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Counter protest disrupts Minuteman rally
Hundreds gathered on the streets of Hollywood but had different agendas.
By Delana Gbenekama
The 4-1-1 Express
HOLLYWOOD - The Minuteman Project, a group that opposes illegal immigration, gathered on Hollywood Boulevard and Argyle Avenue early Saturday morning, February 10, to hold a rally and later a march in support of three Texas law enforcement officials who were sentenced to prison for shooting and wounding fleeing illegal immigrants.
Minutemen gets in heated debate with the ANSWER Coalition. Photo: Delana Gbenekama
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The ANSWER Coalition exchanges words with the Minutemen. Photo: Delana Gbenekama
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Two U.S. Border Patrol agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, were sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison after shooting and injuring a drug smuggler who escaped from Texas back across the Mexican border.
Deputy Sheriff Gilmer Hernandez was sentenced to 366 days in prison for shooting and wounding an illegal immigrant who, along with about 8 other immigrants, attempted to escape after Hernandez spotted them in the van whose driver ran a red light.
Hernandez's wife, Ashley, was a guest speaker at the February rally. She said that her husband and the other two imprisoned law enforcement officials are being punished for doing what was right. "You can't estimate that everybody's gonna come in here with intentions just to go work and support a family. You don't know what anybody's up to," Hernandez said. "We need to protect our lawmen, because it's scary when illegal immigrants have more rights than your law enforcement and your border patrol agents."
But the group ANSWER, short for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, did not allow the Minutemen to carry on their rally without a fight. The ANSWER Coalition also took to the streets but to protest against the Minutemen who they describe as racists.
"They attack undocumented workers, they are armed at the border, and they also spread racism among working class people in the United States," said Ian Thompson, an organizer with the ANSWER Coalition. "They're just like the Ku Klux Klan, so we wanna make sure they know they can't be here today without a fight," he said.
At times the protest got ugly, as members of both groups screamed insults at each other. The Minutemen, who had a permit to be on the streets, expressed great frustration as the ANSWER Coalition continuously protested throughout their rally.
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