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Dispatch: The Chicano Moratorium! · Tales From Aztlantis

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: You must excuse me.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: I've grown quite well, we interrupt this program for a special news bullet.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_03: Hello and welcome, dear listeners of Tales from Oslantes.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_03: This is your host, Ruben Ariano Tlacateca.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_03: Today marks the 55th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium and the ensuing police riot that led to a lot of violence against Chicanos, you know, everyday citizens, community members who came from all over the Southwest, but primarily in Los Angeles and East LA, and led to the deaths of several community members, community activists, including Ruben Salazar, who was a reporter for the LA Times at the time, who his beat happened to be the Mexican American community, and who by the time of his death was really being targeted by the powers at B, by the the local officials, but especially by the local police and um uh authorities of the area because he was beginning to document and report on the various excesses to put it in a way uh by law enforcement and uh in particular the police departments and the local sheriff's departments and things like that.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_03: So marking the 55th anniversary, I know that for the 50th, there was uh a big event that was done out in in Los Angeles to commemorate that event.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I believe there are several things happening uh not only in LA but in other parts of uh Chicano Landia.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_03: There are commemorations that are taking place to honor those people who lost their lives to honor the memory of especially the service men and women, the Mexican Americanslash Chicano indigenous people who were dying at a disproportionate rate compared to our representation uh in in the overall population.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: And that was the whole point of the Chicano Moratorium, and I think we might have mentioned this previously on the show, and I'm sure that you can find this out just by doing some reading on the Chicano Moratorium, and other people have pointed this out as well that the Chicano Moratorium was uh basically a protest against the war in Vietnam led by Chicanos, but more specifically against the fact that our people were dying at higher and more disproportionate rates than the average population of the entire United States.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_03: And not only that, but the Chicano Moratorium stands of one of the first, if not the first, major protests against the war anywhere in the United States.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_03: The fact that it's been overlooked in the overall history of the period by people who are not Chicano specialists and who don't necessarily dedicate their work to Chicano history is also an egregious part on the um academia at large in general.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_03: Like we like to say on this show, it's always up to us to tell our own history, to document our own history.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_03: Because guess what?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_03: Just as it was 50 years ago, it's been our people who have been doing most of the legwork and most of the the documenting and most of the producing the texts that tell our stories because guess what, no one else is gonna do it for us.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: So enough of my pontificating here.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_03: I want to for this uh occasion, I want to read a little bit from a book that I came across some years ago, and it's called Ando Sangrando in Spanish, and then in English, I am bleeding, right?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_03: So Ando Sangrando, I am bleeding, a study of Mexican-American police conflict, and this was compiled and authored by Dr.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_03: Armando Morales, and uh the uh on the cover of the copy that I have, this is a third printing.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_03: The first printing is from May of 1972, so just two years after the Chicano Moratorium occurred, this book was uh already in print.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: So that means that Armando Morales and whoever helped him, because I believe he had some assistance, uh, people that gave him reports of of things and such, uh, they were working on this uh immediately, like within a year.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_03: So the fact that Armando was able to get this published by 1972, just two short years after the Chicano Moratorium, it's kind of impressive.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_03: And as I said, I have the the third printing.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: So the first printing was May 1972, and this is how popular it was.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_03: By October of that same year, they had already done a second printing, and then by 74, which is my copy, March of 74, this was the third printing.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_03: So this book was very popular at the time, and probably uh the veteranos might remember this book if you're listening.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe younger scholars uh who have been looking at Chicano politics and uh the Chicano movement might be aware of this book.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_03: But I think for the most part, most people have probably never heard of or read this book.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: So as the title suggests, it's about police conflict between law enforcement and ethnic Mexican people, and it focuses a lot on Los Angeles and California.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_03: But the part that I'm gonna read that's relevant to the commemoration of the Chicano Moratorium is a section where uh there's some eyewitness accounts and there's also a little bit of like a uh timeline.