(Newport Beach) Daily Pilot: ACLU files suit against Costa Mesa

ACLU files suit against Costa Mesa

Lawsuit says man arrested at January council meeting was assaulted by police, denied free speech.
By Alicia Robinson
3/2/06

The ACLU on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the city of Costa Mesa over the treatment of a protester who was arrested at a Jan. 3 City Council meeting.

The suit was filed by the ACLU of Southern California on behalf of Benito Acosta, a 24-year-old Costa Mesa resident and Orange Coast College student who also uses the name Coyotl Tezcatlipoca. It claims city officials violated Acosta's rights to free speech, equal protection and due process by silencing him and by using force to restrain him, eject him from the council meeting, and arrest him.

Acosta was at the Jan. 3 meeting to speak against several recent council decisions, particularly a proposal the council approved in December to train city police for immigration enforcement. He was ordered to stop speaking and was then removed from the meeting by Costa Mesa police after he urged those who agreed with him to stand up.

According to the suit, Acosta was cut off before his allotted three minutes was up, and when he protested, he was surrounded by police who grabbed, struck, pushed and kicked him while dragging him outside the council chambers. During the five hours Acosta was in custody, he was taken to the hospital for injuries caused by police, said Belinda Escobosa Helzer, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

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http://www.dailypilot.com/front/story/39539p-58934c.html

immigration enforcement thing in Costa Mesa a couple months ago and I thought it was a joke.:wow:
And this guy was right for speaking up.

Costa Mesa has a huge Hispanic population. What do they think they're going to do,
knock on doors? kick out half the town? I hope things don't get that bad.;(
and I hope the ACLU wins.

These RightWingnuts are insane.:crazy: How much worse does it all have to get before it gets better???

Many Latinos have been organizing to boycott businesses in Costa Mesa. One of the council members who voted for this measure own a restaurant so he could be hurt.

So they think that they can tell people where to shop now, can they?

And that "Minuteman Project Founder" Jim Gilchrist is a jerk with a "White is the supreme color" attitude. I can't some believe people actually listen to that guy. That guy needs to go.

Unfortunately this county is getting way too Red for my taste.

We have a many Costa Mesa residents in our DFA group. They have been organizing to get the racist mayor recalled - who just made a huge announcement that he was joining the minutemen.