Intimidation

The only media present at the rally in Moreno Valley appeared to be a few reporters from The Press Enterprise, a local paper. You can see one of these reporters in the picture to the left. He's in the center with the pinkish shirt.

I noticed he was standing toward the back of the crowd where he couldn't possibly hear the speakers. I walked up to him and asked him if he was covering the way school officials were trying to intimidate famlies from participating in the events. He said he was but that he was looking for someone to talk to.

I said, 'Well you're in luck. You see that guy in the green shirt? He dealt firsthand with the calls from officials. Why don't you go talk to him?"

Thankfully the reporter walked over to Marquez and questioned him about what was going on.

According to numerous people at the event school officials called parents on Friday warning them that students could be suspended from school and charged a fine if they didn't show up on Monday. To make it worse they were told that by missing the standardized test given today it could hurt their child's GPA.

A similar warning was also given to faculty. Faculty of nearby school boards were forced to sign a contract consenting to the fact that if they didn't show up to work on Monday they would be fired.

This is how officials in this country view democracy. Scare students. Scare workers. Scare parents. Intimidate people so they don't particpate in grassroots movements to better their lives. Thankfully more and more people are saying enough is enough.

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