An activist opposing illegal immigration who drove his van into a crowd of protesters in Garden Grove will not be charged, police said Thursday, prompting anger from detractors.
A van driven by Hal Netkin hit several people protesting an appearance Wednesday night by James Gilchrist, whose Minuteman citizen patrol last month monitored the Mexican border in Arizona for illegal crossers.
Netkin, 69, is a former secession candidate for City Council in the San Fernando Valley whose websites oppose illegal immigration and the proliferation of Mexican government-issued identification cards.
Netkin was released after police watched a videotape that showed protesters surrounding the vehicle, banging on it and refusing to move, said Garden Grove Police Lt. Mike Handfield. About 300 protesters at the scene were "trying to intimidate him and refused to let him pass," Handfield said. By night's end, five demonstrators had been arrested.
Gilchrist, an Aliso Viejo resident, and his opponents agreed the melee could portend more confrontations between activists as the issue heats up, with the number of citizen groups and radio talk-show hosts opposing illegal immigration growing nationwide. Gilchrist, a hero among like-minded activists, plans several speaking engagements in the coming months, including an appearance at a Las Vegas conference this weekend.
That conference is expected to draw prominent opponents of illegal immigration, such as Rep. Thomas G. Tancredo (R-Colo.) and Barbara Coe, one of the authors of Proposition 187, a 1994 California ballot measure that denied many public benefits to illegal immigrants but was overturned by a federal court.
Gilchrist is recruiting for other citizen patrols, including one at the California-Mexico border, and for a campaign that he says will target tax evaders.
James Lafferty, director of the National Lawyers Guild in Los Angeles, said he was among those struck by Netkin's van. He said staging protests at Gilchrist's events was necessary, even if it increased his profile.
"I'm glad there were people there saying something [Wednesday night]. We need to have this debate," said Lafferty, who said he was not injured. "We can't just stand and watch this."
Protesters said they arrived at the Garden Grove Women's Club about 6:30 p.m. after receiving an e-mail saying Gilchrist was to speak to the California Coalition for Immigration Reform, which presented him with a trophy for his border campaign.
