April 10th, 2006

On April 10th, millions of people marched in support of undocumented immigrants. Almost without expection, the demonstrations were both peaceful and awe-inspiring. Almost.

Of all the cities across the United States, Tucson proved to be the lone exception. After the procession concluded, several thousand people (15,000 by some estimated) convened for a rally at Armory Park in downtown Tucson. Much to everyone's surprise, the Border Guardians, a splinter group of the Minuteman Project and Minuteman Civil Defense Corps., situated themselves in the center of the park with the intentions of burning a Mexican flag. They had done the same the day before at the Mexican consulate. Talk about a fire starter. 

Spearheaded by Derechos Humanos, the Border Action Network and No More Deaths, the local April 10th Coalition provided security ("Peacekeepers") for the march and rally, and immediately encircled the Border Guardians to protect them from any potentially violent response from the marchers. The Border Guardians shifted their position to a set of shuffleboard courts at the entrance of the park, and they remained in the protection of Peacekeepers and, later, the local police until the unfortunate end of the rally. 

On a weekend break from Three Points, I volunteered as a Legal Observer for the Coalition. In short, I documented the rising tension in the crowd as it came to a head: a sixteen-year-old girl was arrested for trying to douse the Mexican flag with the spray from her water bottle. Some of the water hit a policeman, he considered it assault, and a cadre of officers hauled the girl off through the middle of the rally. One young Latino male apparently came too close to the squad car in which the girl was to be detained, and he was thrown by an officer and beaten. Several others were also thrown violently or beaten. 

To memory, six marchers were charged with misdemeanor offenses. All were either given a plea bargain or acquitted.