East Los, CA — On the evening of September 4, Chicanos from East Los Angeles mobilized to disrupt a local town hall hosted by racist, right-wing Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman at a Chicano restaurant called East Los Tacos.

Hochman's reactionary policies like gang enhancements and his “tough on crime” approach have been proven to not make anyone safer. In fact, they deeply and disproportionately target and harm Black and Chicano neighborhoods. In general, crime in Los Angeles has been decreasing for years.

During his swearing-in ceremony in December, Hochman ordered deputies to ambush Centro CSO and Black Lives Matter leaders who were protesting his policies. They arrested a Black Lives Matter member and pastor, and the LAPD stole CSO’s megaphone, which has never been returned to CSO.

Centro CSO, an organization that has been on the ground in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights fighting for police accountability, organized the counter-protest alongside impacted families. Gabriel Quiroz Jr with Centro CSO stood up during the town hall and unfolded a banner with the words “Fight the Fort Apache” and asked the district attorney and the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station captain who was also in attendance, “When are you going to ban this logo? When are you going to prosecute killer cops? Justice For Jeremy Flores!”

As Quiroz Jr was escorted by sheriffs out of the town hall, other Centro CSO members began chanting, “Jail killer cops!” And “ban, ban Fort Apache!” Those who chanted were also forcefully removed. As they were being escorted out, they continued chanting. Once outside, they held up signs and banners against the windows outside of the restaurant. The restaurant staff were at one point ordered to lower the window shades to block the protesters.

The town hall continued, despite the protesting. The protesters waited for the event to end and for DA Hochman to exit. However, in complete cowardice, Hochman called on deputies to escort him and save him. He was snuck out of the kitchen and jumped into a black truck, while Raza continued to chant, “We will see you again!”

Derek Mejia, a leader of Centro CSO said, “Nathan Hochman thought he could come to East LA to have his pointless little copaganda event, and talk about violent crime in this city, other blatant lies, and everything he’s done to ‘stop crime’ in Los Angeles, when his refusal to prosecute killer cops keeps the real violent criminals [the killer cops] on our streets.”

Mejia continued, “Yet again, Hochman shows he’s all talk and no walk. We were violently thrown out of the event and continually met with harassment and intimidation by the East LA Sheriffs. We aren’t scared by them or Hochman for that matter. These are our streets, not theirs! They are guests in our neighborhoods, and we won’t tolerate their violence and lies!”

Beña Martinez, a leader of Centro CSO, said “How can you have a town hall where only cherry-picked questions would be allowed, and only after he shapes a false narrative of the need for ‘tougher on crime’ policies in a major city where violent crime has gone down over a decade. He’s emulating what Trump is trying to do with this country by gaslighting the masses through the media that crime is some rampant problem instead of creating policy to address real problems we face”

Stephanie Luna, the aunt of Anthony Vargas who was killed by East Los Angeles sheriff's deputies, said, “It’s deeply ironic that while DA Hochman spoke about protecting First Amendment rights, community leaders were thrown out for exercising theirs — and questions about deputy gangs and police violence on our community members went ignored. The moderators chose the questions that fit Hochman's agenda. The concerns raised by many in the room were focused on graffiti and weed shops showing just how out of touch this space is with the real issues our communities face.”

Jazmine Moreno, whose children’s father David Ordaz Jr was murdered by East Los Angeles Sheriffs, said, “I would like to touch on how much control Hochman has over these deputy-involved cases. Yet he won’t ever speak on them. He stood up there and spoke about victims and how as victims of crime we should trust the system to work and do what it’s meant to do. But what about those of us who are victims of crime at the hands of deputies or police officers? We don’t get the same privileges or concerns from him. He couldn’t even stand to hear ‘Justice for David Ordaz Jr’ or ‘Jail killer cops’ without having people escorted out. He claims there’s a time and a place for protesting or freedom of speech yet won’t hear us out. Hochman came to our community for a Latino town hall, but all I saw present were non-Latino bootlickers who do not reside in our community of East LA.”

Carlos Montes, a long-time Chicano revolutionary and member of Centro CSO, said, “I stood up in the end and asked, ‘What are you doing about the deputy Banditos gang at ELA Sheriffs Station?’” Hochman responded during the town hall to Montes’ questions with, “Take it to LASD internal affairs!”

Centro CSO’s plans are to continue pushing the campaign to win community control of the police. If you would like to become involved with Centro CSO’s Police Accountability Committee (PAC), we encourage you to message them on their social media platforms @CentroCSO or email them at [email protected]

#EastLosCA #InJusticeSystem #Chicano #Latino #CentroCSO #JusticeforJeremyFlores #BanFortApache