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_03: So just to give some context, there was a documentary that was done on about uh the silver dollar saloon and Ruben Salazar when he was killed.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_03: That was done maybe almost a decade ago at this point, uh, which found that there was no malice on the part of the the sh the deputy who shot into the saloon through the darkened glass.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_03: And a lot of us, myself included, you know, don't uh necessarily agree with that because of the history that the deputies had before and after with the Mexican-American community of Los Angeles and how problematic that's been and continues to be.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_03: So there's still some questions about that.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_03: And so I'm gonna read to you the preface, and then I'm gonna proceed to read uh the part about the Chicano Moratorium.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_03: So this is the preface.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_03: The 1970-71 East Los Angeles riots were characterized by brutal confrontations between Mexican Americans and the police that left five Mexican American citizens dead and numerous police injured.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_03: As a result, Mexican Americans urgently appealed to the county grand jury, the federal grand jury, and the U.S.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: Commission on Civil Rights and Congress to investigate the causes of the civil strife, particularly as it pertained to Mexican American police relations.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_03: All of these bodies rejected the Mexican American appeal.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: The Congress of Mexican American Unity, a community umbrella organization in the Chicano Moratorium Committee, requested that I make an inquiry into the duration, depth, and nature of the problem and develop recommendations that would have the effect of reducing the conflict.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_03: Ando Sangrando, a study of Mexican American police conflict, was the result.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_03: Through the efforts of community organizations, a few hundred copies of Ando Sangrando were printed and distributed in March 1971.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: These organizations were the Congress of Mexican-American Unity, the Chicano Moratorium, La Rasa Churchman, the Episcopal Church, Reverend John Luce or Luci, I'm not sure how to say that name, the Department of Social and Ecumenical Concerns of the Synod of Southern California, United Presbyterian Church, and La Rasa.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_03: These copies were immediately absorbed by Chicanos and non-Cicanos, laymen and professionals, police, students and professors, the U.S.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_03: Civil Rights Commission, the County Grand Jury, the Urban Coalition, the FBI, the U.S.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_03: Attorney, the Blue Ribbon Committee of Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission, and Assemblyman Robert Crown's Select Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_03: In short, the demand was impressive.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_03: A naive notion was held that by publishing the work, quote, white America would understand the plight of the Mexican American, and that immediate help would be forthcoming.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_03: But resistances were encountered.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: It was just a few years earlier that the Kerner Commission, while commenting on the status of the media with regard to black ghetto grievances of the 1960s, blamed, quote, the white press, a press that repeatedly, if unconsciously, reflects the biases of paternalism and the indifference of white America, for failing in its mission to inform and educate the whole of society.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_03: Today things do not appear any better as it concerns Mexican Americans, a group of over 10 million persons in the United States.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_03: At least 30 riots have occurred in Spanish speaking communities since 1970, but quote, white America and the media are by and large ignoring these expressions of anger and frustration.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_03: Seventeen rejections were encountered in attempting to persuade the white press to publish Ando Sangrando.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_03: Some of the reasons given by the publishers were that it was quote too controversial, or quote, too powerful, and quote, not interested in the Mexican American, and quote, fascinating, but only for Chicanos, and quote, indigestible for the Anglo reader, and quote, too scholarly, or too professional, or quote, too small for a book and too large for a pamphlet, and so on, and so on.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_03: These major publishers were aware of the fact that there was an impressive list of citizens who were actively supporting the publication of Ando Sangrando, although the original publishing goal was not reached.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_03: I extend my sincere thanks to this distinguished group, included our U.S.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_03: Senators Alan Cranston, Fred Harris, and John V.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_03: Tooney, Congressman Edward Roybal, Assemblyman Peter Chacon and Alex Garcia, Dr.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_03: Miguel Montez, Esteban Torres, Henry Santiesteban, Herman Sillas, Alex Abeta, Manuel Aragon, Irene Tovar, Martin Stone, Ralph Ochoa, Jesus Melendez, Rosalia Munoz, Ricardo Martinez, Rudy Salinas, Rich Orozco, and Vicente Jimenez.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_03: The popular demand that the message of Ando Sangrando be heard reinforced by a strong faith in the work by many community organizations, friends, and family, particularly my wife, Becky, and children has inspired me to enter the publishing arena.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_03: The painful side of the Mexican American story definitely must be told whether or not others wish to hear it.