"Unlawful Assembly at Protest: Legal Info (Failure to disperse)"
by Sue Basko, 2011-12-03:
Unlawful assembly laws differ state to state, but most of them follow the same thread. An assembly is a group of people who gather for some purpose or activity. If that activity is illegal, it is an unlawful assembly. If the activity is legal, but turns unlawful or looks as if it might, it can be declared an unlawful assembly.
California Penal Code Section 407. Whenever two or more persons assemble together to do an unlawful act, or do a lawful act in a violent, boisterous, or tumultuous manner, such assembly is an unlawful assembly.
“Boisterous or tumultuous” means “conduct that poses a clear and present danger of imminent violence” or when the crowd is gathered to do an unlawful act.
DISPERSAL ORDER.
Please read these rules below, which are taken directly from the Oakland Police Department Crowd Control and Crowd Management Policy, a golden bit of information that any protester should download and read. Please read the script that the police use to declare an unlawful assembly and issue an order to disperse. It is the same announcement as that used last night by the LAPD.
If you are ever at a protest where such an order is issued, pay special attention to how you are supposed to exit, and allow others to exit and not be kettled up. Last night, a lot of people were trapped and unable to move away because they had a police riot line a few inches in front of them and a densely packed group of people behind them. The people behind, many of whom were reporters or photographers, were pushing forward to see what was happening, which, as already explained, was a funny man riding a bicycle.
From: Oakland Police Department Crowd Control and Crowd Management Policy (I strongly recommend that you download and read this Oakland policy, no matter where you are. )
F. When an Unlawful Assembly May Be Declared
1. The definition of an unlawful assembly has been set forth in Penal Code Section 407 and interpreted by court decisions. The terms, “boisterous” and “tumultuous,” as written in Penal Code Section 407, have been interpreted as “conduct that poses a clear and present danger of imminent violence” or when the demonstration or crowd event is for the purpose of committing a criminal act.
The police may not disperse a demonstration or crowd event before demonstrators have acted illegally or before the demonstrators pose a clear and present danger of imminent violence.
2. The mere failure to obtain a permit, such as a parade permit or sound permit, is not a sufficient basis to declare an unlawful assembly. There must be criminal activity or a clear and present danger of imminent violence.
3. The fact that some of the demonstrators or organizing groups have engaged in violent or unlawful acts on prior occasions or demonstrations is not grounds for declaring an assembly unlawful.
4. Unless emergency or dangerous circumstances prevent negotiation, crowd dispersal techniques shall not be initiated until after attempts have been made through contacts with the police liaisons and demonstration or crowd event leaders to negotiate a resolution of the situation so that the unlawful activity will cease and the First Amendment activity can continue.
5. If after a crowd disperses pursuant to a declaration of unlawful assembly and subsequently participants assemble at a different geographic location where the participants are engaged in non-violent and lawful First Amendment activity, such an assembly cannot be dispersed unless it has been determined that it is an unlawful assembly and the required official declaration has been adequately given.
G. Declaration of Unlawful Assembly
1. When the only violation present is unlawful assembly, the crowd should be given an opportunity to disperse rather than face arrest.
Crowd dispersal techniques shall not be initiated until OPD has made repeated announcements to the crowd, asking members of the crowd to voluntarily disperse and informing them that, if they do not disperse, they will be subject to arrest.
These announcements must be made using adequate sound amplification equipment in a
manner that will ensure that they are audible over a sufficient area. Announcements must be made from different locations when the demonstration is large and noisy. The dispersal orders should be repeated after commencement of the dispersal operation so that persons not present at the original broadcast will understand that they must leave the area.
The announcements shall also specify adequate egress or escape routes. Whenever possible, a minimum of two escape/egress routes shall be identified and announced.
It is the responsibility of the on-scene OPD commanders to ensure that all such announcements are made in such a way that they are clearly audible to the crowd.
2. Unless an immediate risk to public safety exists or significant property damage is occurring, sufficient time will be allowed for a crowd to comply with police commands before action is taken.
3. Dispersal orders should be given in English and in other languages that are appropriate for the audience.
4. The Incident Commander should ensure that the name of the individual making the dispersal order and the date/time each order was given is recorded.
5. Dispersal orders should not be given until officers are in position to support/direct crowd movement.
6. Personnel shall use the following Departmental dispersal order:
I am (rank/name), a peace officer for the City of Oakland. I hereby declare this to be an
unlawful assembly, and in the name of the people of the State of California, command all
those assembled at _____________ to immediately leave. If you do not do so, you may be arrested or subject to other police action, including the use of force which may result in serious injury. Section 409 of the Penal Code prohibits remaining present at an unlawful assembly. If you remain in the area just described, regardless of your purpose, you will be in violation of Section 409. The following routes of dispersal are available (routes). You have _______ minutes to leave. If you refuse to move, you will be arrested. *If you refuse to move, chemical agents will be used. (Provide the chemical warning only if use is anticipated).
7. When a command decision is made to employ crowd dispersal techniques, attempts to obtain voluntary compliance through announcements and attempts to obtain cooperation through negotiation shall both be continued. At any point at which a crowd is dispersing, whether as a reaction to police dispersal techniques, through voluntary compliance, or as a result of discussion or negotiation with crowd leaders, OPD dispersal techniques shall be suspended and the crowd shall be allowed to disperse voluntarily. This directive does not preclude a command decision by OPD to reinstate dispersal techniques if crowd compliance ceases.
* * * * * * *
TO SUM UP:
What happens:
1) an unlawful assembly is declared.
2) an order to disperse is announced according to above script.
3) you have to leave or face arrest;
4) you have to leave by the route they are telling you. It is most likely going to be hard to hear that or understand that.
5) It is possible that kettling may take place. This is very dangerous and do whatever you can to avoid situations where the police are kettling.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Suppression of Occupy LA!
"Unlawful Assembly at Protest: Legal Info (Failure to disperse)"
by Sue Basko
UPDATES WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30/ - DEC. 2, 2011: Police raided Occupy L.A. just after midnight this morning (November 30, 2011). Many people had been saying for days prior that the eviction was scheduled to allow Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling to shoot a movie on the City Hall site. There has been credible evidence for days to think this is likely.
