Trouble at Cinco de Mayo Events Could Doom Future Festivals

In the aftermath of two separate disturbances that marred weekend Cinco de Mayo celebrations, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre said Monday that the incidents could threaten future Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day festivities at Lincoln Park.

“The jury’s out,” Alatorre said. “I’ll be in consultations with others, and if in their judgment it shouldn’t (happen), then it won’t. . . . I think it’s a sad commentary for 1% of people who go to a function with destructive purposes to control whether events should be held or not for everyone else.”

The 14th District councilman made the remarks after Sunday celebrations at Lincoln Park and Olvera Street were cut short by authorities because of widespread drunkenness and fighting among rival street gangs that indirectly led to one fatality.

At the Lincoln Heights event, about 150 police officers quelled the disturbances that erupted about 4 p.m. and prompted authorities to call an end to the concert that attracted a crowd estimated at more than 30,000.

One man was shot in the abdomen and treated at County-USC Medical Center. Several others were injured and six people were arrested in gang-related fights at the park, police said. One officer was treated at the scene after being struck in the head with a bottle.

Fighting in Streets

Fighting spilled out onto nearby streets and police said that later Sunday night a man was stabbed to death when members of one gang left the park and took their dispute several miles away. John Garcia, 27, a suspected gang member, was stabbed repeatedly near the Aliso Village housing project in Boyle Heights and later died at County-USC Medical Center, police said.

At Olvera Street, the Cinco de Mayo celebration was shut down 30 minutes early because of excessive public drinking.

Alatorre said he was discouraged by the violence at Lincoln Park, especially since authorities beefed up security this year and scaled back the celebration to just one day. In the past, Cinco de Mayo affairs at the park ran over two days and were relatively free of violence, the Eastside councilman said.

“We tried to do something new, but it didn’t work,” Alatorre said at a news conference late Monday. “It’s discouraging.”

Short of canceling the events, Alatorre said there are still other options, including the banning of alcohol; fencing in the park to screen party goers; moving the festivities away from Lincoln Park to a more controlled site and shifting the focus to a more family-oriented theme.

Alatorre said he would meet today with Hollenbeck Division officers and other city officials to review the weekend violence and discuss the future of Mexican-theme events at Lincoln Park.

A key subject of the discussions is expected to be the availability of alcohol. Much of the blame for violence at the event was attributed to revelers who brought their own liquor to the park.

Said Sgt. R. D. Johnson: “If you’re going to have alcohol, you’re going to have some people who can’t control their consumption. It’s out of our hands.”

‘Beer Gardens’

Organizers had hoped that six “beer gardens” would spur “responsible drinking.” No one who bought beer at the gardens could leave with their cups and sales were limited to two beers per person at a time.

“My understanding is that the beer sold there had nothing to do with what happened,” said Joe Sanchez III, a Montebello beer distributor who won the liquor concession for the Lincoln Park event. “A group of people came into the park and caused trouble with another group already in the park.”

Squads of police officers, augmented by private security guards and roving teams of off-duty officers, have been sent into the park in the last three years to keep order, Alatorre aide Brad Sales said.

“If we made it a non-alcoholic event, wouldn’t people do the same thing?” he asked. “We thought we had a pretty good security plan.”

But officials blamed heavy drinking for the violence. “I am not in support of alcohol being sold at those events,” Hollenbeck Police Lt. Sergio Robleto said.

“The less alcohol that is sold at those events, the more it becomes a family event.”

City Recreation and Parks Department officials defended the structure of the Lincoln Park celebrations. Said Tony Troncale, a senior recreation director: “It’s not something just to come and drink beer at. It’s a lot more than that.”

Officials stressed that several dozen nonprofit groups raised about $40,000 selling food and drinks. About half of that, however, came from the sale of beer, which was stopped half an hour early at 4:30.

Some community activists blamed the sponsor, Miller beer, for setting the wrong tone.

‘Asking for Trouble’

“It’s a Mickey Mouse holiday. No one celebrates it in Mexico,” said anti-drug activist Ray Chavira. “What about the real reason for celebrating it? They’re pushing a legalized drug (beer) upon our community. You’re asking for trouble.”

A Miller spokesman said that park officials and concessionaires were responsible for the beer sales, but neighbors were clearly upset.

“This is just too much,” said Omar Vega of the United Neighborhoods Organization. “It’s no longer a family event. The youth was only there for one thing--to party down.”