Sad news and something to think about...Lets start some dialogue to set up
something to discuss these issues further...

~Leo D Martinez, Jr



Eighth Grader Commits Suicide After Being Threatened by School Official
With Jail Time for Organizing Walkouts
Tuesday, April 11th, 2006

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/11/1426249

An eighth grader in California killed himself two weeks ago after being
threatened by a school official for participating in the student immigrant
rights walkouts. Anthony Soltero, 14, died after he shot himself in the
head on March 30th. We speak with the attorney representing Soltero's
mother. [includes rush transcript]



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Along with the mass demonstrations, tens of thousands of students have
staged walkouts across the country in support of immigrant rights.
Students defied school lockdowns and strict bans to take to the streets in
unprecedented levels and participate in the immigration protests.
But tragedy struck two weeks ago in California when an eight grader killed
himself after being threatened by a school official for participating in
the walkouts. His family claimed a school administrator pulled Soltero
aside on March 30 and told him he could be jailed for three years,
banished from his graduation and his parents could be fined for his
involvement in the protest.

Anthony Soltero died after he shot himself in the head later that day. He
was just 14 years-old.

About 200 people gathered in a church in Long Beach on Monday to remember
him. Some of his friends wore black shirts with a picture of Anthony on
the front.

On Monday, school district officials released a statement but failed to
address whether the incident occurred. The statement read quote "The
district expresses its sincere sympathy for the student's family and
friends. Out of respect for the family's privacy and because litigation is
being threatened against the district, we can't comment any further
regarding this very unfortunate incident."


Samuel Paz, a civil rights lawyer representing Anthony Soltero's mother,
Louise Corales.

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RUSH TRANSCRIPT
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AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined on the phone right now from California by Samuel
Paz, a civil rights lawyer representing Anthony Soltero 's mother, Louise
Corales. We welcome you to Democracy Now! Can you quickly tell us what
happened? Anthony was one of the key organizers of the student walkout in
his school?

SAMUEL PAZ: As best as we know, yes. He was one of the organizers and one
of the leaders of the walkout. What happened, briefly, was that after the
walkout, he was brought into his vice principal's office and told
essentially that he was going to be suspended from school, he would lose
his privileges as far as his eighth grade graduation and graduation dance,
his mother was to be fined, and that he was going to face three years of
prison because of a prior school probation.

And he went home, called his mother shortly thereafter, and told his
mother what had happened. She said, essentially, ‘I'm coming home. We have
to talk about this.’ By the time she got home, he had shot himself. He had
left a note. And, tragically, he died three days later after being on life
support. His heart was donated to a 20-year-old girl in Washington who was
dying, and luckily, she now lives because of him. We are now investigating
the allegations and finding witnesses who could corroborate exactly what
happened at the school.

AMY GOODMAN: Samuel Paz, just to understand, the assistant principal at
DeAnza Middle School told Anthony that he would go to prison for three
years, that his mother would be fined, that he wouldn’t be able to
graduate eighth grade, go to the ceremony, and he couldn’t go to the
eighth grade prom, the dance?

SAMUEL PAZ: Yes. That's correct. That's the information we have.

AMY GOODMAN: And the school district will not say anything right now?

SAMUEL PAZ: They have not made any statement that we know of. We are in
the process – in fact, today we will be serving the requests under the
federal law to obtain his records.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And to your knowledge, has there been a wider crackdown on
other students in California who have participated in these protests?

SAMUEL PAZ: I know at this particular school district, which is San
Bernardino -- I know that over 250 students were referred to the police
department if they were involved in the walkout, so that their parents
would be ticketed. I also know that in some areas near the Long Beach
area, where also the principals took punitive measures, called the police
and had children threatened with tickets and fines.

Contrast to this, that many student -- good educators actually walked out
with their students. They were joined by parents, and they asked the
parents to join, so that the walks would be safe, so that the kids would
understand what it is to demonstrate, so that they could use it as a
teaching moment and then go back to the school and talk about the
importance of dissent in a democracy, talk about the importance of
participation in civic discussion, and talk about the debate that there
should be whenever there’s some important legislation. And they used it to
enhance the moment and to teach with it, as opposed to a punitive action
against students who are doing the right thing.

AMY GOODMAN: Are you suing on behalf of his family, Anthony’s family?

SAMUEL PAZ: We’re looking into it. The mother has not asked us to make
that decision, nor have we done the complete legal analysis in terms of
what we want to recommend to the mother. Anthony was only buried
yesterday. The services were in the morning, and the burial was in the
afternoon. So, at this point, we told the mother that she needed time, and
she's taking this time to deal with his death.

AMY GOODMAN: Samuel Paz, I want to thank you very much for being with us,
and please extend to Anthony's family our condolences.

SAMUEL PAZ: I shall, and thank you so much for your work.


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