In Los Angeles, Turner met the Socialist Party leaders Job Harriman and John Murray. They introduced him to Mexican anarcho-syndicalist leaders Ricardo Flores Magón, Librado Rivera, Manuel Sarabia, and Antonio Villareal in April 1908. They were clients of Harriman's and accused of violating neutral laws of the United States to plan a revolution in Mexico. In an interview, they told Turner about the exploitation and slavery in Diaz's regime.
