Let Their Voices Be Heard: "FUCK I.C.E."

On the morning of Tuesday, April 7th, Alfred Aldrete, co-founder of the Fresno Resistance, received a call from a Fresno Bee reporter. Clovis Police Department (CPD) was submitting a misdemeanor charge against him.

"Not even a quarter of the way into my first cup of coffee I received a call from the Fresno Bee from a reporter... I had to let them know that I was not aware of anything. The news reporter informed me that Clovis PD was submitting a misdeameanor charge against me for my "involvement," their words, in the student walkout on February 10th."

In their news release, CPD provided an update on the "Clovis Student Walkout" case, an investigation they opened in February. Investigators alleged that Aldrete was "directing student activity and entering the roadway, which impacted traffic flow." According to the department, this was sufficient evidence to meet the definition of violating Penal Code 272, "contributing to the delinquency of a minor." They declared the investigation complete and warranted prosecutorial review.

The same evening, the Bee reporter shared an update with him- the District Attorney's office declined to pursue the charges within hours of CPD's announcement, citing insufficient evidence.

"There's not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that I had any involvement as far as any contribution to delinquency of a minor. That was around, I'm going to say about eight o'clock (PM) or so... I think the whole ordeal was about 12 hours," Aldrete said, describing the day as up and down.

Community Support

After receiving the initial call about the charges, Aldrete reached out to comrades, fellow activists, and elders for advice. He was met with emotional support and a recommendation for a lawyer.

"So first things first, contact this lawyer, which was an amazing gentleman, Kevin Little, just an amazing guy... He is a lawyer who's been involved in the activist scene for quite some time. He has earned his stripes," said Aldrete.

Aldrete shared that Little didn't think the DA would go ahead and follow through with the charges because the allegations that the Clovis PD were making were "a little ridiculous." If they did decide to press charges, Little would represent him "to the fullest."

Multiple Adults, One Target?

In their February 11 response to the walkouts, Clovis PD implicated "multiple adults", stating they observed them "actively encouraging, organizing, and facilitating students leaving school without authorization." The response included information that protestors were surveilled through a network of 500 cameras, a Camera on Wheels (COW), and officers on site.

Additionally, they shared that Clovis Unified was in the process of identifying students to enforce consequences for truancy and that they had identified two of the adults. Since then, Aldrete is the only one that has publicly been pursued by CPD.

"I was one of a handful of adults that were there to make sure that the students were there safely, they were able to protest safely, get from point A to point B safely, and not have any agitators come to disrupt their constitutional rights while they're practicing them."

At least two adults were documented agitating protestors.

"They were filming the students. They actually showed up with a bullhorn and were yelling some obscene stuff and just kind of trying to demoralize the students while they were there protesting, agitating them, working them up," said Aldrete.

Eventually, students matched the antagonizer's energy and the situation escalated for a moment. Students were redirected away from the adults filming and the situation de-escalated.

"I was able to step in between the individual and the students to help regain their focus and fortunate enough that we didn't allow that to take away from their message."

The Student Message: Fuck I.C.E.

Ensuring students followed traffic laws, practicing de-escalation when necessary and picking up trash also served as a way to help preserve their message and not distract from the goal of bringing awareness to the murders at the hands of immigration enforcement.

"That's pretty much what they're doing is they are letting this message that the students were trying to voice and organized on that day. It's all kind of getting lost now in the mix of this all."

The nationwide student walkouts in February were to protest the Department of Homeland Security employees who have shot and killed several people including Keith Porter, Nicole Good, and Alex Pretti, to name just a few.

The violence from DHS employees is ongoing. On the same day that CPD released their statement on April 7th, just 100 miles from Fresno, a man was shot six times by ICE officers.

Power in Community, Unity & Love

Toward the end of the interview, we asked Aldrete to share his thoughts on CPD's actions and the whole ordeal. He believes he was targeted because of the adults present, he was the only one they had a crumble of evidence, however weak.

To the Clovis Police Department, Alfred shares this message:

"Sloppy. Shame on you. Shame on you."

