Immigration rallies pale compared with 2006 
Contra Costa Times - May 02 3:34 AMLOS ANGELES -- Nationwide immigration rallies Tuesday produced only a fraction of the more than a million protesters who turned out last year, as fear of raids kept many illegal immigrants from coming
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_5799558?source=rss

LOS ANGELES - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa condemned the Police Department's use of force against demonstrators and reporters at an immigration rally, saying he was "deeply, personally troubled" by the clash.

The mayor returned home Friday after cutting short a trade mission to  El Salvador and Mexico amid criticism for being out of town since Tuesday's melee at MacArthur Park.

"Like every Angeleno I was deeply, personally troubled by the events of May 1st," the mayor said at City Hall. "Those images hit me in the gut.

"... We don't need a long and lengthy investigation to stand up and speak to the truth. What happened on May 1st was wrong, was wrong," he said.

Police struck reporters and demonstrators with batons and fired more than 240 rubber bullets into a crowd that included children at the end of an immigration rights rally. Officers say they responded after being pelted by rocks and bottles.

Though no one was seriously hurt, images of baton-wielding officers knocking people to the ground have played repeatedly on cable TV newscasts, ramping up the pressure on Villaraigosa to return from the trade mission.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070505/ap_on_re_us/immigration_rally_clash