The Regulators Vs. The Bullfighters

We need to protect against animal cruelty, of course, but we CAN overdo it. The bullfighters were perfectly justified in getting physical with these intruders:

More than 40 people showed up at an arraignment Tuesday to support two men arrested Friday at a bullfight in Thornton and to defend a decades-long cultural tradition.

Bullfighters Darren Nunes, 24, and Cesar Rocha, 39, were charged with misdemeanor counts of battery on law-enforcement officers. They were released on their own recognizance.

Outside the hearing in San Joaquin Superior Court in Lodi, Sheriff's Deputy Les Garcia said Nunes choked an animal cruelty investigator with the nonprofit Animal Cruelty Investigations who was attempting to confiscate a nail-pointed stick used to shock the bulls.

The deputy said a scuffle broke out, and Rocha became combative with officers and resisted arrest.

Deputy District Attorney Frank Kooger said the investigator suffered stomach and hand injuries, and a deputy suffered back injuries.

The bullfight was part of the 2009 Annual Holy Ghost Festa, a weeklong cultural celebration, sponsored by Elk Grove Sociadade Do Espirito Santo.

In an interview, the supporters, mostly people of Portuguese descent who witnessed the two arrests, said the bullfighters acted in self-defense.

"They thought it was unjust what happened, and that's why they're all here," said Rocha's wife, Luisa.

Attorneys at the arraignment said the animal rights investigator is licensed through the state corporations code to enforce anti-cruelty laws.

Witnesses said he entered the bull arena unprotected, wearing a flannel shirt, shorts and a backward hat, and didn't show his badge until after the incident.

"He could have gotten killed," spectator Ken Rocha said. "He's not supposed to cross the arena the way he did."

Animal Cruelty Investigations attorney David Casselman said the officer notified deputies he would be at the event and was wearing street clothes so he wouldn't be recognized.

"We'd rather people weren't arrested," Casselman said. "We'd rather these bullfights stop."

The California penal code allows bloodless bullfights under certain circumstances, like Friday's religious Holy Ghost celebration, Kooger said.

At Friday's bullfight, the investigator intervened because he thought bulls were being injured, Casselman said.

Fighter assistant Annie Bertao said the spikes don't draw blood when they puncture, but only shock the bulls to give the matador enough time to get away.

Bullfighting follows a Portuguese tradition of more than 1,000 years. In California, bullfights occur at the end of weeklong religious celebrations all summer, Bertao said.

"Forty years of this, and we've never been interrupted this way," Bertao said.

More than 2,000 attended Friday's fight at the Praça São João arena, attendee Sam Tunnell said.