Pete Wilson and his cohorts pushed a series of anti-immigrant measures including the recent Juvenile Criminal Justice Initiative which will send children as young as 14 years to adult prisons. One gang that was targeted was the so called 18th Street Gang of Los Angeles. The City passed a series of unconstitutional injunctions that prohibited young people from gathering in groups or from hanging out in certain areas of the city. Catarino is typical of most youths in his neighborhood that is located southwest of downtown Los Angeles. The homes are well kept and the yards are kept neat and the sidewalks clean.
Children play in their yards or ride their bicycles on the sidewalk.
The loud crying of the baby girl alerted her and the neighbors who immediately attended to the injured Catarino. People here have been conditioned to remain quiet because they fear police retaliation so that they rarely make civil rights complaints . The young man, Javier Ovando, was shot by an officer then they planted a shotgun as false evidence in order to say that he was armed. He was respected and well liked by Catarino's neighbors. In fact, according to members of the community and Catarino's defense attorney, Officer Cuesta and Catarino liked and respected each other.