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OUTSIDE AGITATORS: In the above photograph, a Garden Grove police officer (notice the patch on his right shoulder), joins along with dozens of cops called in from Buena Park, Westminster, Santa Ana, Brea, Fountain Valley, and elsewhere, to repress a protest taking place outside Anaheim City Hall by hundreds of residents, many from nearby working-class Mexican neighborhoods.
I don’t know how many of you are aware of this, but Anaheim City Officials, including Police Chief John Welter, are resorting to the convenient scapegoat of blaming “outside agitators” for the “civil unrest” that took place on the streets outside City Hall last Tuesday night. At a Wednesday press conference, Welter made the ridiculous argument that about 2/3rds of the 1,000 or so protesters who assembled that evening didn’t live in the city. Last night, I spoke with a journalist who challenged Welter’s claim, pointing out that approximately 20 of the 24 people arrested that night were Anaheim residents–some evidence that rebuts Welter. In response, Welter couldn’t offer him anything to back up his arguments. In a recent interview with the Orange County Register, he says he “thinks” that most of the people in attendance were “outsiders,” but then makes the contradictory statement that they are just “estimates” and there is no way of vouching for accuracy. He also hints in the interview that “Occupy Wall Street” was one of the “agitators.”
Blaming “outside agitators” is a very old tactic and was frequently used by racist politicians in the South during the civil rights movement of the 1960s to dismiss protests by oppressed peoples–specifically those organized by people of color. Every time that politicians invoke the claim that “outside agitators” are coming into the community to stir up trouble, they are making an effort to marginalize grievances by hinting they are inauthentic and foreign to the community, hence not worthy of listening to. In addition to this, they are subtly suggesting that oppressed peoples who are protesting are too stupid to mobilize in defense of their own interests and are hapless fools who are being manipulated by “outsiders” with fiendish motives. But most importantly, they are trying to divert attention away from their own malfeasance and ineptitude, and the root causes of unhappiness among the masses: namely high unemployment, racial discrimination, political disenfranchisement, police brutality, poor housing conditions, poverty, and social inequality.
As a longtime Anaheim resident and a former organizer of many protests, demonstrations, and marches here in Orange County, which varied in size from 8 to 800 people, it is my professional opinion that, after reviewing video footage and photographs, a solid majority of persons who participated in the actions that took place around City Hall last Tuesday were residents. Although I do not deny the fact that a portion of the crowd were “outsiders,” those numbers are no where near the 2/3rds that Welter estimates. Looking at social media pages and websites of groups that I know participated in this action, I estimate that less than 1/3rd of the protesters were “outsiders,” and many probably came from Fullerton, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, and Buena Park, cities that border Anaheim. I suspect a few might have traveled from as far away as Long Beach and Los Angeles. I noticed many participants were young men and women, some juveniles. If so, they probably came from nearby working-class Mexican neighborhoods that happen to engulf the downtown area.
Welter is one of the most sophisticated Police Chiefs that Anaheim has ever had and is very good at manipulating public opinion. I think it’s very important to issue some kind of rebuttal to the utter bullshit that he and other Anaheim City Officials are peddling, especially the subtle attempt to demonize “Occupy Wall Street,” a movement which I strongly sympathize with. If anybody here is interested in joining along with me to organize a press conference here in Anaheim, possibly sometime next week, to counteract the garbage he and others are disseminating, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email at duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com.
[Minor correction: When I originally posted this article, I inadvertently spelled the Anaheim Police Chief’s last name as “Welters” instead of “Welter.” When I discovered this error, I made the necessary corrections in the text and the headline. I apologize for this mistake.]
i agrre with the chife , every time you the see the riff raffs on tv doing their ususal destruction its the diamond / ocupoo group
Look who believes everything they see on TV – what a TOOL! This person must be the very last one in the entire US who is still completely clueless as to what the corporate media actually does, which certainly is NOT reporting.
oh yes that is true no outside people came and wrecked this event ok ho hum i guess you where watching diamond tv . you are the real 1% the wack jobs out there . go ahead kep protesting oh and dont forget to bring your little kids with baby strollers to the events . what a tool
Really, did the chife say that?
Duane, thanks for posting this here. Otherwise, I’d have stolen it!
Anaheim Police have brought this on themselves by murdering and shooting people in the streets. A community rebellion is in process, that is not in any way involving outside people.
Power to the People!
You can be a bully for a season.
That season is passing.
I beg to differ TGO…(nothing wrong with having a high opinion of youself is there?)