The raid on Occupy L.A. was horrifying. An unlawful assembly was declared and people were given 10 minutes to clear the area. This announcement followed the script that is given below. The announcement was made several times by an officer walking around in the crowd with a megaphone, and was repeated in several languages. People in the camp were given ample opportunity to leave and not be arrested. Those who stayed were opting to be arrested for their political purposes.
However, people who were trying to leave the area after the dispersal order, and after a second dispersal order was given several blocks away later in the night, were kettled, beaten, and arrested. People are reporting that many protesters were chased down and arrested as they attempted to leave the perimeter area. Photos and videos are emerging, taken after people have been released from jail today (Dec. 2) showing serious injuries to hands and arms.
All of the arrestees thus far that I have seen interviewed have complained of being driven around for hours, not being allowed to use the bathroom, that people had zip-ties on much too tight, that people were denied medical care and medicines, that people were not given water for many hours or at all, that some people were not allowed to make phone calls, that some people were not allowed to see their lawyers, that most of the prisoners were fed little (such as two meals in 3 days), that officers denied them the right to use a toilet and so people had to urinate in their clothing and then had officers mocking them, that several women were placed in isolation for no valid reason, and that dangerous medical conditions were ignored and untreated, and other things.
Monday November 28, 2011: Last night at Occupy L.A., a police officer declared an unlawful assembly at First and Main Streets and issued an order to disperse. What this means is that there were people in the intersection, they would not get out after being asked nicely repeatedly, and so an unlawful assembly was declared so anyone in the intersection could be arrested. Keep in mind that the police had closed off the streets, so walkers felt comfortable using the space.
After the dispersal order, the only ones left in the street were lines of police in riot gear, and a funny man named Juan riding a bicycle back and forth wearing some kind of big headdress made of palm tree husks. That’s L.A.! There was also a man who had climbed high onto a light pole, with an Anonymous mask on the back of his head, shouting through a megaphone. The crowd was comprised of many media people with cameras, some protesters, and at least one very ardent provocateur woman.
Unlawful assembly laws differ state to state, but most of them follow the same thread. An assembly is a group of people who gather for some purpose or activity. If that activity is illegal, it is an unlawful assembly. If the activity is legal, but turns unlawful or looks as if it might, it can be declared an unlawful assembly.
Let’s look at the California law: California Penal Code Section 407. Whenever two or more persons assemble together to do an unlawful act, or do a lawful act in a violent, boisterous, or tumultuous manner, such assembly is an unlawful assembly.
“Boisterous or tumultuous” means “conduct that poses a clear and present danger of imminent violence” or when the crowd is gathered to do an unlawful act.
For example, last night at First and Main, there probably was not any danger of imminent violence, although the mix of people in the group was definitely a tinderbox and anything could have happened. Even if not likely to be imminently violent, the crowd was gathered for an unlawful act, namely, to stand in the street. Note that the street was closed off by police, so there was no vehicle traffic. The police did not declare an unlawful assembly until about 4:40 am, in anticipation that soon cars would be driving downtown with people going to work.
First and Main is near the downtown Skid Row area, where many severely mentally ill people and drug addicts reside. The street protest seemed to be a mix of many media reporters, out-of-towners in to show support for Occupy L.A., and a collection of Skid Row street people. In addition to this, there were several members of the crowd who seemed to be agents provocateurs or highly irrational or unpredictable.
One scowling woman with dirty blonde hair kept arguing with everyone and trying to provoke violence. There were hints that she was a paid provocateur, because at one point she was arguing that the police should evict the camp since they announced they were going to. She seemed disappointed that the raid had not gone down at the stated deadline hour. (As of December 3, she is now seen at the GAs.)
A group was chanting about taking the street. Some whackos were making chalk drawings at the feet of the police. (I thought: They probably think of themselves as "peaceful," when in fact, they were so disrespectful.) Meanwhile, an intense man seemed to be hallucinating and kept screaming at the police that they were the Syrian army. He was really scary. In short, it was time to get these people off the streets and up onto the sidewalk. Once the order was issued, a man, who had previously been ranting and saying he was Jesus Christ, lay down on the street in a crucifixion position, but was finally coaxed up by a friendly man.
The only actual LA Occupiers I saw in this crowd were the ones that came out to ask the people to please leave the street and go back to the park. Sadly, the worldwide media may present Occupy L.A. as this mélange of troubled people out in the street.
DISPERSAL ORDER. Last night, the LAPD made a loud announcement giving a declaration of an unlawful assembly and an order to disperse. After the order was given, anyone stepping into the street, even those legitimately using the crosswalk to cross, was subject to arrest. The police had to announce several times that this applied to the media people as well. After the order, the only non-police person left in the street was the kooky man on the bicycle doing a parade style ride back and forth. He provided much laughter, until a half hour later, when finally, a police officer on a motorcycle yelled at him to get up on the sidewalk. The poor guy jumped as if he had been merrily in his own world the whole time.
Please read these rules below, which are taken directly from the Oakland Police Department Crowd Control and Crowd Management Policy, a golden bit of information that any protester should download and read. Please read the script that the police use to declare an unlawful assembly and issue an order to disperse. It is the same announcement as that used last night by the LAPD.
If you are ever at a protest where such an order is issued, pay special attention to how you are supposed to exit, and allow others to exit and not be kettled up. Last night, a lot of people were trapped and unable to move away because they had a police riot line a few inches in front of them and a densely packed group of people behind them. The people behind, many of whom were reporters or photographers, were pushing forward to see what was happening, which, as already explained, was a funny man riding a bicycle.
From: Oakland Police Department Crowd Control and Crowd Management Policy (I strongly recommend that you download and read this Oakland policy, no matter where you are. )
F. When an Unlawful Assembly May Be Declared
1. The definition of an unlawful assembly has been set forth in Penal Code Section 407 and interpreted by court decisions. The terms, “boisterous” and “tumultuous,” as written in Penal Code Section 407, have been interpreted as “conduct that poses a clear and present danger of imminent violence” or when the demonstration or crowd event is for the purpose of committing a criminal act.
The police may not disperse a demonstration or crowd event before demonstrators have acted illegally or before the demonstrators pose a clear and present danger of imminent violence.
