Community members lined up at the corner of Cedar Avenue and 20th Street on Saturday, May 29 to support Eliu Ramirez, a street vendor who was recently attacked.
The Local Hearts Foundation organized the buy-out after a widely-shared video showed a family harassing Ramirez.
“They kind of mess with him every day. Take his products and don’t pay for them and like play tricks on him, like tell him they’re gonna buy something and then they’ll wait and waste his time and not end up buying anything and just laugh at him,” Patrina Rodriguez, secretary of the Local Hearts Foundation, told the Signal Tribune.
During the most recent incident, their harassment escalated into violence.
“This time that it happened they actually picked up some of his mangoes and threw it at his head,” Rodriguez said.
In a video of the incident that was shared by various media outlets, four children accompanied by a woman can be seen snatching items off Ramirez’s cart and throwing them to the floor as someone yells in the distance for them to stop. The woman accosts off-screen bystanders before walking away with the children.
The Long Beach Police Department was called to respond to the incident, but instead of assisting Ramirez they ticketed him and another vendor for not having the proper licenses to sell snacks on the street.
The woman was cited for vandalism, according to an LBPD statement.
“These people are out here hustling, trying to make a living, to work for themselves, for their family or for whatever reason, but they’re out here selling people corn, ice creams and chips and candy,” said Eddie Garcia, who attended the event in support of Ramirez. “They’re not out here doing harm or wrong to no one.”
After Ramirez’s story gained publicity and attention within the community, the LBPD retracted the tickets given to Ramirez and the other street vendor.
“This is against our Department’s practice and the citations will be voided. Department employees will be reminded of this to ensure there is no confusion with our officers regarding this practice,” the LBPD statement said.
A long line of customers waited as Ramirez helped them all, stroking mayonnaise onto steamed corn before sprinkling red chili pepper on top, and packing multicolored scoops of shaved ice into styrofoam.
“There’s people out here taking advantage of [street vendors]. They’re out here giving us front door service and there’s people out here robbing them,” attendee John Martin said. “It’s just not right, so we need to support them and show them they’re appreciated for what they do.”