Adding that he thinks their actions were performative, an attempt to deter younger folx from engaging in civic action. "If anything, they have just given the next generation some fuel to feed their fire."

And to the next generation of activists, Aldrete says:

"Don't be afraid to continue to do what's right. And even in times where, like this morning, I was shocked and a little bit afraid, there is power in community. You have people who will have your back and who will help you get through those troubled times because ultimately it's unity and love that will overcome all these silly atrocities and stuff like that. So continue to push forward and have your voice be heard and to lift others up in the process."

Join the Community: Upcoming Actions With Fresno Resistance

April 19th: Trash Pick-up with Goldstein's

April 25th: Fresno Resistance Block Party at Porch Fest

May 1st: 20th Anniversary March for Immigrants

Full Interview with Alfred Aldrete of Fresno Resistance

Aldrete Full Interview

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mars: Record. Okay. Let's try that again. It's getting my voice. Can you please share your name and pronouns please?

Alfred: Sure. My name is Alfred Aldrete. Last name is A- L-D-R-E-T-E. Yeah, right? He/him. That's me.

mars: Okay, cool. That's working now. So we'll go ahead and how are you doing today?

Alfred: Today is a much more relaxed day than yesterday, but good. Today's a good day.

mars: Yeah, I imagine that was probably intense. You said that you woke up to the news, is that correct?

Alfred: Yes. Well, shortly after waking up, I should say, not even a quarter of the way into my first cup of coffee. I received a call from the Fresno Bee, a reporter that had interviewed me about a month ago in regards to the student walkout protest that was organized by students at Buchanan, and asked me for an update, comment, and possible interview on Clovis PD's recent announcement. And I had to let them know that I was not aware of anything. And so the reporter pretty much informed me that, yeah, Clovis PD was submitting charges to the DA for one misdemeanor charge against me for my involvement, their words, in the student walkout, February 10th.

mars: And so that's how you got the news. Did they forward you the press release or?

Alfred: Yeah, so I did ask them for a little bit more clarity and at some time before I could give any answer or any statement, but if they could send any information over, which they did, they sent over a copy of Clovis PDs, a formal announcement where it stated that they would be charging me 41-year-old Alfred Aldrete. They did me dirty with my age though. They announced it. I was like, "Oh noooo." But yeah, they charged me with a misdemeanor of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. They stated that I was actively instructing and leading the group of students that I also was interfering with traffic, which disrupted the flow of traffic. So upon having that sent over and me kind of realizing the severity of it all and letting it all soak in, I thanked her and kind of got in touch with some other community organizers that I knew would kind of have an answer as to what to do next.

mars: And was that helpful?

Alfred: That was very helpful. Yeah. They not only offered words of comfort and stuff like that, telling me, "No, don't worry. This is a little stressful and scary, but we will get through it together. You have the community behind you. You have friends and other activists behind you. " So first things first, contact this lawyer, which was an amazing gentleman, Kevin Little. I don't know if you need to add his name, but just an amazing guy. I've talked with him in recent months leading up to this, just kind of informing him of what I was looking at. And he just let me know that he was going to represent me to the fullest, that he didn't think that the DA would go ahead and follow through with the charges because some of the accusations that the Clovis PD was making is a little ridiculous, but that if they decided to press charges, that he would represent me and not to worry that we would take care of everything.

mars: Awesome. That's really great to have that community support. It seems like it's not their first rodeo.

Alfred: Yeah, definitely. No, he is a lawyer who's been involved in the activist scene for quite some time. He has earned his stripes. And so I mean, he was at the advice of some other elders in the community activist scene here. And a lot of these guys have like, you just couldn't put any better myself. They've been in here through it and it's not their first rodeo dealing with the law and stuff like that. So completely helpful. If it wasn't for them, yeah, I probably would've started drinking a whole lot earlier yesterday.

mars: That sounds really hard. Just jarring, I imagine. What were you feeling when you got the news and as the day progressed?