2. The mere failure to obtain a permit, such as a parade permit or sound permit, is not a sufficient basis to declare an unlawful assembly. There must be criminal activity or a clear and present danger of imminent violence.
3. The fact that some of the demonstrators or organizing groups have engaged in violent or unlawful acts on prior occasions or demonstrations is not grounds for declaring an assembly unlawful.
4. Unless emergency or dangerous circumstances prevent negotiation, crowd dispersal techniques shall not be initiated until after attempts have been made through contacts with the police liaisons and demonstration or crowd event leaders to negotiate a resolution of the situation so that the unlawful activity will cease and the First Amendment activity can continue.
5. If after a crowd disperses pursuant to a declaration of unlawful assembly and subsequently participants assemble at a different geographic location where the participants are engaged in non-violent and lawful First Amendment activity, such an assembly cannot be dispersed unless it has been determined that it is an unlawful assembly and the required official declaration has been adequately given.
G. Declaration of Unlawful Assembly
1. When the only violation present is unlawful assembly, the crowd should be given an opportunity to disperse rather than face arrest.
Crowd dispersal techniques shall not be initiated until OPD has made repeated announcements to the crowd, asking members of the crowd to voluntarily disperse and informing them that, if they do not disperse, they will be subject to arrest.
These announcements must be made using adequate sound amplification equipment in a manner that will ensure that they are audible over a sufficient area. Announcements must be made from different locations when the demonstration is large and noisy. The dispersal orders should be repeated after commencement of the dispersal operation so that persons not present at the original broadcast will understand that they must leave the area.
The announcements shall also specify adequate egress or escape routes. Whenever possible, a minimum of two escape/egress routes shall be identified and announced.
It is the responsibility of the on-scene OPD commanders to ensure that all such announcements are made in such a way that they are clearly audible to the crowd.
2. Unless an immediate risk to public safety exists or significant property damage is occurring, sufficient time will be allowed for a crowd to comply with police commands before action is taken.
3. Dispersal orders should be given in English and in other languages that are appropriate for the audience.
4. The Incident Commander should ensure that the name of the individual making the dispersal order and the date/time each order was given is recorded.
5. Dispersal orders should not be given until officers are in position to support/direct crowd movement.
6. Personnel shall use the following Departmental dispersal order:
I am (rank/name), a peace officer for the City of Oakland. I hereby declare this to be an
unlawful assembly, and in the name of the people of the State of California, command all
those assembled at _____________ to immediately leave. If you do not do so, you may be arrested or subject to other police action, including the use of force which may result in serious injury. Section 409 of the Penal Code prohibits remaining present at an unlawful assembly. If you remain in the area just described, regardless of your purpose, you will be in violation of Section 409. The following routes of dispersal are available (routes). You have _______ minutes to leave. If you refuse to move, you will be arrested. *If you refuse to move, chemical agents will be used. (Provide the chemical warning only if use is anticipated).
7. When a command decision is made to employ crowd dispersal techniques, attempts to obtain voluntary compliance through announcements and attempts to obtain cooperation through negotiation shall both be continued. At any point at which a crowd is dispersing, whether as a reaction to police dispersal techniques, through voluntary compliance, or as a result of discussion or negotiation with crowd leaders, OPD dispersal techniques shall be suspended and the crowd shall be allowed to disperse voluntarily. This directive does not preclude a command decision by OPD to reinstate dispersal techniques if crowd compliance ceases.
* * * * * * *
TO SUM UP:
What happens:
1) an unlawful assembly is declared.
2) an order to disperse is announced according to above script.
3) you have to leave or face arrest;
4) you have to leave by the route they are telling you. It is most likely going to be hard to hear that or understand that.
5) It is possible that kettling may take place. This is very dangerous and do whatever you can to avoid situations where the police are kettling.
by Sue Basko
UPDATES WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30/ - DEC. 2, 2011: Police raided Occupy L.A. just after midnight this morning (November 30, 2011). Many people had been saying for days prior that the eviction was scheduled to allow Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling to shoot a movie on the City Hall site. There has been credible evidence for days to think this is likely.
The raid on Occupy L.A. was horrifying. An unlawful assembly was declared and people were given 10 minutes to clear the area. This announcement followed the script that is given below. The announcement was made several times by an officer walking around in the crowd with a megaphone, and was repeated in several languages. People in the camp were given ample opportunity to leave and not be arrested. Those who stayed were opting to be arrested for their political purposes.
However, people who were trying to leave the area after the dispersal order, and after a second dispersal order was given several blocks away later in the night, were kettled, beaten, and arrested. People are reporting that many protesters were chased down and arrested as they attempted to leave the perimeter area. Photos and videos are emerging, taken after people have been released from jail today (Dec. 2) showing serious injuries to hands and arms.
All of the arrestees thus far that I have seen interviewed have complained of being driven around for hours, not being allowed to use the bathroom, that people had zip-ties on much too tight, that people were denied medical care and medicines, that people were not given water for many hours or at all, that some people were not allowed to make phone calls, that some people were not allowed to see their lawyers, that most of the prisoners were fed little (such as two meals in 3 days), that officers denied them the right to use a toilet and so people had to urinate in their clothing and then had officers mocking them, that several women were placed in isolation for no valid reason, and that dangerous medical conditions were ignored and untreated, and other things.
Monday November 28, 2011: Last night at Occupy L.A., a police officer declared an unlawful assembly at First and Main Streets and issued an order to disperse. What this means is that there were people in the intersection, they would not get out after being asked nicely repeatedly, and so an unlawful assembly was declared so anyone in the intersection could be arrested. Keep in mind that the police had closed off the streets, so walkers felt comfortable using the space.
After the dispersal order, the only ones left in the street were lines of police in riot gear, and a funny man named Juan riding a bicycle back and forth wearing some kind of big headdress made of palm tree husks. That’s L.A.! There was also a man who had climbed high onto a light pole, with an Anonymous mask on the back of his head, shouting through a megaphone. The crowd was comprised of many media people with cameras, some protesters, and at least one very ardent provocateur woman.