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: In the pursuit of a true democracy that values free speech and an objective education for its citizenry, the reporting of the Mexican American experience and perspective of this controversial subject matter becomes mandatory if we are to attain any semblance of that democracy.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: Indeed, it is in the interests of a healthy society.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_03: The Mexican American perspective therefore must be recorded in the literature.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_03: Hence, to meet that need, perspectiva or perspective publications is brought into existence.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_03: The following is a case report of the urban human condition of the Mexican American in conflict with law enforcement in contemporary America.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: And that's signed by Armando Morales, DSW, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_03: And so now I'm going to move on to the section in the book that discusses the Chicano Moratorium specifically.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_03: Page one hundred.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_03: The August 29th, 1970 East Los Angeles riot.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_03: Approximately 15,000 to 20,000 persons, mostly Mexican American, were in East Los Angeles on August 29 to attend a well publicized National Chicano Moratorium march.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_03: The event was organized by Rosalia Munoz, former UCLA student body president, and supported in near unanimity by Mexican American organizations throughout the Southwest.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_03: The moratorium was to protest America's involvement in the war in Southeast Asia and simultaneously to decry the high percentage of Mexican American battle casualties both wounded and killed in action.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_03: Moratorium leaders urged young Mexican Americans to resist the military service abroad in favor of fighting for social justice at home.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_03: The moratorium committee had kept the police fully informed of its intentions and program.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_03: It provided monitors to accompany the marchers and maintain order.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_03: The Los Angeles County Sheriffs were to clear the parade route and to direct traffic as necessary at cross streets.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: The sheriffs being concerned by the influx of young Mexican American militants from all over the southwest were for the event by the reports of possible trouble from revolutionaries and other subversive groups also made additional preparations to meet any situations which might develop.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_03: No public announcement of any dangers from revolutionaries seeking a confrontation was made, and many of those who attended the event brought their entire families.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_03: The marchers gathered in East Los Angeles' Belvedere Park and followed a scheduled parade route down East Third Street, Beverly Boulevard, Atlantic Boulevard, and Whittier Boulevard, where it ended at Laguna Park.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_03: According to sheriff's reports, the marchers had traveled only five blocks when some deputies became targets for rocks and bottles.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_03: It was there, according to Sheriff Peter Pitchus, that marchers took over the entire width of the street, violating their parade permit, which limited them to only one half of it.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: At 2 34 PM, a liquor store at 3812 Whittier Boulevard was looted and windows were broken, and the second store was looted at 3 25 p.m.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_03: according to the sheriff.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_03: Officers with riot guns were already stationed at street corner barricades.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_03: It was at 3 10 PM that the sheriffs had decided to declare the situation critical and move in to disperse all crowds in the area.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_03: They used tear gas freely.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_03: At the peak of the turmoil, a dozen fires burned out of control along Whittier Boulevard, and about 500 police and sheriff's deputies were involved.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_03: Sheriff Pitches reported that 40 officers were injured in the melee and that 25 radio cars were damaged.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_03: A main battleground was Laguna Park at the end of the parade route, where marchers had settled on the grass to listen to music and to hear a series of speakers.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_03: Following a disturbance at the edge of the park, the sheriffs moved in with tear gas to disperse the entire crowd.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_03: It is this action and resultant incidents which have drawn most of the complaints from the community.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_03: Community members charged that the sheriffs overreacted and in breaking up a peaceful assembly turned on the panic and hostility.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_03: Citizens have complained by the dozens of unwarranted brutal treatment by the deputies.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_03: An exact toll of injured civilians is not yet known, but arrests during and following the confrontation exceed 400.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_03: The above information was based upon the California State Advisory Committee's evaluation of information gathered by its members and by members of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Western Regional Field Office, and the Commission's Office of General Counsel.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_03: The following witness account was taken from La Raza, a local East Los Angeles barrio newspaper.