Marc Albert

Rev. Michael Yoshii of the Buena Vista United Methodist Church, called for a moment of silence in memory of slain 15 year-old Encinal High student Ichinkhorloo "Iko" Bayarsaikhan, as Tuesday evening's demonstration got underway.

Demanding an independent investigation into racial profiling by the Alameda Police Department, about 250 young people rallied in front of police headquarters Tuesday evening, charging officers with using unnecessary force and unfair tactics in their investigation of the Halloween night murder of Alameda High School student Ichinkhorloo "Iko" Bayarsaikhan.

Police officials said the charges heaped on the department were "baseless" and were confident that any investigation would prove that.

"When we found out about Iko's death, we were in shock and mourning," said Claire Tran, co-director of Asian-Pacific Islanders Promoting Advocacy and Leadership (AYPAL). "We were doubly shocked when we found out the Alameda Police Department was terrorizing and casting a wide net over the Southeast Asian community. They arrested people in our group and detained a half dozen youth without their parents' notification. Family members were held at gunpoint," Tran said.

Tran charged that police held one teenage girl based on a photo from an anti-war rally placed on the Web site Myspace.com. Tran said the girl was dressed in black for the rally and police assumed that she was a gang member based on her clothing.

The student, Sophie Rathamone, said she was taken out of class by officers "in SWAT gear. They took me to a small room and left me with an assistant principal." Rathamone said the investigation was based "on stereotypes, not facts. We want an independent investigation," she said.

"At no time did we send any SWAT officers to any school," said Lt. Art Fuentes of the Alameda Police Department. "We did have two officers contact a student who was voluntarily questioned at the school and she later agreed to come to the police station." Demonstrators charged that the girl was held in a small room. Fuentes said the questioning was conducted in one of the department's interview rooms.

Protesters gathered at 4:30 p.m. alternately listening to speeches and chanting for about 90 ulitmately peaceful minutes. Among the signs were ones reading: "We are not criminals" and "youth demand police accountability." One counter-demonstrator carried a hastily written sign on notebook paper reading "yea Alameda P.D."

Armael Malinis, an organizer with AYPAL, leads demonstrators in a series of chants Tuesday evening in front of police headquarters including "APD, tell the truth, don't profile our Asian youth."

"It just breaks my heart that this happened in Alameda," said Encinal High teacher Jamie Crane about the murder. "I can barely drive past Washington Park," she said, interrupting her statement with halting sobs. At the same time, Crane acknowledged that Asian students suddenly felt targeted by a police dragnet. "I can imagine my students of color saying 'welcome to the profiling club,'" she said.

Among the complaints leveled by the demonstrators is that police held two teenagers for 12 hours and only provided two slices of pizza each. Fuentes said the protesters mischaracterized the events and doubted the teens were held for that length of time. "They were asked if they were hungry and they said they didn't care," Fuentes said. When police said they were ordering food — Fuentes said it was also for officers who had been working "24/7" as well, "they made no preferences," he said referring to the detainees. Fuentes said the department ordered a pizza and that one of the two asked for soda and chips, "and they were provided that."

One teen, declining to identify himself, said that he has frequently been victimized by racial profiling by local authorities. He said that while "hanging out on a friend's porch, they tell my black friends to go back to Oakland." In another incident he said "[police] threw me against a fence and threw me to the ground," the young man said. He claimed police twisted his arm to the point he thought they would break his arm. The teen admitted that the second interaction with authorities was as a result of a fight for which he spent six weeks in juvenile hall. "I've been arrested twice," he said.

"The police here are not cool," his female companion added. "When they try to talk to you, it's always 'good-cop,' 'bad-cop,'" she said.

Several onlookers seemed to have mixed feelings. Nevertheless, there is a certain amount of palpable pride in the effectiveness of local police. "I'm in support of the Alameda Police Department," said Mike Ballerina, 53, a youth sports coach. "They got a bad guy off the streets. As far as I am aware, they did an upright job investigating this." Retired truck driver Joe Seawell, 64, had praise for both sides. He said the police deserved some leeway: "They're trying to catch a murderer, man," but also praised young people for demanding redress. "A little political activism is always good... what this town is really about, what brings people here is the relative safety. This is not Oakland," he said.

It is unclear what next steps activists will seek, although Fuentes said the department tried to meet with them prior to the rally and was attempting to set up a meeting Wednesday. On Tuesday evening activists remained focused. "We're calling for an independent investigation into the tactics that the police used to get their information from our community which led to false charges against three of the leaders of our group," said Jay Conui, co-director of AYPAL.

On Wednesday morning, Fuentes said he was confident that the department engaged in no wrongdoing. "The allegation of racial profiling is baseless. Racial profiling is indiscriminate profiling of people. Racial profiling is wrong and this department has not and will not engage in this activity and will not tolerate it."

Fuentes said the actions taken were based on specific information, specific people and specific locations, "all supported by evidence."

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