Unlawful assembly laws differ state to state, but most of them follow the same thread. An assembly is a group of people who gather for some purpose or activity. If that activity is illegal, it is an unlawful assembly. If the activity is legal, but turns unlawful or looks as if it might, it can be declared an unlawful assembly.
Let’s look at the California law: California Penal Code Section 407. Whenever two or more persons assemble together to do an unlawful act, or do a lawful act in a violent, boisterous, or tumultuous manner, such assembly is an unlawful assembly.
“Boisterous or tumultuous” means “conduct that poses a clear and present danger of imminent violence” or when the crowd is gathered to do an unlawful act.
For example, last night at First and Main, there probably was not any danger of imminent violence, although the mix of people in the group was definitely a tinderbox and anything could have happened. Even if not likely to be imminently violent, the crowd was gathered for an unlawful act, namely, to stand in the street. Note that the street was closed off by police, so there was no vehicle traffic. The police did not declare an unlawful assembly until about 4:40 am, in anticipation that soon cars would be driving downtown with people going to work.
First and Main is near the downtown Skid Row area, where many severely mentally ill people and drug addicts reside. The street protest seemed to be a mix of many media reporters, out-of-towners in to show support for Occupy L.A., and a collection of Skid Row street people. In addition to this, there were several members of the crowd who seemed to be agents provocateurs or highly irrational or unpredictable.
One scowling woman with dirty blonde hair kept arguing with everyone and trying to provoke violence. There were hints that she was a paid provocateur, because at one point she was arguing that the police should evict the camp since they announced they were going to. She seemed disappointed that the raid had not gone down at the stated deadline hour. (As of December 3, she is now seen at the GAs.)
A group was chanting about taking the street. Some whackos were making chalk drawings at the feet of the police. (I thought: They probably think of themselves as "peaceful," when in fact, they were so disrespectful.) Meanwhile, an intense man seemed to be hallucinating and kept screaming at the police that they were the Syrian army. He was really scary. In short, it was time to get these people off the streets and up onto the sidewalk. Once the order was issued, a man, who had previously been ranting and saying he was Jesus Christ, lay down on the street in a crucifixion position, but was finally coaxed up by a friendly man.
The only actual LA Occupiers I saw in this crowd were the ones that came out to ask the people to please leave the street and go back to the park. Sadly, the worldwide media may present Occupy L.A. as this mélange of troubled people out in the street.
DISPERSAL ORDER. Last night, the LAPD made a loud announcement giving a declaration of an unlawful assembly and an order to disperse. After the order was given, anyone stepping into the street, even those legitimately using the crosswalk to cross, was subject to arrest. The police had to announce several times that this applied to the media people as well. After the order, the only non-police person left in the street was the kooky man on the bicycle doing a parade style ride back and forth. He provided much laughter, until a half hour later, when finally, a police officer on a motorcycle yelled at him to get up on the sidewalk. The poor guy jumped as if he had been merrily in his own world the whole time.
Please read these rules below, which are taken directly from the Oakland Police Department Crowd Control and Crowd Management Policy, a golden bit of information that any protester should download and read. Please read the script that the police use to declare an unlawful assembly and issue an order to disperse. It is the same announcement as that used last night by the LAPD.
If you are ever at a protest where such an order is issued, pay special attention to how you are supposed to exit, and allow others to exit and not be kettled up. Last night, a lot of people were trapped and unable to move away because they had a police riot line a few inches in front of them and a densely packed group of people behind them. The people behind, many of whom were reporters or photographers, were pushing forward to see what was happening, which, as already explained, was a funny man riding a bicycle.
From: Oakland Police Department Crowd Control and Crowd Management Policy (I strongly recommend that you download and read this Oakland policy, no matter where you are. )
F. When an Unlawful Assembly May Be Declared
1. The definition of an unlawful assembly has been set forth in Penal Code Section 407 and interpreted by court decisions. The terms, “boisterous” and “tumultuous,” as written in Penal Code Section 407, have been interpreted as “conduct that poses a clear and present danger of imminent violence” or when the demonstration or crowd event is for the purpose of committing a criminal act.
The police may not disperse a demonstration or crowd event before demonstrators have acted illegally or before the demonstrators pose a clear and present danger of imminent violence.
2. The mere failure to obtain a permit, such as a parade permit or sound permit, is not a sufficient basis to declare an unlawful assembly. There must be criminal activity or a clear and present danger of imminent violence.
3. The fact that some of the demonstrators or organizing groups have engaged in violent or unlawful acts on prior occasions or demonstrations is not grounds for declaring an assembly unlawful.
4. Unless emergency or dangerous circumstances prevent negotiation, crowd dispersal techniques shall not be initiated until after attempts have been made through contacts with the police liaisons and demonstration or crowd event leaders to negotiate a resolution of the situation so that the unlawful activity will cease and the First Amendment activity can continue.
5. If after a crowd disperses pursuant to a declaration of unlawful assembly and subsequently participants assemble at a different geographic location where the participants are engaged in non-violent and lawful First Amendment activity, such an assembly cannot be dispersed unless it has been determined that it is an unlawful assembly and the required official declaration has been adequately given.
G. Declaration of Unlawful Assembly
1. When the only violation present is unlawful assembly, the crowd should be given an opportunity to disperse rather than face arrest.
Crowd dispersal techniques shall not be initiated until OPD has made repeated announcements to the crowd, asking members of the crowd to voluntarily disperse and informing them that, if they do not disperse, they will be subject to arrest.
These announcements must be made using adequate sound amplification equipment in a manner that will ensure that they are audible over a sufficient area. Announcements must be made from different locations when the demonstration is large and noisy. The dispersal orders should be repeated after commencement of the dispersal operation so that persons not present at the original broadcast will understand that they must leave the area.
The announcements shall also specify adequate egress or escape routes. Whenever possible, a minimum of two escape/egress routes shall be identified and announced.
It is the responsibility of the on-scene OPD commanders to ensure that all such announcements are made in such a way that they are clearly audible to the crowd.
2. Unless an immediate risk to public safety exists or significant property damage is occurring, sufficient time will be allowed for a crowd to comply with police commands before action is taken.
3. Dispersal orders should be given in English and in other languages that are appropriate for the audience.
4. The Incident Commander should ensure that the name of the individual making the dispersal order and the date/time each order was given is recorded.
