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Marching students downtown swarmed onto the Harbor and Hollywood freeways this afternoon, shutting down traffic and prompting some arrests. NBC-4, meanwhile, came up with a good man-in-the-news profile on Piolin, the DJ at 101.9 who is described as the most listened-to Spanish language figure on radio in the U.S. Highly visible at Saturday's big downtown march, he is credited with rousing students to protest. Eduardo Sotel, his real name, says any move to deport immigrants who entered illegally would be hugely disruptive: "The kids need a dad and a mom in the same house, in the same country."
* Piolin factor: On the LA Weekly website, Ben Quiñones also looks at Sotel's role in turning out the crowds: "He felt it was time to step up. So, on Thursday, March 16, while performing his on-air comedy show, Piolín had a lightning-bolt flash of inspiration and telephoned his fellow morning locutores (Spanish-language DJs) — including his ratings rival, La Raza 97.7’s Renán “El Cucuy” Almendárez Coello. In a historic first, Piolín brought all of L.A.’s morning-radio locutores together on the air, unifying them to get the word out about the march to defeat the bill. Local Spanish-language TV stations on channels 22, 34 and 52 quickly followed their lead." Quiñones profiled Piolin a year ago for the Weekly and described Sotel's own illegal entry into the U.S., including a run across a freeway near the border. Also: a piece on the Weekly website from Daniel Hernandez: "All week long, the Spanish media implored their audiences to march peacefully and respectfully." 8:25 pm