group. "It's more divisive than unifying."
Ricardo Lopez, president of El Concilio, agreed with Lozano.
"It won't last long," he said of the protests. "It's going to vanish there."
But Turner said while other protests at Baldwin Park aren't planned, his aggressive tactics are not over.
"When is this going to end?" said Turner. "I'm in for the long haul. We are a very aggressive organization."
If Baldwin Park officials won't do what Joseph Turner wants, he said he'll make them pay for it.
It's a strategy the Ventura anti-illegal immigration activist calls "transference of pain."
Because the San Gabriel Valley city refuses to remove two expressions on a public monument there, Turner said he will continue to hold protests that stir up the illegal immigration debate.
So far, these demontrations have cost the city at least $30,000 in wages to police and city officials, said Baldwin Park officials. One protest last weekend drew about 60 protesters, 600 counterprotesters and more than 200 police officers to control the scene. Other cities had to pay officers to help keep the peace.
"The idea is our opponents are not going to change their behavior unless we make it painful for them to continue doing so," said Turner, 28, who heads Save Our State, a grassroots anti-illegal immigration group. "We measure success by the economic pain inflicted by these protests."
Baldwin Park Mayor Manuel Lozano said people will just ignore Turner and his group and hopes that costs will go down as fewer people react.
"This is a person who is a racist," Lozano said. "He could come next week and we aren't going to pay attention anymore."
Turner said he's not a racist but doesn't care if others label him as such.
The issue started this spring when Turner, a stay-at-home father, learned of two inscriptions on a 12-year-old monument at a Baldwin Park Metrolink station. One reads "It was better before they came" and the other says, "This land was Mexican once, was Indian always and is, and will be again." The $200,000 taxpayer-funded monument was created by Judy Baca, a well-known artist who painted murals in Venice Beach.
Turner, who started his group mainly through Internet chat rooms and message boards, heard about the inscriptions and started rallying supporters to have them removed. He says the expressions are seditious and racist against whites.
In recent weeks, Baca has said the comment about it being better before they came was actually an insult a white man hurled at an immigrant. Turner said Baca has yet to produce the person who said that. Baca could not be reached for comment.
Adan Ortega, a public relations specialist hired by the city just to handle the controversy, said Turner is protesting illegal immigration in the wrong place.
"In terms of the immigration issue, it's pretty obvious that the issue is not going to be resolved in Baldwin Park," he said. "The city is not in a position to do anything about immigration. ... Mr. Turner is in the middle of an esoteric debate about the meaning of art, not about immigration."
Turner said that the monument is a rallying point as much as anything. He said his small group -- which he says has about 700 people registered on its message board -- can't stop illegal immigration so it has to take on smaller issues one at a time.
People are tired of letter writing and not getting anything done, he said, so they are taking on more aggressive means of protest.
"We're trying to take on issues that, while they are not going to be world changing, will have small victories and make waves," he said.
In previous weeks, his group has protested in front of Home Depot stores in Alhambra and Victorville because he said illegal immigrants wait in front of the stores for work.
Ventura County Latino activists said while the illegal immigration issue needs to be addressed, the way Turner is doing it is not the answer.
"This doesn't promote a healthy discussion," said Hank Lacayo, a member of El Concilio del Condado de Ventura, a Latino advocacy group. "It's more divisive than unifying."
Ricardo Lopez, president of El Concilio, agreed with Lozano.
"It won't last long," he said of the protests. "It's going to vanish there."
But Turner said while other protests at Baldwin Park aren't planned, his aggressive tactics are not over.
"When is this going to end?" said Turner. "I'm in for the long haul. We are a very aggressive organization."