Mexican Migrant Workers
Savagely Attacked
by
Racists in San Diego, California
July 14, 2000
San Diego, California (July 14, 2000) - Hate crimes against US citizens of Mexican descent and against Mexican migrant workers in San Diego County and throughout the US/Mexico border region are becoming more common as hate groups like Glenn Spencer's "American Patrol", Barbara Coe's "California Coalition for Immigration Reform" and vigilante Roger Barnett's "Arizona Ranchers Alliance" increase their hate rhetoric against Mexicans on the radio, the Internet and various other propaganda mediums. The constant message they are broadcasting is for the purpose of, they say, "waking up America" to the "invasion of Mexican migrants" into the United States and the "conspiracy to take over the US southwest on behalf of the Mexican government."
As was feared by Mexican-American civil and human rights organizations, the racist white supremacist "lunatic fringe" in San Diego, California has now violently acted out on the hate propaganda being disseminated by the leadership of the anti-Mexican groups, increasing the number of vicious attacks of Mexican migrant workers along the 2000 US/Mexico border region.
In the afternoon and evening of Wednesday July 5, 2000 in the
Carmel Valley of the City of San Diego, five Mexican migrant
workers came under a vicious attack by 8 or more neo-Nazi
skinheads. The migrants were savagely beaten and terrorized
for hours and three had to be hospitalized at Scripps
Hospital in La Jolla. They were beaten with iron pipes,
stabbed with a pitch fork and were repeatedly shot with high
power pellet guns. One of the migrants almost lost his right
eye when one of the thugs shot point blank into his face.
The attackers were described as "Anglo skinheads" by the
victims and ranged in age from late teens to early twenty's.
One thug had a swastika tattoo on his neck. It appears that
the skinhead gang knew the area well because they knew
where the well hidden migrant worker's camp was located in
the heavy brush in what is called McGonigle Canyon. The
migrant camp is located about 300 yards south of Evergreen
Nursery where three of the Mexican migrants worked for many
years. The nursery is located on the 7200 block of Black
Mountain Road in north San Diego.
Three of the victims that worked at Evergreen Nursery are
elderly. Andres Ramos Diaz is 66 years old and was one
of the first migrants attacked while going to the camp
after work around 4:00 P.M. He stated that a white van
full of skinheads approached him, got off, and started
shooting at him while he ran. He ran into the heavy brush
and they continued terrorizing him for hours throwing
rocks and yelling racial epithets. He was shot repeatedly
on the back and had to undergo surgery to remove the
imbedded pellets. Mr. Ramos Diaz stated, "they hunted
me down like a rabbit and threw rocks at me as if I was
an animal."
The skinhead gang next went to the migrant camp were 70 year old Evergreen Nursery worker Anastasio Irigoya was beaten without mercy over the head and stabbed viciously with a pitch fork. Mr. Irigoya spent three days at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla and was released to his sons from La Paz, Baja California. His present condition at this time is unknown.
The third Evergreen Nursery worker was shot fifteen times with pellet guns. He is 60 year old Alfredo Ayala. Mr. Ayala almost lost his right eye when the thugs shot him point blank into his face. Both Mr. Ayala and Mr. Diaz have returned to work in the nursery. On July 12, when La Voz de Aztlan conducted the interviews, noticeable trauma was still apparent on both victims.
A fourth victim who worked in the adjacent tomato fields was
beaten and robbed by the neo-Nazi thugs but his named and
description of injuries are not known to La Voz de Aztlan.
Mr. Andres Ramos Diaz stated to La Voz de Aztlan that
altogether there were 5 victims. It is not known if Mr. Diaz
is referring to a body that was found on July 2 about 500
yards west of where the attacks took place on July 5. The
body has been tentatively identified as a young Mexican
migrant worker from Oaxaca, Mexico by the San Diego Medical
Examiner. The body appears to be a lynching victim and
was dragged for 200 yards on his face and thrown into
a ravine according to San Diego police authorities.
The area where the attacks occurred is an exclusively
"white community" and the only Mexicans in the area are
migrant workers employed in the nurseries and tomato fields
as well as construction workers in the rapidly developing
community in north San Diego between Highway 5 in Del Mar
and Highway 15 in Mar Vista. The many new homes being
constructed range from $500,000 to multi-million dollar
mansions. The owner of Evergreen Nursery stated that
there is a skinhead problem in the local high schools.
Torrey Pines High School is located west of the crime scene
and Mt. Carmel High School is located on the east. On the
site where the dragging victim was found, the San Diego
Catholic Archdiocese is planning to construct another
Catholic high school.
The human rights atrocities have greatly alarmed Mexican Consulate authorities as well as US based human rights organizations. There is now a $15,000 reward being offered for information leading to the arrest of the criminal thugs. The San Diego Police has made statements that a connection between the dragging death and the migrant attack by the skinheads may not exist. They say it is a possibility. The two incidents were about 500 yards and three days apart in this semi-isolated region. There have been other vicious racially motivated attacks on Mexican immigrants in the region. A notable one happened in 1993 in Alpine where 5 racists savagely beat 3 Mexicans with baseball bats and another in 1988 at a McDonald's Restaurant in San Ysidro where deranged racist James Huberty massacred 22 Mexican women and children with an Uzi assault rifle.
UPDATE:
The following is a press release from the San Diego police just received by La Voz de Aztlan. There is no mention in the press release about the lynched and dragged body of another Mexican migrant found 500 yards from and 2 days before the attacks that occurred on July 5th.
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San Diego Police Department
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2000
SEVEN SKINHEADS ARRESTED
FOR ATTACK ON MEXICAN NURSERY WORKERS
San Diego, CA...The San Diego Police Department has arrested seven suspects in connection with the July 5th attack on five migrant workers. Those in custody are juveniles ranging in age from 14 to 17. The investigation continues and additional arrests could be made.
The arrests were made Sunday between 11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. by detectives from Northern Division, the Special Investigations Unit, and the Narcotics Street Team. The suspects were taken into custody at a variety of locations without incident. All were taken to Juvenile Hall. All live in the Northeastern area of San Diego.
In addition to weapons recovered at the scene, detectives yesterday recovered three air rifles, one air pellet rapid-fire pistol, one .303 rifle and one 22-calibre revolver. They were recovered at the homes of several of the suspects.
The investigation reveals that the suspects committed three separate assaults over a two-hour period on July 5. Three of the victims were shot with air rifles, all five were beaten, and one was robbed. The incidents occurred at or near migrant camps in the vicinity of the 7000 block of Black Mountain Road. All of the victims worked at a nearby nursery.
Charges are expected to include assault with a deadly weapon, robbery and a hate crime enhancement. A hate crime is defined under California law as a crime committed against a person because of the person’s race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability. If a person is found guilty of a hate crime enhancement, an additional four years can be added to the sentence.
Since the attacks occurred, the District Attorney’s Office and the Police Department have been working virtually around the clock to develop information leading to the identity of the people who committed these crimes. Deputy District Attorney Hector Jimenez, who prosecutes hate crimes, has assisted detectives from several specialized Police Department units in the search for the suspects. Several tips in this case came through the Crime Stoppers tipline. Specifics about other leads and other details of the investigation will not be revealed at this time.
“Solving this crime has been a community effort,” said Chief David Bejarano. “Community groups, private citizens and elected officials all came forward to denounce this crime and to set up a reward fund for information leading to the arrest of these criminals. Our detectives did an outstanding job of finding and arresting the suspects. I think it sends the message that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated in the City of San Diego.”
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