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Old 09-15-2010, 09:30 PM
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Ayatollahgondola Ayatollahgondola is offline
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Yikes! Made it out in one piece, but it got a little worrisome towards the end.

The Mexicans had a permit for a 5,000 plus man event to celebrate...well, mexico at the state capitol. Nothing new really, they do it every year, but usually I am just a reporter for the folks back home. This time we took the mobile billboard and put up a fight. I tried to recruit some people to hold parking for me, but failed again, so I ended up driving around the event, and actually right through it as they set up. Later, I was able to secure parking within a couple hundred feet from the event, and as fate would have it, a fairly well traveled pathway to end from the event. The tour through the middle of it caught everyone completely by surprise. As I passed through they were setting up all their illegal vendor booths and most of them looked up in amazement as the billboard cawled through the crowd. Most of them stood there like deer in the headlights, so I thought, lets go around again. Unfortunately when I circled back the police had parked a patrol car in the way. So I made several revolutions around the capitol and saw hundreds of them holding up cameras and cell phones as I passed. There were several passing cars flipping me the bird, and as I spoke with Eagle1, another carload of them were screaming the usual Fuch yoos.
So I found parking as I mentioned, very close too, and after getting parked, set up the flagpole and the US Border Patrol flag.
Didn't take long to start getting some attention by the parade of peekup trucks and escalades as they went by me to park. Most though were fairly benign insults and veiled threats, so I pressed my luck and wandered down to the main body of the crowd. Tons of illegal vendors, and I complained about them being allowed to vend from the state property, a strict no-no if your an American event permittee. The CHP officers told me they weren't the permit officers so they weren't going to be bothered by it.
After having my fill of mexican flags, I meandered carefully back to the truck and found many people standing close and having their pictures taken, or drilling me about my "problem" with immigrants. By now, the event was in full swing, and there were literally thousands of them in the area.
I got into a discussion with two females, a young girl and I guess her mom, which was going OK, until an obviously preturbed man decided to try and scare me a little. It got to the point I pulled out the pepperspray and put it in fire mode. He was in spittle flying distance and I was watching his hands and feet pretty close, but after seeing I was not going to go scurrying off, he backed away, but the two girls left the scene also, not wanting to be around the impending violence that seemed inevitable to them I'm sure.

There's lots to relay about the tour, but I'll catch you up tomorrow, and let you see some pics while I make some videos. I was able to tape the belligerant guy, and also got some video of the end where it started to get kinda Baldwin Park-like. When the sun went down and many of them started to leave there was a mob mentality setting in, and they literally lined the side of the street yelling and screaming, flipping me off, and even having their children flip me off. Eagle1 was on the phone with me again encouraging me to get out, and I guess that was for the best. But we got in a good tour and let 'em know we are not conceding anything just yet.




Because their theme was independence day from Spain, I felt compelled to point out they just traded one dependence for another








Several media came by and took pics of the billboard








What would a mexican be without a stroller?













Last edited by Ayatollahgondola; 09-15-2010 at 10:30 PM.
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