Frank Arcuri and Patrick Henry

Clemency for Frank Arcuri! That should be the rallying cry among patriots who place American interests above foreign interests and who value the right of an individual to speak out against the policies of local government.

Arcuri, who was convicted last week of three misdemeanor counts stemming from an April 28 Monterey Park City Council meeting, was typically loud and persistent on the night he was arrested. I was at the council meeting and watched Frank inveighing against the Monterey Park power structure and against the foreign land developers. In my imagination I pictured Patrick Henry decrying just as adamantly the British threat to the American colonies.

Then I was jerked back to reality as police approached Arcuri on the orders of the mayor. Pandemonium broke out. A woman sitting nearby shouted, “Let him speak! Let him speak!” as the police gripped Arcuri’s arm and forced him down from the speaker’s podium. It was a scene to be remembered.

Arcuri is now a martyr in the cause for freedom of speech and assertion of individual rights against the Establishment. The Establishment could correct the wrong done to Arcuri by granting him clemency.

Clemency for Frank Arcuri!

RICHARD CARLBLOM

Arcadia