*Attacks on Mexican food vendors are on the rise
Police arrested a woman following an attack on a street taco vendor in South Los Angeles on a charge of robbery, for which she was booked and held on $60,000 bail.
It is very common to see street food stands in South Los Angeles, especially Mexican food or some of its fusions, places that are often staffed and owned by men and women who seek to earn an honest income but are undocumented.
However, in the last year, it has also been common for people who attend this type of places to be attacked for no apparent reason, but with racist connotations in the background.
Recently, customers of the "South Tacos Stand" located at the corner of Slauson and Normandie Avenues, witnessed a woman who, after police investigation, was identified as India Duerson, 30 years old, assaulting saleswoman Bertha Zúñiga, who was attending the stand.
The video shows how the attacker throws sauces, vegetables and containers full of food on the floor, as well as barrels of horchata, in addition to spitting on all the other food she could not throw away.
After that, he went after one of the workers, Bertha, whom he pushed and pulled, and people called emergency services to request the support of the police, who, according to local workers, arrived almost an hour after the incident.
According to an interview conducted by CBS Los Angeles, although she was nervous to speak, Zúñiga said the woman began destroying her place after ordering a burrito and being asked by workers to wait until they were fully set up.
"Sometimes I get nervous because I don't know what they are going to do or what is going to happen," said Bertha.
Chef and street vendor advocate Jimmy Saucez said that because many of these workers are undocumented, "they are afraid to speak out. That's why they are attacking them, because they feel they won't say anything".
He said the police may be overwhelmed with everything going on in the area, "but I wish they would respond a little faster. At the end of the day, if it's a robbery, it's a robbery. If it's a robbery, it's a robbery. They should be there as soon as possible."
Attacks on these types of establishments have increased in the last year, said the employees of the taco and burrito stand that has been in the same place for more than 12 years.
This incident is in addition to the case of a man who attacked a Long Beach tamale vendor who was videotaped yelling anti-Mexican slurs at him earlier this month.
The vendor, Juan Aguilar, said that the man shouting at him, whom neighbors later identified, walked aggressively towards him with his fists clenched. It was then that Aguilar began recording and later had his wife, Luz, upload the video to social media where it went viral.
Aguilar pointed out that he submitted an official report of hate incident to the Los Angeles Police Department, and said that he is not discouraged by what has happened. He stressed that he will continue selling tamales and will work hard so that one day he can open a traditional restaurant or a distribution company.
In both cases, the community has been overwhelmingly supportive, as the taco stand has received many more people since the incident, while Aguilar has recorded massive tamale sales, selling up to two thousand tamales in one day.
With information from CBS Los Angeles.
This publication was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
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