Alfred: Well, so at first it was a progression of initially shock. I've been waiting and kind of predicting at some point that they would do something and because it kind of fell quietly for a while, about a month or so, there's no word or any action or activity on the case. It just kind of initially shook me like, okay, now their foot has dropped and now I'm going to be going through this situation. Progressing into, oh man, I can't even ... Real fear. I have been on the other side of the law and in jail. So the first thing we did was just to look at the worst consequences that could possibly ... I'm one of those people as well that likes to just know what the worst outcome could possibly be. And when I read that I could spend up to a year in jail, yeah, that fear crept easily back into me just like, "Yeah, no, there's no way I'd want to go back. This is horrible," first off. Second off, just knowing that that's something that they would try and pursue against me, just trying to being a good community member and making sure that the youth in not only our community, but other communities have the ability to protest and have their voices heard safely, that ultimately was extremely important. So yeah, just from fear onto more or less a little bit of anger where it was like, of course, I think most people have this common conception of Clovis and their police department and how they view people of color and outsiders of Clovis. It just really upset me to think that they would actually try and go after someone like I was saying who is going to be there to stand up for the students, making sure that they travel safely and not go after people like agitators and other grown adults that spend time not only mocking, but harassing these poor students.

mars: Right. Because you weren't the only adult there that day.

Alfred: That's correct. Yeah. I was one of a handful of adults that were there to make sure that everybody, like I've been continuously saying, the students were there safely, they were able to protest safely, get from point A to point B safely, and not have any agitators come to disrupt their constitutional rights while they're practicing them. So they didn't go after any of those other, they didn't target any of the other adults that were there or ID'd. So yeah, kind of left me, like I said, extremely angry and targeted.

mars: Yeah. That's interesting that you were among others who were doing the same thing but nobody else was charged.

Alfred:Yeah. Leading up to it, Clovis had released a statement saying that they were considering filing charges against six adults that they had kind of ID'd or were able to single out during the protest. And so it's just crazy that it went from six adults to just individually me alone singling me out. Yeah.

mars: That's interesting. Do you have any ... I mean, you kind of already touched on it, but are there any other ideas of why they would only pursue a lawsuit against you?

Alfred: Other than the fact that they probably didn't have any evidence really, even on me specifically, but I guess I'm the only adult where they had pretty much anything, I'm sure, any sort of footage, anything to even attempt to throw and stick at a wall as far as getting the DA to move forward with these charges, because we were just all out there just walking beside these students, making sure they crossed the street correctly safely and were obeying not only the laws of pedestrians, but also respecting the community, which they were passing through, picking up their trash and stuff. So yeah, just very interesting that I'm the one that's singled out and that they would even try to put any blame or any fault on just, like I said, members of the community that are just trying to look out for these students. Right.

mars: Yeah. And do you want to elaborate more on the intention of going out there? You said that you were helping to make sure they're crossing streets safely and you guys picked up

Alfred: Trash.

mars: Do you want to go more into detail about that?

Alfred: Yeah, I think we were there ultimately, like I said, number one priority was just to manage the student's safety, just to make sure that ultimately that they had a safe experience. Number two, in regards to picking up any trash or making sure that they followed the laws as pedestrians, crossing the streets and stuff like that, being in traffic. We were doing that mainly to make sure that their message as a group of students and as the youthful generation that's going to be moving forward and ultimately pushing for rights and continuing to keep us on our democratic course, just to make sure that their message didn't get lost and that there was nothing that anybody as far as the City of Clovis or any other agitators can pin on them that would take away from their message, like trash or like I said, them breaking the rules by crossing the street or jaywalking or something like that.

We just tried to be there so that we could help best maintain that message that they were there for that day. And I mean, ultimately, I kind of feel like what's a little bit upsetting about it too is with Clovis Police continuing to single me out and say stuff like they're going to be going after the adults, and that's pretty much what they're doing is they are letting this message that the students were trying to voice and organized on that day. It's all kind of getting lost now in the mix of this all.

mars: I think when Clovis originally mentioned the six people, they implicated or they were alleging that you guys helped organize. Am I remembering correctly?

