Groups spin arrest into voters
Man detained in front of Target while registering shoppers
SAN JOSE — Community leaders are looking to transform the controversy over a man’s arrest while registering voters outside an East San Jose Target store into newfound momentum to boost local Latino election turnout in November.
The strategy could prove to be a clever pivot, if evidenced by a rally Thursday led by the Latino Vote Alliance of Silicon Valley and joined by San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia, outside the same store where alliance co-chair Salvador “Chava” Bustamante was arrested Monday.
Speakers avoided dwelling on Bustamante’s trespass arrest and instead framed it as a catalyst for increasing Latino voter registration and election turnout.
As several dozen supporters looked on, speakers aimed to parlay the huge public visibility of Target as a way to draw eyes and ears to their cause.
“Justice will not come until our people are fully integrated into political process,” Bustamante said. “We are willing to be arrested, not once, but as many times as is necessary to assert this fundamental right.”
After the rally, organizers proceeded to work to register voters outside the store. And this time, it looked unlikely that the store would be calling police again in the face of an intense public and media spotlight.
For its part, Target released statement reiterating that its anti-solicitation policy for its storefronts applies to everyone and laid out its democratic bona fides like partnerships with national voter-registration drives. Just not outside its store entrances.
“Target is committed to providing a distraction-free shopping environment for our guests. Therefore, we do not permit solicitation or petitioning at our stores regardless of the cause or issue being represented,” the statement read. “To be clear, this policy is not about the cause being represented. We are active and strong believers in the importance of civic engagement.”
Bustamante was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor trespassing Monday afternoon after he refused to the leave the front of the store at Story and South King roads, where he was working to register voters alongside a colleague. Police said Target security staff called for officers after several requests for them to leave, and cited past customer complaints of “aggressive” soliciting.
Garcia, the police chief, contends the two responding officers did nothing wrong and were responding to a service call and upholding the law. Certain pieces of private property can be considered public if they serve as community gathering spots — like plazas, food courts and atriums — and if the gathering does not interfere with normal business.
But California law offers a narrower view of what constitutes a functionally public place, and excludes sidewalks and entrances on the grounds that they are not for gathering but rather getting shoppers in and out of a business.
Still, Garcia said his department will revisit its pol- icies in search of common ground between enforcing the law and not having to immediately resort to making arrests for what amounts to civil disobedience. He brought up the idea of instituting more conflict-resolution measures before a citation or arrest is made.
“The issue is about equity,” Garcia said. “There are other stores in the city where you can go out front, and no one calls the police. That’s where the frustration arises.”
Maria Noel Fernandez, Latino Vote Alliance co-chair and organizer for Working Partnerships USA, urged registration volunteers and supporters to use Bustamante’s arrest and the ensuing response as motivation to increase the community’s voting power.
“We must ensure that what happened on Monday does not happen again,” she said. “We will continue to ensure our voices are heard.”