Latinos Beat 3 Asian Students, Police Say : Violence: The attack comes two days after a brawl in which a Latino student at Westminster High School was stabbed.

Three Asian students at Westminster High School were beaten Thursday morning by a group of armed Latino youths, two days after a Latino student was slightly wounded in a scuffle with Asian students, police said.

Police said it was unknown if the latest attack was in retaliation for the Tuesday afternoon incident, in which a 16-year-old boy was stabbed twice and left in a parking lot one block from the campus. The Thursday morning incident occured a block from the earlier attack.

“Basically, they got jumped,” said Westminster Police Officer Derek Marsh. He acknowledged that the attack may have been racially motivated or even gang-related, but added that there was no immediate evidence to back either theory.

Marsh said that the three Asian students, whose ages ranged from 15 to 17, were walking to school together when they noticed three Latinos approaching them. Growing nervous, the Asian students began hurrying to Sigler Park, two blocks from the high school. The Latinos followed close behind.

At the intersection of Chestnut and Park streets, the three Latinos were joined by five others, Marsh said. Using a 3-foot section of a wooden broom handle and a 4-foot chain, the eight Latinos pummeled the Asian boys for about five minutes.

By the time police arrived at the scene, the assailants had fled and one of the victims had taken himself to Humana Hospital-Westminster, where he was treated and released, Marsh said. At the street corner, police confiscated the broom handle, chain and a knife, which was not used during the fracas.

The other two victims were taken by police to the high school, where they flipped through yearbooks to help police identify their assailants, Marsh said.

About an hour later, the victims identified one 15-year-old, who was called out of class, taken to the Westminster Police station and later arrested on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. Marsh said he expected additional arrests.

“This is all still under investigation” Marsh said.

News of the second attack quickly spread among administrators, teachers and students.

By 10 a.m., Principal Bonnie Maspero issued a statement over the public address system about the attacks. She assured the students that the administration was investigating the incident, and urged them to work together.

“I would appreciate that you as students not contribute (to violence) . . . and not to speak to reporters or anyone else about this,” Maspero said.

Nevertheless, several students commented about the two incidents, which they said are symptomatic of the racial tensions that exist on a campus that is 36% Asian, 31% white and 25% Latino.

“This is our country, and we’re the minority in our own school,” said John Green, a 16-year-old Anglo freshman. “The Vietnamese guys are causing all the problems.”

But 15-year-old sophomore Cam Nguyen argued that racial intolerance is a problem that crosses all ethnic lines.

“It’s not the (Vietnamese) gangs, it’s everybody,” Nguyen said. “One dirty look, and if a guy doesn’t like you, then something starts, and his friends jump in, and then it’s something big.”

In contrast to statements made the day before, Maspero on Thursday downplayed the possibility that racial friction is leading to off-campus fights. In an interview after her morning message, Maspero said the school’s 2,400 students have been taught to work and communicate together through a variety of programs offered on campus.

She said the second attack appeared to have been prompted by press coverage of the Tuesday stabbing. “Basically our campus is very quiet and will continue to be quiet,” Maspero said. “The media have sensationalized it.”

Maspero said that administrators have already been working to develop racial understanding between students and parents by implementing several “cultural diversity” programs. The Parent-Teacher Assn. discussed new ideas at its Wednesday night meeting, she said.

But, she added, ethnic differences in the fast-growing Latino and Asian neighborhoods are bound to spark violence from time to time.

“I cannot control the city; I cannot control the whole community,” Maspero said.