Post by blackcrowheart on Jan 24, 2006 18:21:39 GMT -5
San Pasqual tribe meets despite bomb threat, peaceful picketers
San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians tribe members hold signs outside
Knights of Columbus Hall in Escondido protesting a meeting of San
Pasqual Band of Mission Indians being held outside the reservation on
Sunday.
By: LORELL FLEMING Staff Writer
www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/01/23//news/top_stories/21_15_571
_21_061.txt
ESCONDIDO ----- A bomb threat and peaceful picketers didn't deter the
San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians from holding a general council
meeting Sunday.
About 15 minutes before the 10 a.m. meeting at the Knights of
Columbus Hall on West Valley Parkway, someone phoned the Escondido
Police Department saying there was a bomb at the hall, Escondido
Police Department Lt. David Mankin said Sunday.
Mankin said the meeting started on time after police couldn't find
any sign of a bomb after a search.
"Other than that, we've had no problems here," Mankin said after the
hourlong meeting ended. "(The picketers) protested legally. They
stayed on the sidewalk and did not block anyone's ingress or egress
to the meeting place. They had a point they wanted to make and they
made it legally."
Some two dozen protesters picketed the meeting, carrying signs with
statements such as "Support True Indians."
Police had been on alert for possible violence in the wake of a brawl
that broke out during a general council meeting last July at the San
Pasqual tribal council hall on the reservation in the rural community
of Valley Center, just east of Escondido.
That fight, which erupted about 10 minutes into the meeting, left
several people hurt, although none were sent to the hospital. At
least one person was arrested in that incident, according to the
Sheriff's Department.
The July 2005 fight is believed to have been sparked, in part, by
attempts of hundreds of people to become members of the band. The
status of the prospective members' applications is unclear.
At least one San Pasqual tribal member, Jeanette Navarro, publicly
voiced concern last week that conflicts over membership could mean
more violence at Sunday's meeting. Navarro could not be reached
Sunday for comment.
Several officers of the Sheriff Department's Special Enforcement
Bureau, wearing camouflage green uniforms and protective gear, were
standing by in the parking lot of a nearby California Bank & Trust in
case things turned violent during Sunday's meeting, Mankin said.
"But that didn't happen," he said.
Protesters reportedly started arriving about two hours prior to the
10 a.m. start time of the meeting, and disbanded shortly after the
meeting ended at about 10:45 a.m. About 160 federally enrolled tribal
members were inside the hall for the meeting, according to Mankin.
Tribal leaders specifically said no news reporters or photographers
would be allowed into the meeting.
Picketer Robert Ochoa said his grandmother and two of his sisters
were injured in the protest during the July 2005 meeting.
He said Tribal Council Chairman Allen Lawson has refused to
acknowledge his group of American Indians as members.
"This is wrong," Lawson said, adding that protesters were also upset
that the tribal council was meeting off the reservation.
Lawson could not be reached Sunday for comment.
Albert Alto, a tribal board member on the board's Election Committee,
was one of only a few people willing to talk to the media or
protesters after the council meeting ended.
"These people out here, they are my brothers and sisters," Alto said,
darting his eyes briefly in the direction of a group of protesters a
short distance away. "But you have to use the correct way to do
things.
"There's been so much violence when we hold meetings at the
reservation. Some (tribal) members' homes have been ransacked.
There's been threats of bodily harm to members, and threats of
burning down or bombing the casino."
While protesters picketed outside, tribal members inside were passing
six resolutions, including measures authorizing the tribe's business
committee to hire an attorney for internal tribal government issues
and approval of a payment for peacekeeping services at the San
Pasqual Indian Reservation by officers from the Valley Center
sheriff's substation, Alto said.
San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians tribe members hold signs outside
Knights of Columbus Hall in Escondido protesting a meeting of San
Pasqual Band of Mission Indians being held outside the reservation on
Sunday.
By: LORELL FLEMING Staff Writer
www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/01/23//news/top_stories/21_15_571
_21_061.txt
ESCONDIDO ----- A bomb threat and peaceful picketers didn't deter the
San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians from holding a general council
meeting Sunday.
About 15 minutes before the 10 a.m. meeting at the Knights of
Columbus Hall on West Valley Parkway, someone phoned the Escondido
Police Department saying there was a bomb at the hall, Escondido
Police Department Lt. David Mankin said Sunday.
Mankin said the meeting started on time after police couldn't find
any sign of a bomb after a search.
"Other than that, we've had no problems here," Mankin said after the
hourlong meeting ended. "(The picketers) protested legally. They
stayed on the sidewalk and did not block anyone's ingress or egress
to the meeting place. They had a point they wanted to make and they
made it legally."
Some two dozen protesters picketed the meeting, carrying signs with
statements such as "Support True Indians."
Police had been on alert for possible violence in the wake of a brawl
that broke out during a general council meeting last July at the San
Pasqual tribal council hall on the reservation in the rural community
of Valley Center, just east of Escondido.
That fight, which erupted about 10 minutes into the meeting, left
several people hurt, although none were sent to the hospital. At
least one person was arrested in that incident, according to the
Sheriff's Department.
The July 2005 fight is believed to have been sparked, in part, by
attempts of hundreds of people to become members of the band. The
status of the prospective members' applications is unclear.
At least one San Pasqual tribal member, Jeanette Navarro, publicly
voiced concern last week that conflicts over membership could mean
more violence at Sunday's meeting. Navarro could not be reached
Sunday for comment.
Several officers of the Sheriff Department's Special Enforcement
Bureau, wearing camouflage green uniforms and protective gear, were
standing by in the parking lot of a nearby California Bank & Trust in
case things turned violent during Sunday's meeting, Mankin said.
"But that didn't happen," he said.
Protesters reportedly started arriving about two hours prior to the
10 a.m. start time of the meeting, and disbanded shortly after the
meeting ended at about 10:45 a.m. About 160 federally enrolled tribal
members were inside the hall for the meeting, according to Mankin.
Tribal leaders specifically said no news reporters or photographers
would be allowed into the meeting.
Picketer Robert Ochoa said his grandmother and two of his sisters
were injured in the protest during the July 2005 meeting.
He said Tribal Council Chairman Allen Lawson has refused to
acknowledge his group of American Indians as members.
"This is wrong," Lawson said, adding that protesters were also upset
that the tribal council was meeting off the reservation.
Lawson could not be reached Sunday for comment.
Albert Alto, a tribal board member on the board's Election Committee,
was one of only a few people willing to talk to the media or
protesters after the council meeting ended.
"These people out here, they are my brothers and sisters," Alto said,
darting his eyes briefly in the direction of a group of protesters a
short distance away. "But you have to use the correct way to do
things.
"There's been so much violence when we hold meetings at the
reservation. Some (tribal) members' homes have been ransacked.
There's been threats of bodily harm to members, and threats of
burning down or bombing the casino."
While protesters picketed outside, tribal members inside were passing
six resolutions, including measures authorizing the tribe's business
committee to hire an attorney for internal tribal government issues
and approval of a payment for peacekeeping services at the San
Pasqual Indian Reservation by officers from the Valley Center
sheriff's substation, Alto said.