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_03: And so what I'm about to read for the next following paragraphs is directly from the quote from La Raza.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_03: The marchers proceeded peacefully down Atlantic Boulevard, watched by curious people on the sidewalks who have not fully grasped what Chicano Power means.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_03: While marching on Whittier Boulevard near Eastern Avenue, the marchers were hit with bottles from the overpass.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_03: The overpass is part of the Long Beach Freeway that runs parallel to Eastern Avenue, north and south.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_03: Some of the marchers were cut.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: The march proceeded west on Whittier Boulevard.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_03: It was a hot summer day and some of the marchers fainted along the way, but they were quickly taken care of by medical crews that were assigned to station wagons.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_03: Two blocks before Laguna Park, a scuffle occurred between sheriff's deputies and the marchers.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_03: No one seems to know how or why it started, but it was quickly quieted by the monitors.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: It took almost one hour for all the marchers to file into Laguna Park, rest their tired aching feet, and find a place on the lawn.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_03: Many families began to open up their picnic baskets and have a late lunch.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_03: Others were searching for refreshments to cool off.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_03: This is where the trouble started.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_03: Many Chicanos went to a liquor store to buy sodas and beer.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_03: The owner of the liquor store was swamped with business.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_03: He attempted to close his doors in order to deal with the customers inside.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_03: In fact, he succeeded in doing so.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_03: The sheriff's station in East LA, where in the past two years, six Chicanos have quote unquote supposedly committed suicide, claims to have received a call from the owner asking for their assistance and calming the people coming into the store.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_03: The store owner denies calling the sheriff station.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_03: The sheriffs responded to the call by sending more units into the area.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_03: Next they moved in numerous police units across the street from Laguna Park.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously, this drew the attention of some of the people in the park, especially since there were about forty to fifty sheriff deputies standing behind their cars.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_03: The deputies then formed a parallel formation and with their billy clubs started advancing.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_03: No warnings about illegal assemblies or such.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_03: At that time, the Chicano Moratorium security personnel came in to keep peace, and they would have been able to do so if the sheriff's deputies had gone back to their cars, but instead of retreating, they attacked not only the monitors but the people who were peacefully hearing the speakers.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_03: They indiscriminately fired tear gas capsules into unaware crowds of Chicanos who were sitting on the grass.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_03: Shoes, purses, and lost children on the field stood as symbols of the inhumanity expressed by the deputies.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_03: As chaos ensued, children were lost from their parents, fathers who came to the front to defend their children were beaten, bloodied, and arrested.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_03: Chicanos and Chicanas everywhere were crying in amazement over what they were seeing.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_03: Men were kicked, struck in the chest and stomach, and brutally beaten over the head.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_03: They were then dragged unconsciously to awaiting police cars.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_03: Our people rallied time after time and pushed the perros back with stones and fists, but thick stones and fists can stand against guns, clubs, and tear gas missiles.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_03: After an hour or two of fighting, the Metropolitan Police from Los Angeles City reinforced the sheriffs.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_03: The Metro Police was trained to deal with demonstrations.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_03: They hit first and ask questions later.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_03: Men, women and children were indiscriminately tear gassed.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_03: The fighting spread into the side street and spilled onto Whittier Boulevard.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_03: A few police cars were set on fire, but Chiganos paid dearly for it.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_03: The fighting spilled over onto Whittier Boulevard.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_03: Store windows were broken and buildings set on fire.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_03: The following night, Wilmington erupted along Avalon Avenue.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_03: Results the same as in East Los Angeles, destruction in the business areas and numerous arrests.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_03: That same night, four policemen were shot in the Chicano area, the Casablanca district of Riverside.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_03: Now that most of the turmoil has stopped, many people are walking around as if in shock with questioning expressions on their faces.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_03: The most interesting questions come from the Anglo community.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_03: Why did it happen?
