Police Action at Protest Enrages Latino Leaders : Law enforcement: Fullerton city officials say officers acted responsibly in halting protest march. More than 20 students were injured.

Local Latino leaders expressed anger and concern Friday about police handling of a demonstration that became violent outside Fullerton College on Thursday, but police and city officials said officers acted responsibly.

“If that had been an anti-abortion group nothing like that would have happened,” said Art Montes, a spokesman for the local chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens. “The message the police are sending to the community is that peaceful demonstrations will be dealt with pepper spray in the face.”

More than 20 students suffered slight injuries when Fullerton police, assisted by officers from several neighboring cities, used pepper spray and arrested six people, ending a rally and march of about 300 students who were demanding more Latino educators and more Chicano studies in schools.

The incident occurred when several hundred students, most from Sonora High in La Habra and Anaheim High, left their campuses and walked toward Fullerton College, where a Mexican Independence Day rally was underway.

Students at the rally went to meet them, and the groups converged on Lemon Street, tying up traffic and reportedly ignoring officers’ repeated orders to disperse.

Police used the pepper spray, which is similar to tear gas, when some students began yelling and threatening officers who were arresting six people.

Seferino Garcia, a local community activist, said the decision to march to meet students arriving from Anaheim High School was spontaneous and the “students were caught by surprise by the police. They didn’t know they were doing anything wrong.”

Grace Ruiz, 15, a high school student from Anaheim who joined the demonstration, said the police “overreacted.”

“One of the girls in front of me was hit with a baton and it hit me on the side,” Ruiz said. “The police didn’t need to hit us with their batons or spray us with pepper spray.”

Police officials denied that officers struck anyone with batons and defended their handling of the incident, saying they moved in because demonstrators risked injury to themselves and to others when they marched down a street normally used by cars.

“No batons were used” to strike demonstrators, said Sylvia Palmer Mudrick, a Police Department spokeswoman. “Certainly our officers had their batons, and at the time when they were trying to clear the streets they may have used the batons to push people back. But allegations that people were beaten, we don’t have that information.”

Police on Friday said they were continuing an internal investigation into the melee, which is standard procedure following major incidents.

“It went as good as could be expected,” said Police Chief Patrick McKinley. “Whenever you arrest the people that are in charge of it, you are going to create a flash point. At that flash point there will be physical confrontation, but once you remove those people, the rest will generally follow and that is what happened,” he said.

City Hall officials praised the officers’ actions.

“You can’t have people walking in the middle of the street for their sake or for the sake of automobiles,” said Mayor Molly McClanahan.

Councilman Don Bankhead said: “Certainly they have a right to march. If they had obeyed the law and stayed on the sidewalk there would not be an incident.”

By Friday afternoon, police had cited and released all six of those arrested.

Gabriel Castaneda, 20, of Alhambra was arrested on suspicion of creating a public nuisance by blocking the street and of carrying a concealed knife, police said.

Richard Nunez, 22, of Yorba Linda and Alfred Chavez, 36, of Arleta were cited and released after their arrest on suspicion of creating a public nuisance by blocking the street. Jesus N. Dominguez, 21, of Fullerton, who was not part of the original march but joined in with his car, was arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace and evading a police officer.

Two 17-year-olds were released to their parents after being arrested on suspicion of interfering with a police officer. It was unclear Friday if they would be petitioned by Juvenile Court to appear on the charges, police said.