comunicador | 12.04.2006 12:33

Just before midnight on Monday, racist anti-Mexican vigilantes torched Mariachi's Mexican Bar and Grill at 12868 Campo Road located about 15 miles east of downtown San Diego and about 12 miles north of the US/Mexico border. The vigilantes left vile anti-Mexican graffiti painted in red on the walls. The racist profanities left on the walls are similar to those sent by e-mail to the Mexica Movement and to La Voz de Aztlan recently.

April 12, 2005

Border Vigilantes "Torch" Mexican Restaurant

Just before midnight on Monday, racist anti-Mexican
vigilantes torched Mariachi's Mexican Bar and Grill at 12868 Campo Road located about 15 miles east of downtown San
Diego and about 12 miles north of the US/Mexico border.
The vigilantes left vile anti-Mexican graffiti painted in
red on the walls. The racist profanities left on the walls
are similar to those sent by e-mail to the Mexica Movement
and to La Voz de Aztlan recently.

According to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department,
the vigilantes broke an outside window, poured gasoline
inside and then set the restaurant on fire. Border
vigilantes have vowed to start a civil war against Mexicans
through radio and through their websites. On April 9 they
also torched a Mexican flag in front of the Mexican
consulate in Tucson.

The owner of the restaurant, Leilanie Ontiveros, said she
had received racist threats through the telephone. "We left a little after 11 p.m., got a phone call that said racial
things and we hung up," said Ontiveros. Someone called the
restaurant and spewed venom against Mexicans. Ontiveros
said she and her family disregarded the call and worked at
the restaurant until about 11 p.m.

The initial call to the fire department came from a US Border Patrol agent. The unidentified border patrol agent said that he spotted the flames, grabbed a garden hose and started spraying.

Surveillance cameras at the strip mall showed two vehicles
pass through the parking lot about the time that the vigilantes set the fire. One was a black vehicle and is
quite identifiable. A video surveillance camera and a
motion-activated camera shows two vans moving through the
lot at 11:43 p.m

Leilanie Ontiveros, her mother and brother have owned the restaurant for a little over two years. Ontiveros has been
a resident of the community for 13 years. The family's
origins are from Durango, Mexico..

“It's very shocking,” said Ontiveros. “To see that type of
slander said about us is hard.” The fire came a day after a massive march and rally in downtown San Diego seeking
rights for Latino immigrants.

The suburban areas around the City of San Diego have a
shameful racist history. These areas are known as North
County, East County and South County. Many of the
residents in these area are fleeing Los Angeles and San
Diego where Mexican and Latino populations predominate.
When they start feeling squeezed between growing Mexican
population to the north and the US/Mexico to the south, they
act out in perverse ways.

We must respond 12.04.2006 14:41 We have to do something to respond to this. We cannot allow this kind of hate crime to happen right here in our community. Jamul is right next to Campo, the main center of vigilante activity in the San Diego region. sd@narchist This is disgusting... 12.04.2006 16:01 This racism is only getting worse... We need to educate those around us about the problem and help find ways to combat it without violence. Here is a picture of the damage:  http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/images/060411mariachi.jpg Jeff Graves Homepage:: Insurance Fraud 12.04.2006 21:58 I don't believe any of this. Bob Find who did it and throw the book at them 13.04.2006 10:13 Regardless of citizenship, race, purpose or anything else. Is there any reason this crime should be treated any diferently, from someone burning your or my house down? Skylark yes 13.04.2006 10:27 Because: 1. its a hate crime, based on race 2. we live in a racist country 3. the police, a racist institution themselves, don't really give a shit 4. therefore its up to us, as a community, to respond 5. its also up to us, as a community, to make known that this kind of racism is not welcome or tolerated, not up to the police sd@narchist BTW..... 13.04.2006 14:52 BTW, a "hate crime" isn't a crime that should be punished more when hate or race is involved. It's a crime that wasn't punished enough when race or hate were NOT involved. Find who torched the store and throw the book at them. I don't care who they liked or didn't like, or what color their skin was. Unlike some here. Skylark even the pigs say its a hate crime 13.04.2006 15:41  http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060412-9999-1m12ecfire.html Sheriff's officials describing incident as arson, hate crime "Lailanie Ontiveros looked in disbelief at the smoke-covered broken glass, the charred wood and the profane ethnic insult spray-painted on the door to her restaurant. Sheriff's officials said the fire and anti-Mexican graffiti at Mariachi's Mexican Bar and Grill late Monday was arson and a hate crime, but Ontiveros couldn't understand why anyone would hate her family." reader Would it be a hate crime... 30.04.2006 19:46 SO, would it be a hate crime that the local smuggler tried to burn me out a few years back because I wouldn't let him use my barn for a pick-up point? And should I have viewed it as a hate crime when groups of illegal aliens jimmie the lock off my storage shed and, while using it for shelter, help themselves to a few goodies to take along on the road? I'm thinking "yes I should." Because those people feel free to treat me that way because I am not quite human to them. I'm just game to be harvested along the way - and they have no compunction or regret about what they do to me or mine. Would they treat other Mexicans that way? I think not. Therefore this casual attitude toward me and my property is the product of discrimination and is, therefore, a hate crime. Somebody's Mother i like goodies 03.05.2006 08:53 Almost all "crimes" involve a certain amount of hate and anger, but I find it rather absurd to classify someone who "helped themself to a few goodies" from your storage shed a hate crime- if that really ever happened! Hate crimes cause two sorts of harm: they cause emotional damage to members of the target group. Secondly, they can create serious discord between various cultural groups in society. Of course people like "somebody's mom" would claim they were "emotionally damaged" by the supposed "goodie thief," but it is quite obvious that the restaurant was burned with clear intent of imbedding intimidation and fear into the owners' lives. Hate crimes attack the basic bonds that bind our culturally diverse society together. They involve hate against people because of their color, race, religion or ethnic origin. some immigrant's daughter Definition of a Hate Crime 05.05.2006 21:29 I think a few people that commented on this article are a bit confused about the definition of a hate crime. I am going to supply only one, but if you research the definition, most of the others will pretty much say the same thing. According to Larry Siegal, "Hate crimes or bias crimes are violent acts directed toward a particular person or members of a group merely because the target share a discernible racial, ethnic, religious, or gender characteristic". I think we can also add sexual orientation and physical/mental disablities as well. If the facts of this case are true, which in my opinion they are, then regardless of how you all "try" to come up with these off the wall scenarios, this is truly a hate crime...the other scenarios are merely crimes. Sorry, but what we don't know WILL hurt us. Criminal Justice Student