5. Dispersal orders should not be given until officers are in position to support/direct crowd movement.
6. Personnel shall use the following Departmental dispersal order:
I am (rank/name), a peace officer for the City of Oakland. I hereby declare this to be an
unlawful assembly, and in the name of the people of the State of California, command all
those assembled at _____________ to immediately leave. If you do not do so, you may be arrested or subject to other police action, including the use of force which may result in serious injury. Section 409 of the Penal Code prohibits remaining present at an unlawful assembly. If you remain in the area just described, regardless of your purpose, you will be in violation of Section 409. The following routes of dispersal are available (routes). You have _______ minutes to leave. If you refuse to move, you will be arrested. *If you refuse to move, chemical agents will be used. (Provide the chemical warning only if use is anticipated).
7. When a command decision is made to employ crowd dispersal techniques, attempts to obtain voluntary compliance through announcements and attempts to obtain cooperation through negotiation shall both be continued. At any point at which a crowd is dispersing, whether as a reaction to police dispersal techniques, through voluntary compliance, or as a result of discussion or negotiation with crowd leaders, OPD dispersal techniques shall be suspended and the crowd shall be allowed to disperse voluntarily. This directive does not preclude a command decision by OPD to reinstate dispersal techniques if crowd compliance ceases.
* * * * * * *
TO SUM UP:
What happens:
1) an unlawful assembly is declared.
2) an order to disperse is announced according to above script.
3) you have to leave or face arrest;
4) you have to leave by the route they are telling you. It is most likely going to be hard to hear that or understand that.
5) It is possible that kettling may take place. This is very dangerous and do whatever you can to avoid situations where the police are kettling.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Occupy Oakland
“Occupy Wall Street - A teepee grows in Oakland; As camps are raided and evicted elsewhere, the city's movement builds a symbol -- and searches for purpose”
2011-11-30 by Chris Colin [http://www.salon.com/2011/11/30/a_teepee_grows_in_oakland/singleton/]
[ … ]
“Every time we say the police aren’t going to do something dumb, they surprise us,” Becca Von Behren told me in the hours before the vigil.
Von Behren, 30, is an attorney with a San Francisco veterans rights group and part of Occupy Oakland’s volunteer legal committee. There's no clearer picture of a 99 percenter than a veteran my age, she told me. Over the last few days Von Behren was instrumental in helping to devise the legally savvy underpinning of the day's planned vigil. The idea rested on precedent from a 1984 case called Clark v. Community for Creative Nonviolence. As she and another attorney from the committee explained it to me, that case established that elements of a protest designed for expression were protected by the First Amendment — even tents and teepees, if they're used as symbols rather than for sleeping.
“Sleeping is not protected — they can ban that,” Von Behren said. “We'll have a permanent and meaningful structure in the plaza, but nobody will be sleeping in it.”
I asked her what the meaning was. Specifically, I asked her how I should explain it to my mom, a proxy in my mind for everyone with growing sympathy for the movement and growing doubts about its tactics.
“Here's what I said to my mom,” Von Behren said. “Regardless of whether measurable changes occur — and I'm not even sure what the metric would be — there are people out here involved in direct, deliberative democracy, discussing things usually not discussed among strangers. That kind of awakening is enough.”
[ … ]
2011-11-30 by Chris Colin [http://www.salon.com/2011/11/30/a_teepee_grows_in_oakland/singleton/]
[ … ]
“Every time we say the police aren’t going to do something dumb, they surprise us,” Becca Von Behren told me in the hours before the vigil.
Von Behren, 30, is an attorney with a San Francisco veterans rights group and part of Occupy Oakland’s volunteer legal committee. There's no clearer picture of a 99 percenter than a veteran my age, she told me. Over the last few days Von Behren was instrumental in helping to devise the legally savvy underpinning of the day's planned vigil. The idea rested on precedent from a 1984 case called Clark v. Community for Creative Nonviolence. As she and another attorney from the committee explained it to me, that case established that elements of a protest designed for expression were protected by the First Amendment — even tents and teepees, if they're used as symbols rather than for sleeping.
“Sleeping is not protected — they can ban that,” Von Behren said. “We'll have a permanent and meaningful structure in the plaza, but nobody will be sleeping in it.”
I asked her what the meaning was. Specifically, I asked her how I should explain it to my mom, a proxy in my mind for everyone with growing sympathy for the movement and growing doubts about its tactics.
“Here's what I said to my mom,” Von Behren said. “Regardless of whether measurable changes occur — and I'm not even sure what the metric would be — there are people out here involved in direct, deliberative democracy, discussing things usually not discussed among strangers. That kind of awakening is enough.”
[ … ]
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Students Occupy Hahn UCSC Student Services Building in Solidarity against Police Violence, Education Cuts
UCSC Hahn Occupation: Purpose and Explanation -
posted 2011-12-01 at [https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/12/01/18701502.php]:
A statement explaining why Hahn was chosen was presented along with the demands.
[On] November 28, 2011, a group of UCSC student activists picketed and proceeded to occupy Hahn Student Services Center. This was an action of civil disobedience carried out as a result of a decision reached by the UCSC General Assembly in solidarity with UC Davis Students who were pepper sprayed and beaten by UCPD. We targeted Hahn because of the strategically placed offices it holds: the Offices of Financial Loans and Judicial Affairs. The Office of Financial Loans is the location where students are shackled with a lifetime of debt to finance ever-increasing administrative paychecks. The Office of Judicial Affairs consistently oppresses activists and violates their first amendment rights. These are important offices in our protest movement:
Business as usual has failed.
We realize the gravity of consequence incurred by our occupation to students attempting to complete business services in the building. A fundamental component of occupation is disruption of day-to-day activities. However, protesters in Hahn were given faulty information that regular building functions were relocated to other parts of campus. When we learned [the morning of November 29th] that this was untrue, we worked rapidly and in solidarity to return the building to students, who have always been a primary concern.
Let there be no confusion: we are a student-led movement, with aims to work toward a superior higher education system for faculty, students, and workers.
