2 Arrested During Support March Of Border Agents

2 Arrested During Support March Of Border Agents

(CBS) HOLLYWOOD Two people were arrested during a clash at a march in Hollywood held in support of two U.S. Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting an alleged drug smuggler near the Mexican border in Texas.

Police separated about 200 demonstrators and counter-protesters, including members of the Minuteman Project, according to Los Angeles police Officer James Jensen. He did not know which side of the protest the arrested people came from.

Jose Alonso Compean, 30, and Ignacio Ramos, 35, both of El Paso, Texas, were convicted with assault with a deadly weapon and other counts in the shooting of Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila.

Aldrete-Davila was allegedly trying to smuggle about 750 pounds of marijuana across the border in a van on Feb. 17, 2005 when he was spotted by one of the agents. As he ran back across the border, he was shot in the buttocks.

No weapon was found at the scene and Aldrete-Davila was not caught at the time. The government granted the suspected drug smuggler immunity to testify against the two agents.

March organizer David Hernandez, who is not a member of the Minuteman Project but supports a pardon for the border agents, said the march was aimed at raising "awareness that this is an issue that everyone should be behind," he said.

"Today was not about illegal immigration, it was about justice for not only the officers but the families who came here to participate," he said.

He said the presence of counter-protesters was ironic.

"Here you have three Hispanics who we are out on the streets protesting in favor of," he said. "All of the family members are Hispanic. How could we be the racists if we're standing up for three Hispanics?"

Ramos is serving an 11-year sentence in a federal prison in Florida, where Hernandez said he was recently assaulted by at least four individuals. The assault renewed calls for a pardon. Compean was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The agents' case has been championed by the Minuteman Project, CNN commentator Lou Dobbs and members of Congress including Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach.

"It has gotten to this point where it seems like the president is willing to sacrifice these three individuals for greater good and the truth and justice is being ignored," Hernandez said. "Because illegal immigration is such a volatile issue here in Los Angeles, this has become real rallying point. It may have taken this. These are people that are really out there marching for fairness, justice and the rule of law."