I saw this in mainstream news account. Does anyone know who the counter-protesters were?

Minutemen rally on Peninsula with hot words
For three hours on a warm Saturday afternoon, the ongoing national immigration crisis simmered at a busy intersection on El Camino Real. Two weeks after federal immigration officials arrested seven illegal immigrants in a surprise sweep — injecting fear into the city’s large Latino community — the Minutemen arrived in the heart of the city for a rally.

The event drew about 75 anti-immigration advocates and a counter-protest of a couple dozen. The rally pitched an anti-illegal immigrant message that organizers hope will persuade local residents to throw in their lot with the Bay Area chapter of a group that has attracted international headlines for its unofficial and controversial border patrol operations.

“The Minutemen are doing what the government has not done,'’ said Harriet, a middle-aged resident who declined to give her last name. “I’m for everything they’re doing because they’re the ones protecting us from the garbage coming in here — all those illiterates who can’t read or write in their own language.'’

The rally, organizers said, was arranged before the raid by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, and was being held to support two U.S. Border Patrol agents who have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting an alleged drug smuggler in the buttocks after he had crossed the border.

“My relatives came here legally — they had to wait in line,'’ said Richard Kusialek, who drove from Mountain View for the rally. “Why is it that these folks can just walk across the border and get free hospital, free education for their kids? And, of course, they think they have a right to a job, too. It’s ridiculous.'’

Saturday’s rally and a small nearby counter-demonstration coexisted peacefully — although the air was testy.

“Go home. We can pick our own vegetables,'’ Kusialek shouted at a group of Latinas who were crossing the street to join the pro-immigrant protest.

“If they really pick their own vegetables, then what are they doing here?'’ snapped Violeta Ortega in Spanish.

“Speak English,'’ Kusialek shot back.

Ortega, a city resident since 1970, sighed. “It hurts me what they’re doing here,'’ she said. “For me, this is a lot of ignorant people.'’

The counter-protest remained small.

“A lot of us feel they’re not worth our energy,'’ said Sheryl Bergman of the International Institute of San Francisco, whose Redwood City office educates undocumented immigrants of their constitutional rights in the face of federal immigration policy.

“The Minutemen are scared because other local communities, such as Richmond and San Francisco, have taken very strong pro-immigration stances, and they’re afraid that the positions that respect and honor diversity will spread,'’ Bergman said.

Less than a year old, the Golden Gate Minutemen, the Bay Area chapter of the Minutemen, formed in May 2006 in response to the nationwide pro-immigration rallies, according to Charles Birkman. The rallies — which brought out hundreds of thousands Latinos across the nation to protest a controversial congressional bill on immigration — are widely credited with putting immigration changes in the national spotlight.

“This rally was very successful,'’ said Birkman, adding that the “awesome'’ attendance far exceeded his expectations. In the future, he said, there will be more rallies on the Peninsula, and he was optimistic about starting a Redwood City chapter to lobby local politicians to enforce federal immigration laws.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 18th, 2007 at 5:04 pm..