Alfred: That is correct. Yeah. They came out and tried to directly attach us to the involvement in the organizing and gathering of the students. But once again, we had nothing to do with it. This was all a student organized and led walkout protest. Later on after the protest, we spoke with some of the leaders of the group from Buchanan and they couldn't put it any better themselves. They were just like, "If we were to continue doing stuff after school and following their rules, then it wouldn't be disrupting any normal activity in the day, therefore bringing attention to what we were doing." So I'm glad that we just got to be there for them and make sure that everything was safe on their behalf. There was an agitator that I was able to step in and kindly help disperse, but other than that, they got to complete their mission and go out there and let their voices be heard and stand in solidarity with each other.

mars: Yeah, no, was it though there was women, two women who were recording the students and they were on the street too, I believe. Is that who you're talking about when you said agitators?

Alfred: Well, there's a specific one. I won't mention his name because I don't want to give him any more attention

than he needs, but-

mars: I think I know who you're talking about.

Alfred: I think you know who I'm talking about too. I'll give you a description of him, tall, Caucasian male, real jerk to the public, but he was there with, I'm not sure if it's his partner or if it was his mom, older Caucasian woman as well. And yeah, they were filming the students. They actually showed up with a bullhorn and were yelling some obscene stuff and just kind of trying to demoralize the students while they were there protesting, agitating them, working them up. And in the process, they were nearly bum rushed by about 60 of these students who finally had enough. And I was able to step in between the individual and the students to help regain their focus and fortunate enough that we didn't allow that to take away from their message or their moments.

mars: Yeah. When did you hear that the charges were dropped?

Alfred: So I was going up and down all day with my emotions and it happened to be the same Fresno Bee reporter that reached out to me in the morning via email stating, "Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I did hear back from the DA. They let me know that they are not going to be pursuing charges against you." There's not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that I had any involvement as far as any contribution to delinquency of a minor. That was around, I'm going to say about eight o'clock or so.

mars: And that was this morning?

Alfred: That was last evening. So I think the whole ordeal was about 12 hours. Wow. Yeah. Very up and down day, speaking to my lawyer, talking to other community activists, getting opinions here. One of the things that from start to finish, even this morning, calls and text messages and emails from different news sources and different journalists and you name it, apparently everyone's trying to reach out for a comment or an interview right now and yeah, it's been a very interesting few hours.

mars: That's wild. And what do you think about it all? The fact that they tried to press the charges and then it was dismissed almost immediately? What was the point of all of this?

Alfred: Right. I mean, I think what I spent a good portion of yesterday doing was trying to kind of wrap my mind around that question as well, what is the point of this? Why would they be going ahead and filing charges or at least submitting them? Because yeah, I mean, like I was telling you, it feels like it's been at least a month or so and everything's been quiet, yada, yada, so forth, but it does feel very much like a performative act on their behalf, whatever representative or city official is like, "Hey, you know what? You really need to move forward and make an example of this person." And then ultimately that's what I think it is, is that definitely trying to make an example out of me to deter the future generations from taking part in civic life, being there, showing up and protesting or having any say so in what's going down in their community, showing them that if you do, there are punishments and consequences like they were attempting to try and do to me.

mars: Yeah. What kind of message would you want to share with the Clovis PD, if any?

Alfred: Sloppy, shame on you, shame on you. Once again, that this won't deter the future generation from taking part in their civic duties to their community and their neighborhoods, that if anything, they have just given the next generation some fuel to feed their fire. And yeah, I feel that they're lucky. They're very lucky that they didn't because I feel like already rising was the power of the community behind me. So I think if this would've got any bigger, this would've continued to spread throughout the community and that they would've continued to stand behind me and they would've had a bigger case on their hands.

mars: Is there a message you'd like to share with the community, whether that be current activists, future activists, the students, maybe the message is the same or different for each group?

Alfred: I guess one thing I would say is to not be afraid to continue to do what's right. And even in times where, like this morning, I was shocked and a little bit afraid. And in those times, that's why this power and community. You have people who will have your back and who will help you get through those troubled times because ultimately it's unity and love that we'll overcome all these silly atrocities and stuff like that. So continue to push forward and have your voice be heard and to lift others up in the process.