Greg Diamond and the so-called Occu-poos did not start this fight. They were not the only ones present and in my opinion they were a small number. Most came from the neighborhood. There were many individuals wearing orange vests monitoring the crowd and asking that the march remain peaceful. It remained peaceful until it got dark and some individuals showed up to cause trouble.
This idea of lumping everyone into one basket is standard procedure. All occupiers are like this. All Democrats are ike this. All homeless are like this. And on and on.
There are a few bad apples that show up to cause problems and don’t care about consequences. That goes for cops as well. We need law enforcement, but there are some who think they are above the law and that needs to stop. I don’t live in the neighborhood that the killing occured but I used to live a few miles away. The cops around there DO have an attitude. I have seen it first hand.
Killing someone in cold blood is wrong no matter who does the shooting and I hope the cops who did this end up in prison for a long time.
Actually, I wasn’t there on Tuesday at all. I had planned to attend the meeting, but other plans got in the way. Everything I’ve heard from anyone from Occupy — and for these purposes I’ll include the excellent Amber Stephens, writing for the Weekly — is that they were peaceful (and perturbed.)
My guess (and it’s only that) is that a lot of the people who threw trash cans through the Starbucks windows (or whatever), especially initially, may have been from outside the area. Maybe it could even be 2/3. But 2/3 of the entire crowd being outsiders? Not unless you’re going to count people from Fullerton and Santa Ana as outsiders. By my definition, they have an interest and a stake in Anaheim. I’d say that anyone who goes to or through Anaheim enough to be affected by the police there is not an “outsider.” Obviously, the A.P.D. thought that most cities north and west of Irvine were “insider” enough to call on their police forces.
When I left Council Chambers last Tuesday, a friend of mine who brought me to the meeting drove his car through a working-class Mexican neighborhood just East of City Hall to avoid Anaheim Boulevard where hundreds of police officers in riot gear had assembled. I noticed there was quite a bit of activity going on. Not only did I observe residents standing outside on the grass in front of their homes, but lots of young men and women were milling about. For a Tuesday night, this was highly unusual.
I know this anecdotal account of and in itself isn’t evidence proving that a majority of 1,000 protesters were local residents. But video footage and photos I’ve seen seem to suggest that many were. I’ve also spoken with people who were outside. In addition, my own experience organizing protests and demonstrations suggests to me that it would have been difficult for “outsiders” from distant locales to get to Anaheim through heavy traffic and congestion, at least earlier in the day.
One thing you need to understand is that demonstrations are fluid. People come and go. Sometimes they change in scope and size depending on various factors. I get the impression the reason this one grew so large primarily had to do with the fact people learned about it through media accounts and used their cellphones to text message everybody they knew. Then those friends text messaged other friends.
The two rallies I’ve been to (both at the police station on Sundays) have had a large out-of-area contingent. (I consider La Habra Heights to Seal Beach to Yorba Linda to Irvine to be “in-the-area.”) Both were peaceful. Today’s was pointedly peaceful, despite being raucous.
I don’t know what late-arrivals at Anaheim were throwing things through store windows. I wish that they’d stop. As with the worst and most-self-absorbed activism, they make the narrative about the propriety of the tactic of resistance rather than about the underlying issue of summary executions and such. People — including many Occupiers from out of town — seemed to get that today.
(I also don’t know who was throwing traffic cones at police cars, but it strikes me that a traffic cone is sort of the “projectile thrown at car” version of a rubber bullet. Have any cops in cars ever been injured by a thrown traffic cone? Still, kids, don’t do it.)
inge the problem is EVERY TIME they have one of these its gets out of hand because of the people they are associated with . they will sometimes judge you by the company you keep .
Today’s noon rally at the police station was loud and impolite, but it was peaceful and destroyed no property. Lots of people were there from out of town, but there was a special emphasis on non-violence as a key to victory. From what I can tell, the police appreciated that. (I left at 1:50, so I can’t answer for the very end.)
I got there just in time to see the “WE don’t HATE you” chant. It got more derisive from there. Still, we’re fighting against, among other things, summary executions of (presumable) suspects and the firing of “less lethal” weapons into crowds of women and children. You have to expect people to be irritated.
Peter Phillips Ph.D. – You spend a lot of time in the neighborhood in question do you?
Which gated community do you live it? Gang members hardly go there we are pretty sure…..but if you can post some photos the next time it happens….we would love to see them.
It is the job of Occupy to bring these issues to the forefront of societies consciousness. Being catalytic is not a crime. Silence is a moral crime. Occupy Santa Ana for example is devoted to Non-violence. The chances that any of our “group” were engaged in any physical violence such as throwing rocks are highly unlikely. It is much more likely that experienced Occupiers were restraining local youth from throwing things such as traffic cones at cop cars.
