Statement by the writer of the MECHa article:

As the author of the article in the California Patriot which led to its theft "MEChA: Student Funded Bigotry and Hate"), I would like to state that, although it is unfortunate that the California Patriot was stolen, along with its theft is also the theft of my right to speech. This is a particularly egregious abridgement of a fundamental right guaranteed by our government and constitution. Just as the First Amendment protects the hate speech of MEChA, so too does it protect my fundamental right to speak the truth about MEChA. As a result, amidst the clamor, it is also unfortunate that the relevant issue has drifted from a hate issue to a speech issue. The fact that the California Patriot was stolen serves as a testament to the sad state of free speech on our campus.

I was hoping to increase the public's awareness of what amounts to the equivalent of a Mexican Ku Klux Klan (MEChA) at every university in California, and instead the debate has steered towards free speech. The fact remains: MEChA is a hate group, funded entirely by your compulsory student fees, operating under the guise of "cultural identity" as a "student initiated service organization." Of course there can be no defense coming from the Mechistas, because their own words (El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan) were used in establishing them as a hate group in my article. If you don't believe MEChA is a hate group, just ask the Anti-Defamation League (which is not exactly a conservative organization) about the anti-semitism inherent in MEChA's political activities and public declarations. Visit MEChA's web site at www.aztlan.net. Better yet, read the article I wrote in the California Patriot- if it ever sees the light of day.

The theft of the California Patriot is typical of the Stalinist thought reform that occurs in the classrooms and elsewhere on campus. Students must resist the systematic thought oppression, incessant liberal political orthodoxy and the "stripping away" of American cultural identity through classroom indoctrination and racist bureaucratization.

It is a shame that I have to remain anonymous for fear of my own safety, for simply speaking the truth. This anonymity is particularly unsettling, for I will constantly be looking over my shoulder, wary of cultural terrorists who wish to silence me. If the Mechistas are able to resort to criminal theft to suit their ideological purposes of violent irredentism, what would they do to me if they knew who I was? When Subcommandante Marcos leading the revolution in Chiapas reveals his identity, so too will I. Until then, I must remain anonymous for my own safety, for there is no one to protect me from imminent, violent revenge.

Moreover, in reporting the incident, the Daily Californian staff has deemed the theft of a goat more important than the theft of someone's right to free speech- just look at where the incident was placed on the front page. If the Daily Californian is so committed to free speech, then why doesn't it print the article that was so effectively silenced by the thugs in question? Perhaps the leftist-liberal bias of the Daily California has reared its ugly head for everyone to see. Even the token conservative is relegated to Friday, when no one reads the paper. Whatever happened to "journalistic integrity?" Conservatives know that the advisory board of the Daily Californian is made up of wealthy liberals whose bias is self-evident with each issue of the Daily Cal.

Finally, I am a person who considers himself a mestizo, and MEChA does not speak for my people or my culture. I have no tolerance for hate, racism and bigotry in whatever form it manifests itself. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said that "sunlight is the best disinfectant." Unfortunately, what I have to say has been summarily, via criminal theft, kept in the shade. What MEChA needs is sunlight, public scrutiny of its mission, principles and doctrines of hate.

Incidents such as the theft have happened in the past and will happen in the future under an oppressive University regime dominated by the left- and the McCarthyism from the left will continue for many years to come unless someone takes a stand. I am not very optimistic that anything will be done about the theft, because history has shown that nothing has been done in the past. Thus, a leftist monopoly of the marketplace of ideas will continue long after I have left this wretched institution. The students at this University should stand up, take notice, and demand their right to speak the truth.


Juan Carlos Leal Solis
Student, UC Berkeley

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