LOS ANGELES PROTEST CROWDS: Not as big as predicted:

Pro-illegal immigrant protests that organizers and Spanish-language radio stations hoped would attract a crippling percentage of Southern California’s several million Latinos have been large and loud but not record-breaking — and were closer in size to throngs that celebrated the Lakers three-peat in 2002. By 4:30 pm, KABC TalkRadio’s reporters in the field were noting that crowds had dwindled to 60,000.

Well, a three-peat is a pretty big deal.

UPDATE: More reporting and photos here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: People are talking about backlash, and how these rallies are counterproductive. That’s probably right, but I think that’s what the A.N.S.W.E.R. folks are hoping for. Right now you have lots of immigrants who want to be part of America. The A.N.S.W.E.R. people have been stoking these demonstrations not because they want to help illegal immigrants, but because they hope to provoke a backlash that will make them angry at America instead. They don’t have short-term ameliorative political goals — they want shock troops for the revolution.

MORE: Reader Richard Palmer emails: “The protests were designed to create a backlash. Remember, when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier it meant the end for the Negro Leagues. Just consider who organized these marches and why.”