San Diego–On Wednesday, April 8, Daniel Watman bravely stood in front of the bulldozers to stop the construction of the border wall in Friendship Park. Watman, who succeeded in expressing his message of friendship and nonviolence, was detained and cited for trespassing.
A contested site for months now, Friendship Park was closed to the public on January 6, 2009 by the San Diego Sector Chief of the Border Patrol, Mike Fisher. Friends of Friendship Park, a coalition of 40 local religious, human rights and environmental groups, have been working closely with local political leaders to persuade the Department of Homeland Security to restore public access to this historic park.
Daniel Watman circulated a public statement following the action:
Hola todos,
First of all I’m fine and thank to everyone for the supportive emails. It felt really good to know I had people to support me. I feel like my mission of sending a message of the importance of friendship was accomplished. Construction was stopped for a total of about an hour. Officials were mostly professional with me. I was not arrested. I was given a citation for trespassing on Federal property and will receive a court date in the mail (no amount was specified on the citation).
There are more pics coming. Unfortunately, the person taking video had his video card confiscated by officials on the scene. We’re not sure if/when he’ll get it back and if it’ll still have the video on it. I’m working on a detailed written account that i’ll probably put on facebook that I will send with more pics over the weekend.
Please stay tuned to Friends of Friendship Park website (friendshippark.org) or the Facebook cause (http://apps.facebook.com/causes/180793?m=92eea645&recruiter_id=34323909) for upcoming actions to save the park.
Amistad sin fronteras,
Daniel
Photo Credit: Maria Teresa Fernandez
