L.A.Times Writer Pits 'Religious' Demonstrators Against 'Hard-line' Immigration Law

In nine short paragraphs, Los Angeles Times staffer Nicholas Riccardi offered readers a slanted look at how "Immigration demonstrations kick[ed] off in Arizona" yesterday, when the state's new anti-illegal immigration law went into effect [except for the portions ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge].

Reporting from Phoenix, Riccardi jumped straight away into loaded language (emphasis mine):

Opponents of Arizona's hard-line stance on illegal immigration launched a small religious procession from the state Capitol before dawn Thursday, the first of a series of demonstrations for the day the nation's strictest immigration law was due to take effect.

So who organized the religious procession? Is it purely a protest by otherwise apolitical religious folks, or were secular political interest groups involved? Riccardi didn't elaborate.

Riccardi went on to quote demonstrator Alfredo Gutierrez -- tagged simply as "a former state senator" -- complaining that "[w]e live here in a climate of fear.... The context of Arizona is foreign to this country. This is basically a nation that's become hostile to its own people."

That's pretty strong, arguably "hard-line" rhetoric from the anti-Arizona law contingent, yet Riccardi didn't find a supporter of the law to rebut the allegations. What's more, Gutierrez is not a random protester, he's the boycott director for Somos America.

Isn't calling for a boycott of business against his fellow Arizonans "hostile" to his fellow Arizonans? Riccardi never raised that question nor included information that might bring his readers to raise that question.