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_03: Why?
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_03: That question has been asked in numerous black ghettos throughout the nation.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_03: Puerto Ricans have heard it in New York and New Jersey, and now that same question is being asked again in Archicano communities.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: Why did it happen?
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: And so that's the end of the La Raza quote.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_03: Armando Morales continues In an official memorandum from Herbert L.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_03: Carter, Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations to the official county body's commissioners, the events of August 29th were described as follows.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_03: On Saturday, August 29th, three members of our staff observed and or participated in the parade rally.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_03: All agree that the march along the East 3rd Street, Atlantic Boulevard, and Whittier Boulevard was peaceful, festive, and nonviolent, except that near the corner of Eastern Avenue at Whittier Boulevard, a young man threw a bottle at a parked patrol car.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_03: That young man was immediately reprimanded by parade monitors and was carefully watched throughout the remainder of the parade.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_03: As the parade progressed westward on Whittier Boulevard toward Laguna Park, culminating rally, persons along Whittier Boulevard were urged to join the march and many of them did.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_03: Although the festive atmosphere was maintained, cries of Chicano Power and Viva La Raza were now heard more frequently and forcefully.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_03: When the parade participants reached Laguna Park, they were joined by perhaps 8,000 to 10,000 additional persons who had not participated in the march.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_03: Our staff estimated that the crowd then numbered roughly about 20,000 people, with perhaps 80% of them being under 25 years of age.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_03: The gathering at the park was according to our staff consultants peaceful, although admittedly one could hardly see because of the masses of people in such a small area, nor could one hear too well because the sound equipment was insufficient either in quality or quantity.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_03: The crowd was entertained by folk songs and dancing and Was commended by Rosalio Munoz, chairman of the moratorium committee for their participation.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_03: It should be noted that although the predominant numbers of the rally were identifiable as Mexican American, the crowd also included Anglos and blacks in sizable numbers.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_03: Moreover, there were large numbers of teenagers and children.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_03: At approximately 3 p.m., staff persons observed a considerable number of bottles, wine, and other alcoholic beverages in the park area and decided to leave since members of their families were present.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_03: As one staff person began to leave the park, he heard a siren of an approaching police vehicle.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_03: At this point, many of the people began to leave the entertainment area to see what was going on.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_03: The rally monitors, with the use of a loudspeaker, attempted to get the crowd to stay in the park and urged them not to move from that area.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_03: As our staff member began to observe what was going on on Whittier Boulevard, a number of police patrols had been called to a liquor store approximately a half block down the street.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_03: He noticed bottles being thrown at police vehicles on Whittier Boulevard.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_03: Shortly thereafter, he heard the sound of many sirens and observed the large number of police cars converging on Whittier Boulevard and approaching Laguna Park.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_03: At this point, people were running all over the park in panic.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_03: Our staff person indicated that he was able to hear transmissions on the patrol car radios, but at no time did he hear a declaration on the part of law enforcement officials that the rally in Laguna Park had been declared an unlawful assembly.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_03: Our staff person reported that the tear gas was dispersed toward the crowd, and inasmuch as he was affected by the tear gas, he proceeded to leave the park area.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_03: After crossing the street, he observed the scene one final time and noted that a number of police car windshields had been smashed.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_03: Several people had been injured, and destruction of properties along Whittier Boulevard was beginning to take place.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_03: First of three fatalities attributed to the riot was Ruben Salazar, Los Angeles Times columnist and news director for Spanish language television station KMEX.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_03: Salazar had spent the day covering the moratorium and ensuing trouble.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_03: He had stopped at the Silver Dollar Cafe at 4945 Whittier Boulevard with another newsman when he was shot through the head by a tear gas missile fired by a member of the sheriff's department.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_03: There are many conflicting stories surrounding the events which led up to his death.