Many at Temecula Meeting Rail Against Border Patrol : Anguish: ‘Get them the hell out of town,’ demands the father of one young victim of chase crash.

In a community meeting that at times took on the tone and characteristics of a lynch mob, more than 250 persons, including the city’s top officials, demanded that federal authorities be held accountable for a high-speed chase that led to the deaths of five people Tuesday.

The special meeting was held to calm the outrage that Temecula residents have felt since Tuesday morning, when a stolen vehicle carrying 12 illegal immigrants plowed into four students and a parent in front of a city high school, killing all five.

City officials called a meeting for this morning for all area law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Border Patrol, to discuss their policies on high-speed pursuits in the city. But Border Patrol officials sent word that they would not be able to attend until the Immigration and Naturalization Service completes an internal investigation of the agency’s pursuit policies.

Angered that immigration authorities would not attend, the Temecula City Council voted, 4 to 1, Thursday that the Border Patrol be held “personally responsible for any deaths” related to high-speed pursuits occurring in the city starting at 11 a.m. today, the meeting’s expected start time.

The original motion that led to the vote, made by City Councilman Karel Lindemans, left other council members dumbfounded and speechless until Councilman Ron Parks spoke up. “I don’t think we’ll get anywhere by slamming other agencies,” he said.

Upon hearing Parks, the father of 14-year-old Monisa Emilio, one of the victims of Tuesday’s crash, leaped to his feet.

“You didn’t lose a daughter!” Michael Emilio shouted. “I did. Why don’t you keep playing your games with them, and we’ll lose more (children).

“Get them the hell out of town,” he added, his body shaking as he spoke. “Let’s make our own rules. It’s our town, not the federal government’s town. It’s our town, Temecula.”

After Emilio sat down, the council adopted Lindemans’ motion. It was unclear whether the largely symbolic vote has any legal force.

Earlier in the meeting, City Manager David Dixon, speaking slowly and his voice breaking, said he would do all he could to preserve community safety.

“I am concerned that, whatever we do, we have policies in place to protect lives and property of those who reside or frequent the city of Temecula,” he said. “I want to make it clear to the world . . . we are the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

City Atty. Scott Field said his office is conducting its own investigation to determine if the city can unilaterally block the Border Patrol from entering Temecula. The agency maintains a station in town.

Temecula Police Chief Rick Sayre was critical of the Border Patrol’s pursuit.

“There’s no incident that is so critical that we are going to drive to and (risk) other lives being taken,” he said.

The Thursday night meeting, overflowing with sorrowful and irate city residents, was split between those who wanted something to be done to punish the Border Patrol and those who called for compassion for everyone involved: the victims, their families and the officers who gave chase.

One speaker, Dawn Beresovoy of Oceanside, the wife of a Border Patrol agent who admitted to the crowd that “it scares me to stand before you,” pointed out that immigration officers “put their lives on the line daily to protect you. The Border Patrol is not your enemy. They are your friends, and they are here to help you. I hope every smuggler who crosses the border is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Other speakers noted that Border Patrol officers frequently are the first on the scene during medical emergencies. And, when Councilman Lindemans noted that the 12 illegal aliens who were being smuggled north were also injured and deserved sympathy, the meeting room erupted into applause.

Even Michael Emilio, during a break in the meeting, said that, although he felt hatred for the Border Patrol, he did not hold it directly responsible for his daughter’s death.

“I’m frustrated with the INS for not having the (guts) to show up” to this morning’s meeting, he said. “They better get off their ass. I won’t let my daughter die in vain.”

The meeting had no agenda other than allow people to speak about how they felt, and speakers were given unlimited time to frame their thoughts.

Juan Antonio Rodriquez, director of the San Diego-based National Chicano Legal Rights Commission, warned the audience not to let the controversy get out of hand.

“It only takes one idiot to turn this into another L.A.-type situation,” he said. “Let’s hope his rights are protected, and we don’t try him in the media,” he said of the driver of the vehicle that killed the townspeople. “Let’s all work together. Let’s not go crazy.”

Carlos Pelayo of Chula Vista, who said these kinds of deaths involving speeding chases occur often in his neighborhood, said Temecula must look beyond the local Border Patrol officer for justice.

“The Border Patrol is just doing its job,” he said. “If you have a dog who bites someone, you deal with the dog, but who trained the dog? Go to Washington. Go to the White House. They are the enforcers.”

The council also passed a resolution expressing condolences to the families of the victims, and a box in front of the council dais was marked for memorial fund donations. Already, $2,000 in private donations has been collected for a victims’ memorial at the site of the accident.

INS Commissioner Gene McNary earlier in the day had expressed sympathy for the dead, their families and the community on behalf of the immigration agency.

Many were still not satisfied. One sign had a circle and slash through the letters INS, with the words, “Back to the border. Stay out of our city.”