L.A. Authorities Brace for Huge Immigration Marches
Two immigrant rights demonstrations Monday in Los Angeles could each draw a half-million marchers or more, police said Thursday, as officials expressed concern about a major disruption of traffic, commerce and school.
LAPD Assistant Chief George Gascon said the estimates are based on street intelligence and what he described as a well-organized campaign involving radio stations, churches and community groups. Police do not expect trouble, he added.
Demonstrations are planned for downtown at noon and Mid-Wilshire at 4 p.m. Gascon said the LAPD is gearing up to deal with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators at each.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Cardinal Roger Mahony and others have encouraged protesters to attend the late-afternoon march from MacArthur Park down Wilshire Boulevard to La Brea Avenue, prompting authorities to say that crowd might be the larger of the two.
Officials in Santa Ana, Huntington Park, Oxnard, Riverside, Pomona and San Diego said they expect smaller but boisterous protests.
Police in Chicago, meanwhile, estimated that as many as 500,000 could take to the streets in that city, while Seattle officials and protest organizers said they expect anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 marchers.
Officials acknowledged that it is difficult to predict the size of any protest crowd, noting that at a march last month, the LAPD had expected far fewer protesters than the estimated 500,000 people who showed up outside Los Angeles City Hall.
But if the LAPD's estimates prove correct, Monday's marches would approach the scope of that event -- one of the largest protests in Los Angeles' history. Officials said Monday's demonstrations could prove more disruptive, however, because they will occur on a weekday and they include a call for people to boycott school and work and refrain from shopping.
Some small-business owners say they plan to close down Monday, either to support the marchers or because they think it would be difficult to do business.
State and local school officials urged students to stay in classes, and transportation officials planned street closures and bus route detours.
"We want students to exercise free speech, but not at the expense of their education," said state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. "If students need to protest, they should feel free to do so after school."