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_03: An inquest into the death of Salazar is now being conducted by the county coroner.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_03: Mexican American groups who have been monitoring the inquest proceedings walked out twice, charging that the inquest was a quote sham.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_03: These recent happenings, plus the fact that Salazar was regarded as a Chicano's most eloquent spokesman, have raised doubts in the community which only an independent high-level investigation into all of the facts can resolve.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_03: So next, Armando Morales gives us another perspective from someone named Delfino Varela, who he described as a longtime East Los Angeles resident and professional social worker, who presents his perception of quote a walk in the sun on August 29, 1970.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_03: So a walk in the sun is what he titled his perspective or his witness account.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_03: We strolled down the street, my brother-in-law, a niece, my wife, our one-year-old baby, and his stroller, and I.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_03: Behind us were but a few people, in front were thousands and thousands.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_03: All of us affirmed there were more thousands than we had ever seen.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_03: Brothers-in-law, nieces, wives, husbands, and one year old babies in their strollers, all strolling together in the nonday sun.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_03: The voice of a friend who fled Germany kept coming back.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_03: Quote marches here are so sloppy, she said.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody just strolls along and there's no rhythm to it.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_03: You should have seen our marches in Germany, she said.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_03: I was glad we were a motley crew, all out of step with no rhythm.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_03: They'll never goose step this crowd into fascism, I thought.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_03: These thousands of nieces, cousins, brothers in law, aunts, uncles, and the one year old babies in their strollers.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_03: They're too undisciplined, too massive, too uncontrollable for any Hitler.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_03: Behind the few people in the back of us was the end of a long, long line of countless thousands, some say twenty five, some say thirty, and behind all this rode two black buses massively built of steel and rubber with white roofs.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_03: These motorized vultures followed close and their insides were filled with walking vultures.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_03: This long, long line of children, women, boys, and girls was followed closely by these two black buses, and the creatures inside them waited tensely for the battle, and their noses quivered as they smelled the blood of our women, men, nieces, aunts and uncles, and the one year old babies in their strollers.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_03: In three and a half miles the long, long line was at the park, a quiet, modest park, but well suited for the brothers in law's nieces, wives, and the one year old babies in their strollers, and for their sodas, candies, balloons, buttons, and picnic lunches.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_03: Today this would be a people's park.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_03: But the two black buses were close behind, and at the park they were joined by a third, full of armed men, full of dislike for the brothers in law's wives, nieces, and for the one year old babies in their strollers.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_03: Without a word they formed across the street from the park in long and silent lines, soon to move across the street toward the people in the park.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_03: We were leaving but were ordered back into the park, and the northern exit facing the police was closed to us.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_03: Soon around us we heard them coming, the men from the black black buses, from the west and in the back of all the brothers in law, nieces, wives, and one year old babies in their strollers.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_03: Swinging clubs they came, without a word, just swinging clubs and throwing gas.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_03: As we walked through the alleys, choking up the gas that was spread throughout the park and for several blocks away, I looked at my one year old baby in his stroller and his red and watery eyes.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_03: He seemed amazed and looked in wonderment in all directions.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_03: He didn't know that men who came in big black buses threw things at little children to make them cry and run when they were in their strollers at the park.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, that's a very, very moving perspective.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_03: Mr.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_03: Varela shout out kudos.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_03: Power.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_03: Next up, uh Morales gives us another brief account.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_03: This is by Dr.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_03: James S.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_03: Koopman, a physician at the UCLA School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics, who was a participant in the moratorium march along with his wife, and he this is what he had to say, it's very brief.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_03: He says, Everyone was assembled peacefully at Laguna Park.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_03: My wife and I sat on the grass amongst diverse people.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_03: Immediately around us were little children playing with a puppy, an older woman with a cane, a pregnant woman with a small baby, and a family eating hamburgers and French fries.