We have left this building as an exercise in student sovereignty; harnessing our power to return services to students, and in order to open negotiations of our demands in good faith. There will be a General Assembly on Monday at 7pm to further these discussions. [Location TBA]
UCSC Hahn Occupation Demands
posted 2011-11-29 at [https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/11/29/18701309.php]:
Though students voted to end the occupation of Hahn, they have generated the following list of demands. Actions will be ongoing!
We support the demands of UC Davis students and faculty. In solidarity with them we make the following demands on our own campus administration:
1. We demand that the UCPD be disbanded and a committee be formed by students, faculty and workers whose mandate is to transfer legitimate community safety responsibilities to democratically accountable and unarmed campus safety groups.
The mandate of this committee will be to:
-Determine the full range of functions that are currently fulfilled by UCPD which can legitimately be delegated to campus safety groups.
-Determine the few specific situations in which it may be necessary to call on the assistance of outside agencies and to create the necessary protocols that the University must follow before these agencies are invited onto campus.
-Prioritize community well being and violence prevention over police activities. To this end its emphasis should be on refunding resource centers like conflict resolution and rape prevention, as well as refunding centers dedicated to addressing the needs of underserved populations on campus.
2. We call on the administration of this campus to refuse to implement budget cuts imposed by the state, UCOP or the Regents. This means:
-Rescind tuition hikes back to 2009 levels and allow students to enroll in classes at that rate.
-Rescind campus layoffs back to 2009.
-Rescind budget cuts to divisions and departments to 2009 levels.
3. We demand that no disciplinary actions are to be taken against students or allies for participation in occupation protest activities.
4. We demand that this list of demands be sent out to all members of the campus community on the University's own e-mail servers.
Observation by a student:
Cal. Chancellor Birgeneau's campus cops violent baton jabs on peaceful students -
UC Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau campus cops apply violent baton jabs on students protesting increases in tuition. Campus UCPD report to chancellors and take direction from their chancellor. University of California campus chancellors vet their campus police protocols. Chancellors are knowledgeable that pepper spray and use of batons are included in their campus police protocols.
Chancellor Birgeneau’s campus police use baton jabs on his students. UC Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau and UC Davis Chancellor are in dereliction of their duties.
UC Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau and UC Davis Chancellor need to quit or be fired for permitting the brutal outrages on students protesting tuition increases and student debt
Opinions? Email the UC Board of Regents marsha.kelman [at] ucop.edu
"UCSC Students shut down Hahn administration building"
2011-11-28 by rosie, posted at [https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/11/28/18701192.php]:
UCSC Students shut down Hahn administration in solidarity with students facing violent police repression at UC Davis and UC Berkeley. where free speech was shut down by weapons-grade pepper spray and beatings over the past few weeks. Students are calling attention to the militarization of campus and the focus on quieting political dissent rather than funding instruction and student services. Students will be heard. Demands: 1) Resignation of Chancellor Katehi 2) UCPD off of campuses 3) No more fee hikes
UC ACADEMIC STUDENTS, IN SOLIDARITY WITH UC DAVIS STUDENTS, DEMAND THE RESIGNATION OF CHANCELLOR KATEHI, THE REPLACEMENT OF UC POLICE DEPARTMENT WITH UNARMED COMMUNITY-BASED SAFETY COMMITTEES, AND A FEE ROLLBACK!
Students at the University of California, Santa Cruz have surrounded Hahn Student Services building and are planning for a day of actions in solidarity with students who faced police brutality and repression of student free speech at UC Davis.
A little over a week ago at UC Davis, students’ freedom of speech was attacked with weapons-grade pepper spray. This attack threatens the freedom of students not only at UC Davis, but also of nonviolent protesters everywhere. Police brutality is being used to enforce fee hikes and growing student debt. The Regents have justified their hikes with the budget crisis, but they have enough money to fund their violence: last year, UC spent a total of $35.4 million on police, with an average pay of $92,700—that is, over six times as much as teaching assistants make.
Police brutality is nothing new for the UC system. Demonstrators against budget cuts and tuition hikes have experienced a history of state repression:
• 2005: “Tent University” at UC-Santa Cruz was violently dismantled by police
• 2007-8: Tree sitters saw multiple attempts at repression, including arrests
• 2009-10: Participants in the UC-wide occupation movement, including faculty, staff, and students, were subjected to arrests, pepper spray, and beatings
• 2010: UCPD pointed loaded weapons at demonstrators at the UC Regents meeting in San Francisco
• 2011: A nationwide occupy movement emerges and is subjected to violent evictions and repression
• 2011: UC-Davis students pepper sprayed. ACLU declares the use of pepper spray for crowd control to be an “unconstitutional use of force” (NYT, 11/22/11)
Why is this happening? Police violence is to prevent resistance to an unjust economic system. In California 11% of the budget goes towards prisons, but only 7.5% goes to higher education.
The Regents were planning to meet in San Francisco last week, to raise tuition by 81% over the next four years. Student activists planned a protest, and the Regents were afraid to confront peaceful student protest and cancelled their meeting. They will videoconference today in several locations, and UC activists are at those universities making it clear that they will disrupt their meetings.
Administrations claim that they put police on campus to protect student safety. But the greatest threat to student safety is privatization, exploitation, and repression. Students are graduating with impossible debt and few opportunities to get a job. Meanwhile, Regents and administrators like Mark Yudof make over $500,000 a year and pledge our tuition to borrow money for lucrative building projects, while our class sizes increase. When we resist this exploitation, we are subjected to brutal violence by police.
The general assembly of the Davis occupation voted nearly unanimously for a general strike today to protect their right to protest. In solidarity, and in defense of our own rights, we are striking today. We have three demands:
1. Immediate resignation of Chancellor Katehi
2. All cops off the UC campus
3. No fee hikes
As of 5:30am, students have surrounded the Hahn Student Services building with the intention of shutting the building down. This action is to call attention to the lack of funding for student services and instruction, while financially supporting the repression of free speech.
The first rally will take place today (Monday) at noon at Bay Tree Plaza, followed by a 2pm Action Assembly to decide next steps.
Students require a new kind of society that allows for the free speech and the expression of political dissent, values people over profits, and prioritizes education rather than repression.
