San Pasqual tribe meets despite bomb threat, peaceful picketers

By: LORELL FLEMING Staff Writer | Sunday, January 22, 2006 8:38 PM PST ∞

ESCONDIDO ----- A bomb threat and peaceful picketers didn't deter the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians from holding a general council meeting Sunday.

About 15 minutes before the 10 a.m. meeting at the Knights of Columbus Hall on West Valley Parkway, someone phoned the Escondido Police Department saying there was a bomb at the hall, Escondido Police Department Lt. David Mankin said Sunday.

Mankin said the meeting started on time after police couldn't find any sign of a bomb after a search.

"Other than that, we've had no problems here," Mankin said after the hourlong meeting ended. "(The picketers) protested legally. They stayed on the sidewalk and did not block anyone's ingress or egress to the meeting place. They had a point they wanted to make and they made it legally."

Some two dozen protesters picketed the meeting, carrying signs with statements such as "Support True Indians."

Police had been on alert for possible violence in the wake of a brawl that broke out during a general council meeting last July at the San Pasqual tribal council hall on the reservation in the rural community of Valley Center, just east of Escondido.

That fight, which erupted about 10 minutes into the meeting, left several people hurt, although none were sent to the hospital. At least one person was arrested in that incident, according to the Sheriff's Department.

The July 2005 fight is believed to have been sparked, in part, by attempts of hundreds of people to become members of the band. The status of the prospective members' applications is unclear.

At least one San Pasqual tribal member, Jeanette Navarro, publicly voiced concern last week that conflicts over membership could mean more violence at Sunday's meeting. Navarro could not be reached Sunday for comment.

Several officers of the Sheriff Department's Special Enforcement Bureau, wearing camouflage green uniforms and protective gear, were standing by in the parking lot of a nearby California Bank & Trust in case things turned violent during Sunday's meeting, Mankin said.

"But that didn't happen," he said.

Protesters reportedly started arriving about two hours prior to the 10 a.m. start time of the meeting, and disbanded shortly after the meeting ended at about 10:45 a.m. About 160 federally enrolled tribal members were inside the hall for the meeting, according to Mankin. Tribal leaders specifically said no news reporters or photographers would be allowed into the meeting.

Picketer Robert Ochoa said his grandmother and two of his sisters were injured in the protest during the July 2005 meeting.

He said Tribal Council Chairman Allen Lawson has refused to acknowledge his group of American Indians as members.

"This is wrong," Lawson said, adding that protesters were also upset that the tribal council was meeting off the reservation.

Lawson could not be reached Sunday for comment.

Albert Alto, a tribal board member on the board's Election Committee, was one of only a few people willing to talk to the media or protesters after the council meeting ended.

"These people out here, they are my brothers and sisters," Alto said, darting his eyes briefly in the direction of a group of protesters a short distance away. "But you have to use the correct way to do things.

"There's been so much violence when we hold meetings at the reservation. Some (tribal) members' homes have been ransacked. There's been threats of bodily harm to members, and threats of burning down or bombing the casino."

While protesters picketed outside, tribal members inside were passing six resolutions, including measures authorizing the tribe's business committee to hire an attorney for internal tribal government issues and approval of a payment for peacekeeping services at the San Pasqual Indian Reservation by officers from the Valley Center sheriff's substation, Alto said.

Contact staff writer Lorell Fleming at (760) 731-5798 or lfleming@nctimes.com. To comment, go to nctimes.com.