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_03: The program began and after two speeches, a Puerto Rican rhythm group was providing entertainment.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_03: The first sign of any disturbance I saw was when some people in the distance began to stand up.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_03: The loudspeaker calmly assured us that nothing was happening and that we should just sit down.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_03: Seconds later, I saw a row of gold helmets marching across the park, forcing everyone toward the high fences.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_03: The exit was too small for everyone to leave quickly.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_03: I, along with everyone else, panicked.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_03: The terrible tragedies of human stampedes in the soccer stadiums of Peru and Argentina were uppermost in my mind.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_03: That's what Dr.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_03: Koopman had to say.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_03: Then Morales follows up with another segment here, which is attributed to according to Morales Sheriff's Deputies.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_03: So this is what he says.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_03: Sheriff's deputies responded to a burglary in progress, a call at the Green Mill Liquor Store, whose owner Morris Morocco, Morocco M-A-R-O-K-O, denied making the call.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_03: And I think this is something that's come up before in other analyses and documentaries about the moratorium.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_03: And so apparently uh deputies had responded to that call with red lights flashing as they showed up.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_03: A sheriff's spokesman said that the two units had arrived and were met with overwhelming resistance and more units had to respond.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_03: One of the second wave of sheriff's units responding was a unit from the Special Enforcement Bureau, the specially trained anti-riot Detail.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_03: Special Enforcement Deputy Ray Betos 26 and his partner left their vehicle and were on the northwest section of the park at Whittier and Alma.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_03: The liquor store is a block away from Laguna Park and cannot be seen from the park, where the two were assaulted by a group of people.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_03: Beatos was beaten with a large board, kicked, struck, his helmet taken, and his revolver stripped from him, according to the sheriff's department.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_03: Then two shots were fired at him from his own gun, both missing Deputy Beitos.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_03: The incident was observed by other deputies and a radio call of extreme urgency went out for help.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_03: The participants were unaware of the Beitos incident.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_03: The first sign of any disturbance I saw was some people in the distance who began to stand up, said Dr.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_03: Koopman.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_03: So I should pause here for just a second because we're almost done with uh the reports that Morales includes in his book here about police and brutality.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_03: I should note that over the years, um, it has come out that the Sheriff's Department has for many years they have fabricated stories of assault and used a lot of unscrupulous m methods to justify the actions that they have taken.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_03: And so they'll make up stories after the fact, they will plant guns on people, they will plant drugs.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_03: Back when public phones were still a thing and you could just call someone from the street, they would make anonymous phone calls to their own precincts.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_03: Uh they would either quote unquote be informants who are snitching on someone, a neighbor, or what have you, and then they themselves would be the ones reporting to that call that they made themselves, which they used as an excuse to justify their arrival without any warrants and to just bust in and in many cases shoot people at point blank.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not making any of this up.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_03: This has been well documented, but the point that I'm trying to make here is that this this incident that supposedly happened to Mr Mr.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_03: Ray Beitos uh sounds very familiar.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not saying he wasn't assaulted because it it could likely well have been that case.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_03: I'm just pointing out that it sounds very, very similar to some of the false reporting that the police and that the sheriff's deputies themselves have made over the years to justify the actions that they then take.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_03: At any rate, this is the final section that is about the Chicano Moratorium, and so I'm gonna finish up with this.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_03: Attorney Toby Rothschild claims that the red lights and sirens of the oncoming deputies caused a crowd to gather at the northwest edge of the park.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_03: Parade monitors attempted to move the group back to the park and away from the deputies on Whittier Boulevard, Rothschild said.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_03: He then further stated, quote, Most of them were turned and going back and the debris being thrown had stopped.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_03: Then there were sirens, and eight or ten sheriff's cars and a bus arrived.