arturo solorio is free

by: bianca

When President George W. Bush came to West Sacramento to visit the Fuel Cell Partnership on Saturday, April 22, Arturo Rodriguez Solorio was put under a no-bail arrest.

West Sacramento law enforcement authorities mistakenly thought he had put a fake bomb inside of a blue backpack and set it down on Beacon Avenue in the midst of 1,000 demonstrators.

Yesterday at a preliminary hearing to set bail, however, Judge James Moelke ordered that Solorio be released as evidence proved that Solorio did not intend to commit any crime.

On April 22, according to Elk Grove police officer Joshua Riley, Solorio emerged from the crowd of demonstrators near the intersection of Beacon Boulevard and Industrial Boulevard then walked toward the backpack, kneeled right in front of it, made eye-contact with Riley, then turned around and walked back into the crowd.

Jason Winger, police Sgt. of West Sacramento, said that prior to Tuesday's preliminary hearing, he could not rule out that the bag contained a bomb.

However, the defense called Steve Arosteguy, president of Inacomp, a tech company located at 3210 Beacon Ave., to testify about the bag in question. He said the bag had been sitting in front of his business for four weeks before Bush came to town.

The abandoned backpack, which Arosteguy called a "hobo bag," contained: a tan leather glove, seven metal electrical boxes, Skill ac adapter, 1-foot of metal galvanized pipe, green ornamental wrought iron and cyclone fence post brackets, smalls pieces of twisted black and white encased wires, white plastic tube pieces of what was a Catch All refrigerator filter box, patching material consistent with roofing and construction, a plastic toilet tank tube and a bag with toilet parts.

"Nothing about the bag frightened me ... it was visible from the sidewalk in front of my business."

Arosteguy reportedly contacted the police when he first saw the bag but hadn't heard any word back.

So the police knew the backpack had been abandoned in the area for four weeks, but Solorio remained in jail without bail.

At 10:30 a.m. prior to the preliminary hearing, which began just after 2 p.m., supporters of Solorio held a news conference in which they called Solorio's arrest and the detainment of immigrant rights advocates as racial profiling.

According to members of the League of United Latin American Citizens who provided the conference, Solorio has been an immigrants rights activist for years and they feel that he had been targeted on that basis.

The day of the protest, Solorio and Frank Gonzalez, president of the West Sacramento chapter of LULAC, were handing out leaflets for the May 1 "Day Without Immigrants" Sacramento march.

While they were in the midst of the Bush protest, Gonzalez said his truck was illegally broken into by law enforcement officials, as they reportedly mistook Gonzalez's truck as belonging to Solorio.

Gonzalez had DMV registration of the vehicle to provide as evidence if called to testify at yesterday's hearing.

According to Gonzalez, the result of the preliminary hearing will set the stage for a counter-suit.

"Something has to be done to stop this injustice," he said.

Al Rojas also of LULAC said, "We were selectively detained because of who we are."

Solorio's supporters at the press conference said that West Sacramento's gang injunction sets the tone of how Latinos are treated because of the color of their skin.

Because they have been vocal on the rights of Latinos in West Sacramento, they feel that they were targeted at the Bush rally.