'May Day' rallies happening around Los Angeles to show support for immigrants
Rallies and marches are planned for Monday in downtown Los Angeles, Little Tokyo and Boyle Heights to mark International Workers Day, also known as May Day, continuing a tradition dating back to the 19th century.
The demonstrations are a show of support for immigrants to advocate for a path to citizenship, affordable housing and worker protections.
A rally organized by the Los Angeles May Day Coalition happened around 5 a.m. on Olympic Boulevard and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. They are organizing another march this evening at the same location around 5 p.m. The marchers will proceed to Pershing Square and then continue to Grand Park in front of City Hall.
The theme of the march is "Solidarity is Power: Right to Citizenship, Right to Unionize, Right to Strike, & Right to Housing." The coalition includes the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, United Teachers Los Angeles, the Service Employees International Union, IATSE Local 839, the National Union of Healthcare Workers, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Communist Party USA and Democratic Socialists of America - Los Angeles.
Revolution Club LA will have a 3 p.m. demonstration at First Street and Central Avenue in Little Tokyo, calling for "No U.S. NATO war with Russia, stop U.S. threats against China and no World War 3," organizers said.
The eighth annual May Day Boyle Heights will begin at 4:30 p.m. with a rally at the intersection of Mathews Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue in Boyle Heights.
A march will follow, with marchers heading west on Cesar Chavez Avenue, then south on Chicago Street, stopping at the Hollenbeck Community Police Station, where a protest is planned. Speakers will include Josefina Rizo, whose 16-year-old son Jose Mendez was fatally shot by Los Angeles Police Department officers in 2016.
Police said Mendez was driving a stolen vehicle and pointed a shotgun at them. In 2017, the Police Commission ruled in the shooting was justified and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office review of the shooting found that Officers Josue Merida and Jeremy Wagner used reasonable force in self- defense and the defense of others.
The march will continue to Mariachi Plaza for another program.
May Day Boyle Heights is organized by Centro CSO, whose May Day demands include legalization for everyone who has entered the United States without authorization, protecting public education and community control over the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Labor groups have conducted rallies and protests on May 1 since 1890, originally commemorating the anniversary of the Haymarket affair on May 4, 1886, when a peaceful rally in Chicago's Haymarket Square turned into a violent attack after someone threw a bomb at police. After the blast, shots were fired and seven police officers died and at least four civilians were killed during the violence.
