Police Sniper 5 Tribal Members

LA VOZ DE AZTLAN
http://www.aztlan.net/soboba_indian_reservation.htm
Los Angeles, Alta California
May, 14 2008

ALTA CALIFORNIA: Tribal Chief says Indian Reservation
"in a near state of war" with Riverside County Sheriff's
(NOTE: Please see update below:)


Seven (7) separate gun battles involving the Soboba Indian Reservation and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department has left 5 tribal members dead. Tribal Chief of the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, Robert Salgado, said that in just the last week two raging gun battles lasting for hours has resulted in the deaths of three tribal members, one a woman and another the son of a prominent Luiseno Indian family.

The first of the most recent gun battles occurred on Thursday May 8. Tribal member Eli Morillo, age 26, was killed during the gunfight inside the reservation that went on for hours. The gun battle involved numerous Sheriff SWAT team members and armored vehicles. Eli Morillo's brother, Peter Morillo, was also shot dead by police in 2002. Their mother, Rosemary Morillo, is a former tribal chairwoman.

The second recent gun battle with Sheriff's deputies occurred Monday. In a raging gun battle that lasted for more than an hour, a Sheriff's SWAT team of deputies and snipers killed two tribal members, 36-year-old Joseph Arres and an unidentified woman. It is not known if Joseph Arres is related to Gordon Arres, a tribal member, who was also killed by a Sheriff's deputy on December 27, 2007.

Tribal Chief Robert Salgado has accused the Sheriffs of waging war against the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians and of acting like "the 7th Calvary." He informed the Los Angeles Times that his reservation was "in a near state of war" with Riverside County Sheriff's. He has asked for help from the FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the state attorney general's office, the U.S. attorney's office and civil and human rights attorneys and organizations.


UPDATE

May 15, 2008

Soboba Indian Reservation mother killed by Riverside County Sheriff's sniper identified

Yesterday La Voz de Aztlan published a report at http://www.aztlan.net/soboba_indian_reservation.htm describing 7 gun battles in which the Riverside County Sheriff's Department has killed a total of 5 tribal members of the Soboba Indian Reservation located near the town of San Jacinto in Southern California. We mentioned that the most recent gun battle occurred on Monday leaving two tribal members dead. At the time the female killed by a Sheriff's sniper was not yet identified.

Today, the father identified the victim. She is mother Tamara Angela Hurtado, age 30, a resident of the reservation. Speaking at a Lighthouse Ministry memorial, Mr. Gary Hurtado, father of Angela, said that there was great sadness on the reservation. He saw his daughter Angela just a few days before the shooting,

"She was a nice person," Mr. Hurtado said. "She had a lot of love. She was a housewife and the mother of a 9-year-old son."