May Day Becomes Maybe Not Day

The big May Day pro-illegal immigration rally in Los Angeles was a complete bust:

By 10 a.m. only a few hundred immigrant rights and labor activists had gathered at Broadway and Olympic Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles to rally public support for legislation that would legalize the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants.

“It’s really sad,” Luis Ortiz, an ice cream vendor who has been coming to the rallies for the last 15 years, said of the small turnout. “I’ve sold very little, almost nothing.”

Plenty of police officers on foot and bike patrol were on hand to monitor the crowd.

But Sunday’s turnout was a far cry from the excitement and unity that infused the May Day march in 2006, when hundreds of thousands of people marched through downtown Los Angeles.

As I recall the 2006 rally featured thousands of Mexican flags - many times the number of American flags - and it actually turned public opinion against the immigration movement. It was a success in my book.  The 2007 rally featured LAPD officers pounding the snot out of protesters and press alike.  Another win-win.