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Sights and sounds of the May Day marches
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The International Workers May Day march and rally and the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition march and rally were held in downtown L.A. on Sunday.
Peaceful protests over, streets begin to open to traffic
Police made no arrests at Sunday’s rallies, according to Sgt. Barry Montgomery of the Los Angeles Police Department.
“It was a peaceful 1st Amendment exercise, with no incidents,” Montgomery said.
With the marches winding down, officials began to lift road closures about 4 p.m., he said.
While the protests were calm, not everyone in the areas they passed through observed the laws.
Police issued 129 parking citations and impounded 59 cars that were improperly parked along the parade route, Montgomery said.
He declined to give an official estimate of the number of protesters.
Black Lives Matter voices heard at May Day marches
In the Fashion District, workers cheer marchers on
Police say thank you for the peaceful May Day protests
For one marcher, Trump led to a political awakening
Elmer Deleon, 37, a mechanic from Huntington Park who came to the U.S. 16 years ago to flee violence in El Salvador, said he had a political awakening this year as he watched Donald Trump criticize immigrants.
So he brought his wife and three children downtown for their first May Day march.
“All we want to do is work,” Deleon said. “We start from the bottom and try to build something.”
Deleon said he got his work papers years ago and wants to fight for others behind him to gain the same rights.
“It changed my life,” he said.
Deleon said he was sad to see the small crowd, stretching just half a block, at the immigrant rights march.
“It’s disappointing. Where is everyone?” he asked.
Marching on May Day for many different reasons
The May Day marches moving through downtown Los Angeles are bringing together many different people. Supporters of the the Black Lives Matter movement march beside Dreamers, anti-Trump protesters and those trying to get out the vote in a crucial election year.
“It doesn’t matter what you are supporting politically,” said Tim Vanco, 20, a UCLA student from Chicago who joined the International Workers Day Day march. “As long as you are fighting for progressive causes and human rights.”
Vanco had come to the march with two other UCLA students. Each had their own particular reasons for being there.
Vanco, who is white and gay, said he was fighting for living wages and immigration reform. His friend, Angel Contreras, a 24-year-old Mexican American, said he was worried about how a Trump presidency could affect his family, which includes some relatives who crossed the border illegally decades ago. Grace Nsavu, 22, is an immigrant from the Congo. Stories like hers, she said, often get lost in the immigration debates.
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FOR THE RECORD
5/01, 4:30 p.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified a UCLA student marcher. She is Grace Nsavu, not Nsavc.
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Nsavu’s family, she said, left behind poverty, a poor educational system and political instability. They came to the United States in 2001 after 9/11, when people’s suspicions about immigrants ran high, she said. Over the years, she said, she has felt such tension increase.
“Trump has empowered people and has given them a voice through his rhetoric -- and that voice sounds like racism, bigotry and hate,” Nsavu said.
This presidential election could shape American foreign policy for years to come, she said. “America is the leader of the free world. It’s important that we lead the charge for immigration reforms and a living wage.”
The crowd marched down 11th Street toward the Fashion District shouting “Si, se puede” and “Black lives they matter here.”
Trump passes by The Times in immigrant rights march
Photos from the marches
Puppets represent immigrants at International Workers May Day March
I’m not how Trump defines me, says woman marching for immigrant rights
Gloria Carrasco wore an American flag scarf as she stood on the truck leading the crowd of those marching for immigrant rights.
“I’m not a drug addict, I’m none of what he [Trump] says,” Carrasco shouted in Spanish. “I want immigration reform.”
Hundreds of people heard her as they waved flags and held signs that demanded legalization and not deportation.
Seven years ago, Carrasco said, she was in her Los Alamitos home when her father died in Mexico. Because she is not in the country legally, she could not cross the border to see him.
She has been in the United States for 27 years and one month, she said, trying to create better opportunities for her family. She has three children; one is 13 and was born in the U.S..
“We want to send a message,” said Carrasco, who cleans homes for a living. “No more hate, no more racism. We deserve to be citizens.”
When asked about the possibility of Donald Trump being elected president, she held up crossed fingers and said she hoped he wouldn’t be. To her, he represents hate, racism and division.
“That’s why we’re doing this. So he doesn’t win,” she said.
For immigrant rights, a small but passionate crowd
For the immigrant rights march, a small crowd had gathered shortly before 1 p.m. at Broadway and Olympic Boulevard, waving American and Mexican flags and carrying signs that read “Rise up” and “Full rights for all immigrants.”
Eydee Rivera had dressed up her 1-year-old daughter, Arlette Martinez, in the colors of the Mexican flag. Rivera is from Puerto Rico, but her husband is from Mexico. Her daughter has “sangre Mexicana,” she said, explaining the dress.
Rivera, whose husband is in the country illegally, came out to demand immigration reform.
Even little children shouted expletives about Donald Trump on the march down Broadway.
“He’s ignorant,” Rivera said of Trump. “We’re human beings.”
Trump is front and center at small immigration march
The May Day immigration march made its way down Broadway on Sunday with a much smaller crowd than in earlier years.
The truck leading the parade carried organizers chanting “Stop Donald Trump!” The crowd trailing behind stretched half a block.
“It’s disappointing. Where is everyone?” asked Elmer Deleon, a 37-year-old immigrant from El Salvador who has settled in Huntington Park and works as a mechanic.
Many children in the crowd at the immigration march
He’s marching for his brothers, he says
Marchers lining up on 11th Street
A Donald Trump balloon is in the May Day crowd
Among the marchers, a common denominator
Marchers gathering
Expect delays
LAPD prepares for anti-Trump demonstrations
After intense anti-Donald Trump protests in Orange County and Burlingame in recent days, Los Angeles authorities are bracing for May Day marches Sunday in downtown Los Angeles.
LAPD Assistant Chief Michel Moore said he believed the Los Angeles demonstrations would be much less eventful, but noted that the images from the Costa Mesa protests were alarming.
To prepare for the May Day marches, Moore said, police have been meeting with organizers for several months to ensure a smooth march.
“We expect May Day to be peaceful,” Moore said. “We are always prepared for any eventuality were anything to happen. But we have nothing to suggest that will be the case.”