Taking action against Violence in the Community – July 4 Fireworks War

In collaboration with the Bishop Manor Task Force, Jamboree Housing, and Bishop Manor Management, The Cambodian Family played a key role in ensuring that the Minnie Street and Bishop Manor community members had a safe and secure Fourth of July. In response to a heartfelt letter (see below) from a resident in the community regarding a “fireworks war” on Sunday, July 1, 2012, members and volunteers from The Cambodian Family, Lives Worth Saving Gang Intervention, OCAPICA, and Santa Ana Police Department met and took immediate action to ensure the safety of the community members. On both the 3rd and 4th of July, instead of sounds of bottle bombs and fireworks getting thrown at people, community residents had the opportunity to play with fireworks in a “safe and sane” manner. There were at least two dozen volunteers, patrols, and police officers walking the community at one point and almost always 10 patrols and officers throughout the night. This is a huge success for our community and we are proud to be working in a collaboration like this.

Letter from SABHC Zone 5 resident

Sunday, July 1, 2012

“It has come to my attention that the Minnie St/Bishop Manor “Fourth of July” street war has returned this year. For those of you who do not know what this is, you can get an idea of what it is here: http://goo.gl/urMzJ

As a Minnie Street resident most of my life, I have seen the “Minnie Street War” come and go year after year for over 20 years (with the exception of the past two years thanks to the help of Pastor Kevin Brown, the Lives Worth Saving Crew, and SAPD for their hard work). July 4 was never about celebrating Independence for me, but instead, it became a night where I was a spectator of a real live war on the very street I played and grew up on. The Minnie Street war always happened around July 4 for as long as I could remember. Growing up, I could always expect flaring fireworks and loud bottle bombs go off in the night as people threw them at each other.

As depicted in the footage, the word “war” is not used lightly. Each year around this time, adults AND kids from in and out of the neighborhood engage in an all out fireworks battle where illegal fireworks and homemade bottle bombs that produce a loud boom are commonly used. This war is usually between the Cambodians from the Bishop area and the Latinos from the Minnie Street area.

Safety is NEVER a concern. In years past, I recall people, both active participants and bystanders, getting seriously injured. In addition, this war is oftentimes a green light for local gang members (and sometimes from afar i.e. Long Beach) to come and participate. I remember numerous incidents when people would get shot and rushed to the emergency room.

I wanted to bring to your attention that for the past few nights, the war has resumed and will most likely continue each night until the finale on the Fourth of July. I write to you now feeling frustrated, hopeless, scared, and concerned about the safety of my family and of the kids running around the street at this late hour. SAPD has come many times but as soon as they’re gone, the flares and bottle bomb continues.

I write to you all literally begging for a solution and wishing for a way to stop this cycle of violence. This war has become such a norm that parents and their kids are sitting out on the walkway watching as if the streets were their TV. People are posting footage online and openly commenting on it, with many of them taking pride in their participation. It’s so ridiculous that people will not even call to report the firework war because they think it’s a waste of time to tell the police.”