(photo by rosie)
Occupy! (photo by Edgar)
"No Work Today" (photo by Edgar)
Solidarity with UC Davis (photo by Edgar)
Decolonize Education (photo by Edgar)
UPDATE: UCSC Hahn student services is occupied!
2:45pm – UCSC Hahn student services is occupied by 100-150 students. Specifically the financial aid office and surrounding halls. Support will be needed.
"Students Occupy Hahn Student Services Building at UCSC"
2014-11-29 photos and article by Alex Darocy [http://alexdarocy.blogspot.com], posted at [https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/11/29/18701268.php]:
After effectively shutting down and preventing employees from starting the workday at the Hahn Student Services building at UC Santa Cruz starting at 5am on November 28, students held a rally at Quarry Plaza at noon followed by a general assembly at 2pm. After some discussion of agenda items, students consensed on holding the remainder of the GA at the Hahn building where they could support those who were still maintaining the shutdown. At Hahn, it was consensed on that the building would be entered and occupied.
The occupation of the Hahn building began at about 4pm, and the general assembly was moved to the second floor balcony. Some students listened to the proceedings from inside of the offices. While occupying the building, students utilized conference rooms for working group meetings, and the restrooms were briefly re-identified as "gender neutral." The general assembly was to be reconvened at 7pm so that students could break into specific working groups. The main office cubicle area was eventually transformed into a study area that students used as the evening's general assembly stretched late into the evening. By 11pm, and 4 hours into the resumed GA, students had consensed on how to proceed if the police arrived and asked them to leave the building, and the group also consensed on the location of an encampment to be set up if they did leave Hahn. At 11pm students still had to decide if they would leave to that new encampment location immediately, or stay in Hahn overnight.
The day of actions at Hahn Student Services was held in solidarity with students who faced police brutality and repression of student free speech at UC Davis. Throughout the day, students maintained their three specific demands of the university:
1. Immediate resignation of Chancellor Katehi (of UC Davis)
2. All cops off the UC campus
3. No fee hikes
Before the rally, the shutdown of the Hahn building.
Rally at Quarry Plaza.
A student guest speaker from UC Davis at the rally.
Speaker at the rally.
Speaker at the rally.
Students briefly set up tents during the general assembly at Quarry Plaza.
Quarry Plaza.
At Quarry Plaza, students reach consensus on moving the GA to Hahn.
General assembly on the second floor balcony of Hahn.
In a conference room.
The main cubicle area. Students later utilized this space for studying.
Listening in on the general assembly from inside of Hahn.
Gender neutral restroom.
Inside the break room.
After 7pm, the general assembly was facilitated from outside of the building looking in.
The final general assembly was held in the main hall of the second floor, and students consensed after some discussion on allowing members of the media to take one photo of the group.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Chemical Weapons Defense
Chemical Weapons Defense, distributed during the 1st Oakland General Strike of 2011,
by the "Rosehip Medic Collective":
Sunday, October 23, 2011
OGC / MDS / CCBPP for Occupy Oakland!
Northbay Occupy News [link]
2011-10 from Melvin Dickson of the Commemoration Committee for the Black Panther Party (CCBPP), captions from Northbay MDS.OGC / MDS / CCBPP for Occupy Oakland!
MDS Truth Contingent:
Gerald S. of the OGC and former BPP-NY (1970s), reminding people how it was done!
CCBPP table at Occupy Oakland:
Uhuru!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
"Native American groups, Occupy Sacramento proclaim Indigenous Day of Resistance"
2011-10-16 by Dan Bacher:
On Friday, activists from Native American, student, labor and civil rights groups and Occupy Sacramento joined together in a march from Cesar Chavez Park to the Capitol for an Indigenous Day of Resistance protest to denounce the United States’ “glorification of the atrocities committed against native ancestors of the Americas during the Indigenous Holocaust let by Christopher Columbus.”
Like Carter and Sheehan, they emphasized the connections between the wars abroad and the war at home.
“With many severe cuts to education and social services nationwide, we call to question, why we continue to increase our $14.6 billion US National Debt to fund wars over seas,” according to a statement from the groups. “Instead we have a war at home, were millions are losing their homes and jobs while the banks are plundering our wealth. CA is #1 in Prison Spending and #43 in Education Nationwide. Why is that?”
“As for our Native Community surrounding the US/Mexican border, we are now being labeled as ‘Immigrants’ that was once home. We are tired of seeing migrants scapegoated for the failures of capitalism. It angers us to be called “illegal aliens” when it was our ancestors who inhabited this lands before Columbus came to conquer and plunder this land. Now in contrast our people are forced to risk their lives crossing a further militarized border. Over the last decade, it is estimated 10,000 died crossing the border.”
“We are calling to action here at the State Capitol for all communities to join the movement to defend families and education, because this is a people’s movement for human rights and to stand up against injustice. We will no longer be victimized by these racist laws or corporate greed restricting us of an education and split up the millions of families from one another.”
The event was endorsed by Occupy Sacramento, MEChAs from throughout northern California, United Indigenous Nations, United Native Americans Inc., the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement AFL-CIO Sacramento and numerous other organizations. The rally began and ended with Aztec dancing.
On the national level, a statement from Occupy Wallstreet proclaimed:
“From America to Asia, from Africa to Europe, people are rising up to claim their rights and demand a true democracy. Now it is time for all of us to join in a global non violent protest. The ruling powers work for the benefit of just a few, ignoring the will of the vast majority and the human and environmental price we all have to pay. This intolerable situation must end.
“United in one voice, we will let politicians, and the financial elites they serve, know it is up to us, the people, to decide our future. We are not goods in the hands of politicians and bankers who do not represent us. On October 15th, we will meet on the streets to initiate the global change we want. We will peacefully demonstrate, talk and organize until we make it happen.”
On Friday, activists from Native American, student, labor and civil rights groups and Occupy Sacramento joined together in a march from Cesar Chavez Park to the Capitol for an Indigenous Day of Resistance protest to denounce the United States’ “glorification of the atrocities committed against native ancestors of the Americas during the Indigenous Holocaust let by Christopher Columbus.”
Like Carter and Sheehan, they emphasized the connections between the wars abroad and the war at home.
