CERES : Town Bigots Threaten Mexican-Americans

CERES, CALIFORNIA : Town Bigots Threaten Mexican-Americans

White police chief labels Mexican youths "terrorists", raids Mexican family homes

by
Ernesto Cienfuegos
La Voz de Aztlan

Los Angeles, Alta California - January 31, 2005 - (ACN) Ever since "Iraq War" traumatized and decorated US Marine Andres Raya killed one Ceres cop and injured another, the police chief has been threading on extremely dangerous ground. Ceres Police Chief de Werk has unleashed his police thugs into the Mexican-American community to harass school age youths on their way to school and to conduct unauthorized raids of Mexican family homes.

The white police chief has, in addition, undertaken a vicious propaganda campaign against all Mexicans in the area, resulting in accusations by Latino leaders that the chief is an anti-Mexican racist and needs to be fired. His anti-Mexican rhetoric in the media has placed the entire Mexican-American community in dire danger at the hands of white supremacists and anti-Mexican militias in the region. There are rumors that Police Chief de Werk, a transplant from Caspar, Wyoming, is a in-the-closet admirer of the Ku Klux Klan.

The Mexican population in Ceres now out number whites but the police force is still overwhelmingly "gringo". Many of these white cops hold old racist attitudes against Mexicans and their law enforcement practices often reflect their bigotry. Ceres, once a predominant "redneck" city, has had a long history of prejudice against its citizens of Mexican descent. It is just south of Modesto and is in a region that has seen a number of bizarre incidents that include "The Congressman Condit/Chandra Levy Affair" and "The Scott Peterson Murder Case". On September of 2000, the region also experienced a shameful police incident in which an 11 year old Mexican boy was shot in the back and killed in his home by the brutal Modesto Police SWAT Team.

Recently racist Police Chief de Werk requested funds from the white city council to buy and arm his police units with AR-15 assault rifles. He received $18,000 dollars and his thugs are now using them in "El Campo" part of town where Mexicans live. They are using them when stopping and searching Mexican youths and when breaking into homes of Mexican families. US Commission on Civil Rights . . . where are you? This calls for a massive federal investigation of the out of control Police Chief de Werk and his band of rogue cops. Is this America or have we been suddenly transported to Nazi Germany?

La Voz de Aztlan has received a number of complaints from parents of Ceres, California concerning civil rights abuses by the police. They are especially concerned about the safety of their school age children. Many feel as if they are being run out of town. The racist policies of Police Chief de Werk are creating dangerous precedents that will have long term consequences on Mexican/Anglo relationships. The chief needs to be replaced immediately or we may experience more actions similar to the one by US Marine Andres Raya.

At a recent "El Campo" neighborhood meeting, a number of Mexican youths reported widespread harassment by the police. Good young people like Jorge Acosta, Esteban Diaz, Leo Olido, Laylow Medina, and Ave Chavez, said that they are being constantly stopped, searched and harassed by cops with nasty attitudes. These are school kids without any involvement in youth clubs or other groups nor in so called "gangs". At times the cops are pointing assault rifles at their heads.

Worst of all, Mexican parents have now complained about rogue cops breaking into their homes without permission. Father Ernesto Tamayo and mother Rosalia Tamayo were traumatized some days ago when a large gang of cops armed with assault rifles pounded on their door looking for their young son Jose. The Tamayo family is now thinking of moving away from their long time residence. The cops harassed not only the father and mother but also two young daughters that were sleeping at the time but awakened to the "Gestapo" nightmare.

Other Mexican families have expressed concern that the racist cops are now "criminalizing" without justification many of the Mexican teenagers in the area. The white cops are stopping, interviewing and even photographing many of the young men and attempting to "document" them as "gang members". The ruse to "document" Mexican youths as gang members is a favorite white police ploy to easier frame and incarcerate, for longer terms, Mexican young people. These is a tactic that must be stopped if our young people are to have a better future in a society where laws are still being enforced by racist police agencies.

Another Mexican resident, a single mother, was also traumatized in her home by nine cops with assault rifles. Ramona Flores and her three children were frightened when the nine cops showed up at her door on the night of January 17th. They were there to search her son's room. She refused since they had no court papers but the cops frighten her with arrest so she let them in. They found nothing nor took nothing. US Commission on Civil Rights . . . where are you? Police Chief de Werk should be arrested by federal authorities . . . or possibly by a small contingent of US Marines of Mexican descent just back from Iraq!

There is no question that the Mexican-American community of "El Campo" in Ceres is being terrorized by white cops led by a racist police chief. Under these circumstances it becomes easier to understand why US Marine Andres Raya may have taken the action he did on January 10, 2005.

http://www.aztlan.net/ceres_racist_cops.htm