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MacArthur Park
Until spring of 2007, MacArthur Park was best known as the inspiration
for a syrupy disco tune covered by Donna Summers, and a good place to
get a fake green card. That was before the May Day Melee, in which
police broke up an immigrants' rights rally with clubs and rubber
bullets. The clash began as result of a rally of 25,000 demonstrators,
some with kazoos buzzing along to the chants of "Si se puede." A few
protesters threw rocks and bottles at the police, who tried to move the
crowd with orders broadcast in English from a helicopter above the
park.
As result of insolence on the part of the marchers, or the fact that
many pro-immigration demonstrators might not understand orders to leave
the park shouted in English from a noisy helicopter, the police cleared
the park by force in front of TV cameras. After scenes from the park
were televised for dozens of hours, an investigation was launched,
police commanders were demoted, and a handful of civil right lawsuits
were filed.
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