A student was arrested on Wednesday after allegedly harassing
members of a student group embroiled in a campaign to discredit the
Chicana/o student group MEChA.
Grant Lopez, a 34-year-old UCLA student, was arrested late
Wednesday morning under the charge of robbery, according to the Los
Angeles Sheriff’s Department. Lopez is being held on $50,000
bail.
Lopez allegedly approached the Bruin Republicans table on Bruin
Walk, spat on the group’s chairman Jonathan Cayton, and
attempted to grab Cayton’s cell phone, Cayton said.
The Bruin Republicans were beginning to set up a table to
campaign against what they believe are radical views by the
Chicana/o student organization MEChA.
Cayton alleges that Lopez made verbal attacks, spat on him,
attempted to take his cell phone, tore up posters and walked away
from the table, which prompted Cayton and other Bruin Republicans
to follow him up Bruin Walk.
Cayton said he followed Lopez for about 20 minutes, while he was
reporting the incident to the police. Police then arrived and
arrested Lopez.
Elizabeth Alamillo, chairwoman of MEChA, said she does not know
Lopez and as far as she knows, he is not affiliated with the
group.
The Bruin Republicans launched a campaign this week to protest
the founding documents of MEChA. “El Plan de
Aztlán” calls for reclamation of lands once inhabited by
Chicana/o peoples before European colonization. The document,
written by MEChA’s founders during the 1960s, also promotes
the rights of the Chicana/o peoples over those of European
descent.
The Bruin Republicans and other conservative groups have
criticized the views expressed in the document as being radical and
racist.
However, MEChA chapters statewide have said they no longer
subscribe to such views.
The UCLA chapter of MEChA actually subscribes to “El Plan
de Santa Barbara,” a charter that does not include the
segments under criticism.