nothin 400 Tacos, & Counting | New Haven Independent

400 Tacos, & Counting

Melissa Bailey Photo

New Haven’s Latino advocates saved one taco for East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr. and sent 399 others to people who might appreciate them more — diners at a local soup kitchen.

The delivery came Thursday afternoon at East Haven Town Hall, as Maturo’s now-infamous taco” remark continued to reverberate across the nation.

Maturo’s off-the-cuff remark came after four of his cops were arrested for allegedly targeting, brutalizing, and falsely arresting Latinos. When a reporter from New York’s WPIX TV asked Maturo what he’d do for the Latino community, Maturo responded, I might have tacos when I get home.” (Watch it here.) Maturo has since apologized for the remark.

As outrage spread, a national coalition called Reform Immigration for America urged people to text TACO to 69866 to condemn mayor’s remark. The group pledged to send Maturo one taco for each person who texted in support.

As of Thursday afternoon, 2,600 people had sent a taco text.

Around 1:20 p.m., activists showed up at Maturo’s door with aluminum trays carrying the first delivery of 400 tacos.

These tacos represent every person across America who was disgusted by and condemns your comments,” announced Latrina Kelly, interim head of Junta for Progressive Action, a New Haven-based Latino advocacy group.

Maturo wasn’t there to hear her remarks. He slipped out a back door and was spotted driving off in his city-issued car shortly after 1 p.m., the time of the scheduled delivery.

He had a meeting,” explained a mayoral staffer, who declined to be named. The meeting was called that same morning, she said. It wasn’t on his schedule.”

In Maturo’s absence, Junta’s Kelly spoke to a throng of local and national reporters. The press group was so big that it couldn’t fit into the mayor’s office; Kelly had to relocate to the hallway to accommodate the crowd.

Hopefully, you now know that comments like yours only heighten racial tension, and help explain how the kind of racial intolerance uncovered by the U.S. Justice Department was allowed to take hold in the East Haven police department,” Kelly told Maturo via the cameras.

The tacos were made at a New Haven restaurant; the owner said he wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. The tacos came with rice and beans inside, with cups of green salsa to go on top. He estimated the number at 400.

One of the deliverers, Ecuadorian organizer and activist Dixon Jimenez, said the mayor’s remarks exposed what he really thinks. When a person is spontaneous, you see what perception he really has.”

Jiminez called Maturo’s subsequent apology unconvincing. Jimenez called on the mayor to open dialogue with Latino leaders about being more inclusive of the Latinos who live and work in East Haven. An estimated 2,500 Ecuadorians live in the town.

In a written statement, Maturo said the delivery highlights the need for the town to continue the process of healing and reform” that Maturo claimed he initiated after he was reelected in November. Events of the past few days have focused our town, and my administration, on the need to deal sensitively and compassionately with the challenges currently facing our town,” he added.

Kelly announced she would save one taco for Maturo and send the rest to New Haven’s Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen. She and other activists left the tacos in a basement room. Maturo’s office pledged to distribute them from there.

Kelly said the tacos represent a small fraction of the Americans who are offended by your statement.”

There will be more deliveries,” as text messages continue to roll in, she said.

Meanwhile, the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus called for Maturo resign over his baldly racist and ethnocentric comment.”

Joe Maturo didn’t just cross the line,” CHFC Chair Tomas Reyes Jr. stated in a release. He destroyed any pretense of a line.”

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