POLITICAL PROTEST TAKES STRANGE TURN - Dallas student attacked by Luchadors

DALLAS- It was supposed to be a political statement. Instead it turned into a nightmare for one Dallas student. On Thursday morning, several hundreds of Mexican American citizens gathered together outside the Earl Cabell Federal Building near downtown to protest the President's continuing pursuit to push his most recent immigration bill through Congress. Several of those in attendance were high school students from the surrounding suburbs. Alex Garcia, who attends Lake Highland High School, disregarded his Principal's repeated warnings that he would mark any Hispanic student who attended the protest with an unexcused absence. Perhaps in hindsight, he wishes he had listened.



Seen here in a photo taken the morning of the protest, Alex made no excuses about his love for all things America.



Witnesses say that it was unlike anything they had ever seen at a political event. A Luchador, now identified as Poncho Lupez - a little known wrestler out of Veracruz, Mexico, began pushing his way to the front of the crowd. "I saw him earlier in the morning" remembers one man. "I kept thinking he looked real suspicious, but I just couldn't be sure."


Photo of Poncho Lupez taken by an onlooker at Thursday's protest.

Police officers noticed the disruption in the crowd and turned their attention towards the approaching Luchador. "We were unsure about the motive of the Luchador" said officer Martinez of the Dallas Police Department. "He certainly appeared to be upset, but it was difficult to tell because of you know, the mask." Poncho Lupez jumped the barricade set up by the police and began flapping his arms in the air and yelling. A young woman recalls the scene.

"Yeah, he just started flapping his arms like a bird. He was yelling that America stinks and all Hispanics should embrace their Mexican heritage and become Luchador's like him. It really didn't make much sense at first." While police were apprehending the first Luchador, a second one appeared. Petey Lupez was heard challenging the crowd to give him an opponent who thought the proposed immigration bill was fair.



As young Garcia watched the chaos unfold, he felt a shove from behind and found himself face to face with the angry Luchador. Several eye witnesses say Petey Lupez appeared to say something to Alex just before he charged the student, flipping him over his shoulder and onto the ground. In the midst of the scuffle, Poncho Lupez escaped the police, grabbed Alex by his American flag cape and drug him to his feet. "I thought he was going to break that poor kid over his knee" one woman told The News. Alex was spun around and flung into the crowd.
"I think most of the crowd thought it was a joke, everyone cheered for the Luchadors" remembered Douglas Irillio, of McKinney. But what happened next, no one could have scripted. The real "fake" challenger arrived on the scene.

Eddie Vasquez, an actor at the Dallas Theatre of Arts, was hired by the Luchadors to participate in a demonstration sketch for the protest. His costume was to consist of a blatantly demeaning sombrero and an American flag tied as a cape. The morning of the protest, Eddie the actor was involved in a car accident on I-35 and was delayed in getting to the protest. Said Eddie, "It was just your basic rear-ender."
Once it was clear that Alex Garcia was not the actor hired to portray "the opponent", medics were rushed to the scene and Alex was taken to nearby Baylor Medical Center.

"Everything happened so fast" said Alex from his hospital bed. "When the Luchador whispered to me that I was late, I didn't know how to respond." If this unfortunate case of mistaken identity is not enough to detract protesters then surely the deportation of Petey and Poncho Lupez is. When asked to comment regarding Thursdays performance, Petey Lupez had this to say.

"I think I speak for my brother when I say I am very confused. How in the hell do two people wear that same outfit. What are the odds?"

Soccer Hooligan?

A small "scandal cloud" has been forming lately within the G.L.S.A. (Greater Longview Soccer Association).

Yesterday, a player (who requested to remain nameless) from the Longview Sidekicks lodged a formal complaint with the G.L.S.A Board of Appeals. This was in regards to the recent U-19 Division II Semi-Finals game, in which the Longview Roust A Bouts won over the Longview Sidekicks 1-7.

The complaint requested that the Longview Roust A Bouts be disqualified for "Conduct Unbecoming of a G.L.S.A. Player". The disgruntled player, who's first name is Bradley, alleged that this inappropriate behavior was of a "sexual" nature.



In a statement included in the appeal, Bradley said,

"As soon as he rubbed up against me, I immediately felt..."it". I quickly became terrified...and felt..trapped. After that moment, I...I just couldn't play right...I...I just felt so...dirty. I think my whole team could feel it. And that's about the time the game went from a competitive 1-3 to an unapproachable 1-7. Ever since that day, I can't even put on a pair of shin pads without feeling...just afraid."

After reading this boy's stirring account, we decided to do a follow-up to see if any action had been taken.

In a reply from the G.L.S.A. President Mike Withrow, The Appeals Committee turned down the case, apparently because they could not find where an allegation "of this nature" conflicted with or even was mentioned in the association's bylaws, and therefore could take no disciplinary or reparatory action.

The Sidekicks countered with the argument that the afore mentioned player violated Bylaw 3.5 Section 4-c (Players Equipment) "A player shall not wear anything or use any equipment, which is dangerous to himself or to another player."

At this time, neither Bradley, nor the Sidekicks have had any further acknowledgement, and no further action has been taken by the G.L.S.A.

The Roust A Bouts player in question, could not be reached for comments.

Local Shopping Cart Decommissioned; None Injured

LONGVIEW— A 50 ft stretch of Hawkins Pkwy was temporarily blocked off Friday morning after a motorist struck a derelict shopping cart that was blown into oncoming traffic. The motorist, Otis Johnson of Gladewater, 56, says he was en route to the local Recycling Center to cash in on his weekly stores of collected soda cans and scrap metal when the runaway cart crossed paths with his '85 Chevrolet Celebrity. Mr. Johnson, who currently holds only 6 moving violations to his 50 year driving tenure, maintains there was no chance of avoiding the cart.



"One minute it wasn't there, the next minute it was," Johnson said. He added he was approaching speeds of up to 45 mph, though eyewitnesses later indicated a much slower speed. The cart rolled under the moving car and was completely destroyed. "I feel pretty bad about that shopping cart. Not too bad about ol' Betsy though, she's been around the block a couple of times." When contacted about the liability of the damage, Mr. Johnson's insurance company, Insure-All, declined to comment.



The shopping cart in question was found to be the property of an adjacent Toys R Us. Store manager Mike Syzlowski formally apologized to Mr. Johnson and issued him a store coupon and a five dollar gift card as a sign of apology and good will.
"We're certainly concerned about the safety of motorists, but feel very unfortunate about the loss of such a good cart. It had been with this store going on twelve years."