Murrieta immigration protesters charged with obstructing officers

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Protester William Satmary of Murrieta stands on a hill to keep a lookout for buses containing immigrant detainees. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta police handcuff and detain a protester after an altercation. (Matt Hansen / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta police scuffle with protesters who were waiting for buses containing immigrant detainees. (Matt Hansen / Los Angeles Times)

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Minor pushing and yelling matches break out July 4 in the emotionally charged crowd of protesters gathering in front of the U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta in anticipation of the arrival of more buses carrying immigrant detainees. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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During one of the minor confrontations of the day, Salvadore Chavez, 24, finds himself in an unfriendly crowd as he tries to hold a sign expressing his immigration-rights sentiment. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta police divide opposing groups of protesters as they wait for buses containing immigrant detainees on July 4. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Police stand between opposing groups of protesters as they await the possible arrival of buses containing immigrant detainees outside the Murrieta Border Patrol facility. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Police officers monitor crowds of protesters gathered in front of the U.S. Border Patrol station Friday. Some were there in support of the migrants, others in opposition. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Police detain a man near a U.S. Border Patrol facility who was there to protest the possible arrival of migrants from Central America. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Protesters against illegal immigration stand ready at sunrise with their flags at the U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta July, 4, 2014. Protesters on both sides of the issue are waiting for the possible arrival of more busloads of immigrant detainees. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A group supporting immigrant rights gathers outside the performing arts building at Murrieta Mesa High School during the town hall meeting. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Members of the community arrive for a town hall meeting in the performing arts building at Murrieta Mesa High School to voice their concerns and listen to public officials over the proposed processing of immigrant detainees at the Murrieta Border Patrol station. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Latin singer Lupillo Rivera is mobbed by followers and supporters after Rivera spoke during the town hall meeting at Murrieta Mesa High School on Wednesday. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta residents Carol Schlaepfer, left, and Beverly Trigilio boo when President Obama’s name is mentioned during a town hall meeting at Vista Murrieta High School. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta resident Martin Doran and others cheer comments made by Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta Mayor Alan Long stands in the wings while Murrieta residents are briefed at a town hall meeting. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta residents applaud at the town hall meeting. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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All is calm at the Border Patrol in Murrieta on the morning after a crowd of citizens carrying flags and signs blocked three buses from entering the facility. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Concerned citizens cruise by the Border Patrol station in Murrieta after the protests. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Members of the Latino community verbally square off with residents opposed to illegal immigration in front of the U.S. Border Patrol office in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Protester Jessica Davis shouts at counter-demonstrators in front of the U.S. Border Patrol office in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Mexican flags flap in the breeze in front of the U.S. Border Patrol office in Murrieta, where hours earlier a large group of local residents turned away three buses carrying immigrant detainees. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Residents express their feelings in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A large group of people carrying flags and posters on Tuesday protest a caravan of three buses carrying immigrant detainees, who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas, to a U.S. Border Patrol facility in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Immigrant-rights activist Lupillo Rivera, right, squares off with a large crowd of local citizens carrying flags and posters on the street in front of the U.S. Border Patrol in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A crowd of 200 to 300 people in downtown Murrieta surround three buses carrying immigrant detainees. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A crowd of 200 to 300 people in downtown Murrieta surround three buses carrying immigrant detainees. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Officials escorting immigrant detainees to a facility at the U.S. Border Patrol in Murrieta watch as protesters block the road. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A group of local residents carrying flags and posters assist in turning away three buses carrying immigrant detainees to a Border Patrol station in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Three buses carrying immigrant detainees are blocked by protesters in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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One of the three buses carrying immigrant detainees to a U.S. Border Patrol facility in Murrieta backs up after protesters blocked the road. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

By James Barragan

Sept. 4, 2014 10:10 AM PT

Six people arrested during heated immigration protests in July that put the city of Murrieta in the national spotlight have been charged with obstructing officers who were responding to the unruly crowds.

There to protest the overflow transfer of Central American immigrant detainees from Texas to the city’s Border Patrol station, the number of demonstrators started out small, but quickly surged as images of the crowd turning back buses were broadcast nationally.

The blockade forced authorities to instead take the detainees, many of them mothers with babies and toddlers, to other facilities, including in San Ysidro, for processing.

Pro-immigration protesters Jacqueline Sanchez, 26, Pouyan Bokaei, 33, and Salvador Chavez, 24, of Los Angeles; Jessica Rey, 25, of Menifee; and Janet Mathieson, 22, of Claremont, each pleaded not guilty to one misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer and one felony lynching, defined under California law as taking a person from the lawful custody of an officer by means of riot.

Mathieson, who was in court Wednesday with Rey and Sanchez, was also charged with misdemeanor battery on an officer.

Police say they tried to arrest Mathieson for obstructing an officer and Bokaei interfered. Mathieson then jumped on an officer’s back and the other three defendants followed suit in an attempt to break her and Bokaei free.

The day of the incident, police said they had asked the five pro-immigration defendants to leave but they instead went to the other side of the street and continued antagonizing other protesters.

In addition, anti-immigration protester Larry Spencer, 56, of Hemet was charged with obstructing an officer outside the Border Patrol station.

Authorities said he was arrested for refusing to move out of an area where officers were setting up operations and encouraging other people to join him.

Spencer was in court on Tuesday but has not entered a plea.

For Inland Empire news follow @James_Barragan