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_03: The sirens attracted the entire group back.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_03: There was very little that could be done to stop people from either side from doing things.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_03: I did not hear any order to disperse.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_03: End quote.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_03: So the sheriff's department, this is Morales picking up again.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_03: The Sheriff's Department claimed, however, that the dispersal orders were given from several loudspeakers on patrol cars surrounding the park.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_03: Sheriff Pitches said that the decision to clear the park came after a quote, a very thorough assessment of the situation, end quote.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_03: The events flowed swiftly and the deputies formed their line.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_03: Skirmishes broke out and then died down.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_03: A line of parade monitors linked arms between the deputies advancing from the north and the body of demonstrators on the south.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_03: The bombardment from missiles reached an intense level and then died off.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_03: Many thought the rally would be allowed to continue.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_03: The monitors shouted, quote, get out of here, leave us alone at the deputies.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_03: This was followed by a long lull as monitors and deputies looked at each other across a narrow no man's land.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_03: Javier Gonzalo maintains that, quote, after the interval, somebody flipped the finger or words were interchanged and then it all really got nasty, end quote.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_03: As startled demonstrators fled in panic, some in the crowd decided to fight the deputies.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_03: According to the Los Angeles Times, it was 2.50 PM when the Green Mill liquor store was crowded with customers and 3.25 p.m.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_03: when the first reports of looting reached the Sheriff's Department.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_03: At 3 36 p.m.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_03: a fire station at Eastern and Verona was under attack and the riot was underway.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_03: The Mexican American police confrontation at the park occurred at approximately 3 p.m.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_03: before the riot began.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_03: Most minority group police confrontations in other riots occurred after riots were underway.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_03: And so that is the end of Dr.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_03: Morales' brief account, which is part of a larger study.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_03: So uh I'm not even contextualizing it for you fully here because what I'm trying to do, I'm just trying to sort of paint a picture for people who have either might have heard of the Chicano moratorium, but don't really understand exactly what happened and what took place.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_03: They might just know that it was uh a peaceful march if they even understand that about it, first of all, that it was supposed to have been a peaceful march that was supposed to end at a park where you had speakers, where you had entertainment, folklorico dancing, families gathered, enjoying a nice day in solidarity against uh not just the war itself, but the fact that our gente, our people, Chicanos in general, uh were dying at a disproportionate rate to the rest of the United States population during the conflict in Vietnam and and in Southeast Asia in general.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_03: And so it turned into a riot because, why yeah, I'm sure you had troublemakers, that's always the case, especially with young kids, young people, teenagers, they want to act out, they want to challenge you know the authorities and things like that.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_03: So I don't I don't doubt that any of that happened, but the police response is just disproportionate to the power that the people don't have against them, especially if you are a police force that has the weight of the entire city structure and perhaps even of the local county, and even if it's if it merits it of the state itself, you know, the power of the state to come in and help local authorities quell any disturbances, you know, the fact that you have all of that at your disposal and you're gonna target that and use that against average citizens who are just they're voicing their grievances like any so-called US citizen has a right to do, uh, protected under you know the Constitution, uh, the First Amendment, and then you're always met, especially if you are a minority, you're always met, you know, quote unquote minority, a person of color, if you're black and brown, if you're Asian, if you are uh, you know, LGBTQIA or what have you, if you are someone who is seen as not part of the mainstream quote unquote American society, and you just happen to have an opinion that is uh different from the status quo, and if you're perceived as a threat, then they're gonna bring down that force against you as we are currently witnessing right now with the ice goons, the gestapo of the con man in chief in office.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_03: And so I wanted to do this a little special report, and I hope that you appreciate it, and I hope that this little bit that I was able to do uh will be uh a starting point for you to understand why the Chigano Moratorium not only was important back then, but why it is significant today and why we should continue to honor the memory of all the people who not only died during the war, but all the people who were injured during the demonstration turned police riot and especially those whose lives were lost.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_03: And with that, chinga la ciota ike viva Ruben Salazar.