Anaheim Protesters Demand Workers’ Justice

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA — On July 21, the Anaheim police (APD) executed Manuel Diaz on Anna Drive. The next day they killed Joel Avecado. These deaths are a heavy loss for their families, friends and communities. The Anaheim police have killed at least eight young workers this year.

Every day, kkkops are killing and brutalizing young workers. Black, Latino and immigrant are the most attacked. Asian youth in Orange County’s Westminster, Filipinos in Los Angeles, and young white workers are also the targets of the bosses’ police.

There is no money for jobs, schools and hospitals, but the bosses make sure the police and military are well funded. Bosses rule more and more through force. The cops protect Disneyland’s profit interests and pit gangs against each other. The old adage “bosses rule through the carrot and the stick” is changing; there is no money for carrots, only for the sticks. This is what we call the rise of fascism; when capitalism is in crisis, off comes the mask, and out come the dogs. 

Workers Drove Out Cops

The workers here are part of a tight-knit community. When Manuel was killed, they protested. They fought the police, and defended their children from the dogs APD unleashed against them after Manuel’s death (see CHALLENGE, 8/1). The workers forced the cops and ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) out of Anna Dr. for weeks. 

There is great hatred for the APD and great love for Manuel. Forty of his friends, relatives and neighbors organized a car wash to help his family pay for his funeral and other expenses. There were over 500 people at his funeral. 

At all these events and more, Progressive Labor Party was active, expressing our sorrow, anger and solidarity with Manuel’s family and community. We contributed to the car wash. PL’ers organizing in churches participated. The younger comrades washed cars alongside the young workers.

PL’ers were at Manuel’s wake in Pioneer Park. With true working-class morale, the family served 50 of us a delicious lunch. We brought drinks and discussed Manuel, revolution, and communism.

During a conversation with his sister, we cried with her over the murder of her baby brother. We became Facebook friends and said we would not let Manuel’s death and the death of all working-class youth be forgotten. One day, the cops and their masters will pay for their crimes against the working class: in blood.

PLP is taking this struggle back to our jobs, schools, and organizations. We have sold CHALLENGEs here. We also began a petition in our churches titled “Anaheim is our Arizona.” It is on the windows of bakeries, on the walls of bars of our neighborhood. 

Links Killings to Capitalist Crisis

We organized service workers from the University of California (UC) to visit the residents. They are now discussing how to support the Anna Dr. community. There has been much discussion about the crisis of capitalism and why the police are unleashed on young workers. The struggle, and the love for Manuel Diaz as a son of our class, has made us work harder in winning workers to communism and PLP. In one church, the CHALLENGE distribution numbers have tripled.

We will continue using CHALLENGE to fight in solidarity with workers demanding justice and vengeance on the cops who shot our youth down. The bosses will not get away with unleashing their dogs against women and children. We are planning a protest with the residents to march to Anaheim’s civic center. 

The cops are scared of workers; they should be. The workers of Anna Dr. have shown courage and determination. We have learned much from them. We have many friends who are outraged at the naked racism of the cops. We tell them about the communist movement, and PLP’s history in fighting against the bosses’ racist police.

We will be in more demonstrations, fundraisers and memorials. We will work hard to get our friends to join PLP. We have a world to win! United under communist leadership the working class will make a revolution. Our work in Anna Drive is another step in the journey to communism.