That is what I was engaging in.
Taking the streets is an act of civil disobedience, temporarily challenging street ordinances for the sake of political speech and public assertion is a risk and decision that should be done with respect to all of the public including those that need to use the streets for their employment situations or emergencies. Trying to get home on time to watch “Dances with Stars” is not a socially conscious priority.
Well spake!
Hey Buena Park youve got your own Killer cops still on the loose in Buena Park. See the article below. Steve Yakobosky cost thge city of Buena Park 5 million dollars afetr he hed an unarmed guy against a wall so his partner could shoot him dead in the head.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/herrera-62938-furtado-city.html
From actual Occupy Orange County:
The following is one single email, containing all FOUR, of Occupy OC’s plans for Anaheim Peaceful Protest this weekend. — In no way is this a declaration of hostility toward, or an act of agression against our city or any element of OUR society which our police or any other body under our employ is charged with protecting, as we are not an external force to our society. We are merely society itself, aware of its own rights, under its own law, and in accordance with our own most sacredly held traditions, as eternally expressed through our nation’s Declaration or Independence:
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation…
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
And in accordance with the very letter of our first amendment rights as a citizenry:
“Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
…And as such, this is merely a statement in kind, that the following events, on our property, (ourselves being the very public to which the public property in our city belongs)… will happen:
Today, the people of Occupy Orange County CA in solidarity with the families of the two shooting victims along with embattled Anaheim neighborhood residents are marching at 5:30 p.m. in Anaheim starting in Stoddard Park (on S. 9th St. between W. Orangewood and W. Katella avenues). We will march peacefully and in non-violent resistance fashion from the park down Katella Avenue to Harbor Boulevard. Please re-join us after the protest in Stoddard Park for more information on the weekend’s planned protest events including Saturday’s Occupy OC & Occupy LA Solidarity Livestream Teach-In at 10 a.m.. Afterwards, stay for another march down Katella Avenue to Harbor Boulevard starting at noon. On Sunday, please join us from noon-2 p.m. at the Anaheim Police Department.
Occupy Orange County CA Solidarity with Anaheim March
Today at 5:30pm at Stoddard Park
https://www.facebook.com/events/336708469748838/
Occupy Orange County CA & Occupy LA Solidarity Livestream Media & Non-Violent Resistance Teach-In
Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Stoddard Park, Anaheim
https://www.facebook.com/events/260721444040164/
Occupy Orange County CA Solidarity with Anaheim Protest
Tomorrow at 12:00pm at Stoddard Park, Anaheim
https://www.facebook.com/events/489292957765516/
Occupy Orange County CA Solidarity with Anaheim Protest
Sunday at Anaheim Police Department
https://www.facebook.com/events/296922467071904/
Information about Stoddard Park in Anaheim:
The park is located on S. 9th St. between W. Orangewood Ave. and W. Katella Ave.
From Stoddard Park to the corner of Harbor Blvd. and Katella Ave. is about 1.6 miles
More information about Stoddard Park:
http://www.anaheim.net/comm_svc/pdf/neighborhodparks/StoddardPark.pdf
http://www.anaheim.net/comm_svc/parks/parkDetail.asp?dir=park_stoddard
Phillip Edwards Andrew Weber Duri Horslaloi Joey Cadavid Joey Benitez
Occupy Orange County CA SILENT CANDLELIGHT VIGIL of Peace and Unity with Victims and Mourning Families
Today at 5:30pm at Stoddard Park
Join
For all of you who have wondered what the value was of Occupy Orange County — we are now able to put together a group of effective activists, including ones who may have been taking a break for a while (haven’t seen Joey C. in months!), in very little time.
We know what each other can do; we’re pretty much committed to similar values; we know how to be effective. We’re not starting from “square one” any more in OC. That’s a big and a welcome change.
*Forgive them Lord…for they know not what they do….!” Try finding out all the facts
before running into the water where the sharks live….people!
its about time, the people of orange county rose up against the orange county elite …we have had it w/ruling class slime…time to empower ourselves////
aron pieman kay
“heres to the state of barack obama!!!hey barack find yourself another country to be part of”
Yes “aron” you hit it right on the nail. The cop that shot the dude in the head said “This is one is from Obama! He is my supreme foreign Dictator. Kill Kill kill.” w.t.f.?
*Have fun…..don’t fight! Isn’t there another society to run ….someplace else?
Great reporting!
Occupy Disneyland!!