Immigrant-Rights Activist Slaps Opponent, Police Say

In another twist to the brewing battle over an anti-illegal immigrant ballot measure in San Bernardino, an immigrant-rights activist was cited for battery Friday after allegedly slapping the proposal’s author following a court hearing on the measure.

Roberto Valentine, a member of the Riverside-based group National Alliance for Human Rights, was questioned by San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies after the incident outside the courthouse in San Bernardino. If convicted, he could be fined or jailed for the misdemeanor.

The confrontation began outside the chambers of Superior Court Judge A. Rex Victor, where several dozen people waited to learn the fate of a voter initiative that would ban illegal immigrants from renting apartments in San Bernardino.

San Bernardino’s city attorney, who has requested that the measure remain on the ballot, asked for the court review because of questions raised about the number of required signatures.

After the judge announced that he would decide on Monday, the measure’s sponsor, Joseph Turner, and several immigrant-rights activists began arguing in the hallway outside the courtroom.

Sheriff’s deputies escorted the group outside, where things escalated until Turner and Valentine were nearly nose-to-nose and Turner used an insult.

Valentine reached for Turner and was blocked by others in the crowd, but then appeared to strike Turner on the cheek with an open palm.

The court hearing was the latest test for the proposal, which has angered immigrant-rights groups since Turner began the initiative petition process in October.

His plan would effectively ban day-labor centers, punish employers who hire illegal immigrants and require city business to be conducted only in English.

In May, Turner submitted the required 2,216 signatures, forcing the City Council to consider the measure.

A divided council rejected it, but under the City Charter the measure must then go on the ballot.

However, a city resident has filed a challenge, contending that Turner needed more than double the number of signatures he had gathered.

The legal decision turns on the interpretation of the City Charter.

The charter says a petitioner must gather enough signatures to equal 30% of voters “at the last preceding city election at which a mayor was elected.”

When Turner began collecting signatures in the fall, San Bernardino officials determined that the “last preceding city election” was a November 2001 ballot that drew a mere 7,385 voters,

San Bernardino attorney Florentino Garza contends that the city should have used February’s mayoral runoff election, because that balloting took place before Turner submitted his petitions for the initiative.

If that election, in which 15,902 people cast ballots, were used, Turner would be required to gather 4,771 signatures.