Drywall Strike Solidarity Growing : Labor: 300 workers, their families and Latino activists march on O.C. court to demand charges be dropped.

In an escalating show of solidarity, about 300 striking drywall workers, their families and Latino activists marched Thursday into the Orange County Courthouse to demand that the district attorney drop criminal charges against jailed strikers.

The protest, which prompted authorities to deploy a squad of about two dozen county marshals in riot gear to monitor the vocal but peaceful demonstration, came even as charges were being dropped against 42 of the 153 strikers arrested last week.

Participants said the three-hour rally at the seat of county government signals that the strike is mushrooming into a sizable movement being embraced by Latino groups throughout Southern California, with implications that go beyond labor issues.

The wildcat strikers walked off construction sites six weeks ago, demanding higher wages, benefits and recognition as a union. Last week, 153 workers were arrested after they staged a protest at a Mission Viejo construction site and harassed six non-striking workers. Authorities originally said 149 strikers were arrested, but several had the same names and were not included in the count.

Of those arrested, 88 were identified by the Immigration and Naturalization Service as illegal immigrants and placed on “hold” for deportation.

In Laguna Niguel, where the Municipal Court system has been clogged by the unusual case, Commissioner Kenneth I. Schwartz dismissed misdemeanor trespassing charges against the 42 workers after reviewing videotapes and police reports during a series of hearings that lasted nine hours. The district attorney’s office still has 15 days to consider whether to refile the charges, an official said.

Of those still facing trial, 15 remain jailed with bail set at between $1,500 and $50,000, 86 were ordered released on personal recognizance pending clearance by INS officials, and 10 have yet to be processed.

In addition, felony charges could be filed today in Municipal Court against three men who are each being held in lieu of $50,000 bail, Assistant Dist. Atty. Wallace J. Wade said. He would not elaborate.

“Let’s just say these new reports concern some real serious allegations . . . and we’re considering serious charges against some of those people,” Wade said.

Defense attorneys remained optimistic that most of the trespassing charges will eventually be dropped for lack of evidence. “I seriously doubt that any of these charges will be prosecuted because identity is a very important issue in this case, and I don’t think they have enough evidence to say all of these people were trespassing,” said attorney Gil May.

In Santa Ana, the demonstration began about 10 a.m. as protesters chanting slogans and carrying placards gathered at the Hall of Administration.

Standing before hundreds of strikers, including some recently released from jail, representatives of Latino groups blasted law enforcement officials for the arrests, urged that charges be dropped and called on the INS to not deport those suspected of being illegal immigrants.

The coalition of activists also accused officials of reacting to pressure from the building industry, which has historically funneled hefty campaign donations to county politicians, including the sheriff and district attorney.

Nativo V. Lopez of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional called on Sheriff Brad Gates to order his deputies “not to intervene any further on the side of the contractors nor harass the strikers due to the labor-management dispute nature of the situation.”

Among the groups involved in the demonstration were the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which announced it is organizing lawyers who will volunteer their services for the arrested strikers, and the League of United Latin American Citizens.

Alfredo Amezcua, president of the Hispanic Bar Assn., claimed there was “targeted enforcement” in the cases and that Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi “needs to review his policies and needs to make sure that he represents the interests of all the individuals in Orange County, including the Hispanic community.”

Amin David of Los Amigos of Orange County called for a grand jury investigation to determine if law enforcement agencies were overzealous in their handling of the strike.

Drywall worker Jesus Segura, 38, claimed that the constant questioning of the Latino workers by law enforcement officers demonstrates that “racism exists.” All they want, he said, is an increase in wages that workers claim have not risen beyond the level paid 20 years ago.

“We are in a land that speaks of democracy and liberty,” he told the crowd. “Where is the democracy? Where is the liberty?”

But the accusations drew emphatic denials from the offices of the district attorney and sheriff.

Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson said Gates receives campaign contributions from throughout the community, including labor unions. He also continued to maintain that the Sheriff’s Department has no problem with the strikers as long as no laws are broken. “We are here to protect the safety of property and individuals, and that’s what we will continue to do,” Olson said.

After the rally outside the Hall of Administration, the demonstrators made their way to the courthouse. Once there, they left their signs outside and walked into the building in single file, lining the second-floor corridor outside the district attorney’s office.

In a brief meeting in the reception area, Lopez pressed charges of political favoritism with Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Maurice L. Evans.

“I can assure you, sir, we have not taken sides,” Evans told Lopez as a crowd of protesters and news reporters listened. “We feel a number of people violated the law and (the charges) were filed appropriately. They have the same rights in this country as anyone else, and there will be a trial, I assume, and it will be resolved in that manner.”

Capizzi was out of town and unavailable for comment.

Dissatisfied with the response from the district attorney’s office, the protesters then formed a picket line at the front entrance of the courthouse and resumed chanting--an action that drew the squad of county marshals in riot helmets.

Although the demonstration was peaceful, the increasing presence of law enforcement officers prompted the placard-carrying protesters to shout louder in Spanish: “You see it! You feel it! The unity is present!”

Chief Deputy Public Defender Carl C. Holmes said he understood the need for increased law enforcement during the demonstration, but believed the riot gear “tends to incite things. I don’t think these people are inclined to do anything violent.”

Among the demonstrators was 25-year-old Martin Segura, who was released from jail Tuesday on his own recognizance. Segura said the arrests were worthwhile because the episode awakened public attention to their plight. “If we don’t fight (unfair labor practices), it’s going to be worse for us than before,” he said.

Meanwhile, members of the building industry said they were also organizing to respond to the strikers. The Building Industry Assn. of Southern California has hired a law firm to obtain court orders keeping the wildcat strikers off construction sites. Spokesman Bob Nastase said 10 restraining orders were issued in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino. The Kathryn G. Thompson Development firm obtained restraining orders on its own for three construction sites in Aliso Viejo.

Staff writers Eric Bailey and Michael Flagg and correspondent Rose Apodaca contributed to this report.