“With many severe cuts to education and social services nationwide, we call to question, why we continue to increase our $14.6 billion US National Debt to fund wars over seas,” according to a statement from the groups. “Instead we have a war at home, were millions are losing their homes and jobs while the banks are plundering our wealth. CA is #1 in Prison Spending and #43 in Education Nationwide. Why is that?”
“As for our Native Community surrounding the US/Mexican border, we are now being labeled as ‘Immigrants’ that was once home. We are tired of seeing migrants scapegoated for the failures of capitalism. It angers us to be called “illegal aliens” when it was our ancestors who inhabited this lands before Columbus came to conquer and plunder this land. Now in contrast our people are forced to risk their lives crossing a further militarized border. Over the last decade, it is estimated 10,000 died crossing the border.”
“We are calling to action here at the State Capitol for all communities to join the movement to defend families and education, because this is a people’s movement for human rights and to stand up against injustice. We will no longer be victimized by these racist laws or corporate greed restricting us of an education and split up the millions of families from one another.”
The event was endorsed by Occupy Sacramento, MEChAs from throughout northern California, United Indigenous Nations, United Native Americans Inc., the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement AFL-CIO Sacramento and numerous other organizations. The rally began and ended with Aztec dancing.
On the national level, a statement from Occupy Wallstreet proclaimed:
“From America to Asia, from Africa to Europe, people are rising up to claim their rights and demand a true democracy. Now it is time for all of us to join in a global non violent protest. The ruling powers work for the benefit of just a few, ignoring the will of the vast majority and the human and environmental price we all have to pay. This intolerable situation must end.
“United in one voice, we will let politicians, and the financial elites they serve, know it is up to us, the people, to decide our future. We are not goods in the hands of politicians and bankers who do not represent us. On October 15th, we will meet on the streets to initiate the global change we want. We will peacefully demonstrate, talk and organize until we make it happen.”
Sunday, October 9, 2011
A show of solidarity on Wall Street
Diablo Valley College Students for a Democratic Society [link]
2011-10 "Rise Up" zine from "DVC SDS":
Download the full-size flier image:
Saturday, September 17, 2011
ACTION ALERT: (SF) Occupy Financial District: Peaceful Occupation on California St, San Francisco
#OCCUPYFDSF Occupy The San Francisco Financial District
Sat, September 17, 2pm – Sat, December 24, 5pm
555 California/Bank Of America Building, 555 California Building & Civic Center/United Nations Plaza, San Francisco, CA
The Constitution of The United States of America was signed in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. It represents the greatest expression of statesmanship and compromise ever written. Composed by the founders of our country, it has protected the rights of American citizens and the democratic way for many years. Until now...
The American government today is bought and sold by major corporations who control votes, lawmakers, and our tax money. They have NO moral dedication to the people of this country and have worked for years to destroy the middle class and enslave the poor through impossible debts and mental pollution.
There is no justifiable reason that in a country so rich and powerful that people should be starving, that children should go without education, that people should work their whole lives and have nothing to show for it except a debt.
And yet, The top 1% of Americans own as much wealth as the bottom 95% percent. Something needs to change...
This September 17th 2011.
* We will no longer choose to stand still while one of our country's greatest achievements, The Constitution, is skewed and vandalized by the actions of corporate giants.
* We will no longer stay quiet while our society is destroyed by the downward spiral of mass consumer capitalism.
* We will stand up for our rights and the rights of everyone who call the United States their home.
* And we will Occupy The San Francisco Financial District.
We will not be alone. New York has over 5000 people scheduled to attend in Lower Manhattan on Wall Street. Additionally, cities around the world such as Madrid, Milan, London, and Paris have all reported September 17th occupation plans underway.
Many other organizations are involved right here in San Francisco like Anonymous, US Day Of Rage, and USUncut will be attending in large numbers.
The time has come for us to stop standing by idly while others decide our fate and the fate of our nation. Democratic revolution is taking the globe by storm as people shed their corrupt governments and take command of their future with one collective voice.
On September 17th, We ask that you add your voice to ours in demanding that the control of this nation be given back to its people and not corporations.
Wont you join us?
[http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=234168159960214]
Contact: [occupyfinancialdistrictsf@gmail.com]
[http://occupywallstwestcoast.wordpress.com]
IRC Freenode: #OWSWestCoast
San Francisco, California – September 17th, 2011 – Plans for a peaceful occupation in San Francisco are under way after the #occupywallstreet campaign has gone viral.
Activists and citizens on the West Coast who cannot venture to New York City are gathering to display a sister movement in San Francisco to protest against fiscal irresponsibility, corporatocracy, and general dissent with the United States leadership. Occupy Financial District SF is partnering with the California chapter of US Day of Rage to combine numbers and media attention. The peaceful rally is set to take place on September 17th, 2011, at 555 California Street in San Francisco at 2 p.m.
Occupy Financial District San Francisco is looking for interested persons to discuss logistics. Additional tasks are also in need of fulfillment, particularly PR and marketing. Please direct all questions and suggestions to the contact information provided below.
#OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Sat, September 17, 6:00am – Sat, December 31, 11:30pm
Wall Street, New York (map)
On September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices.
***
CAMPAIGN TIP:
First, invite all of your friends to this event, then weigh in on what our "one demand" should be at https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=question&id=10150311631011963&qa_ref=qd
***
Alright you redeemers, rebels, radicals and utopian dreamers out there,
A worldwide shift in revolutionary tactics is underway right now that bodes well for the future. The spirit of this fresh tactic, a fusion of Tahrir with the acampadas of Spain, is captured in this quote:
"The antiglobalization movement was the first step on the road. Back then our model was to attack the system like a pack of wolves. There was an alpha male, a wolf who led the pack, and those who followed behind. Now the model has evolved. Today we are one big swarm of people." — Raimundo Viejo, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain
The beauty of this new formula, and what makes this novel tactic exciting, is its pragmatic simplicity: we talk to each other in various physical gatherings and virtual people's assemblies … we zero in on what our one demand will be, a demand that awakens the imagination and, if achieved, would propel us toward the radical democracy of the future … and then we go out and seize a square of singular symbolic significance and put our asses on the line to make it happen.
On September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat our one simple demand until Barack Obama capitulates.
for the wild,
Culture Jammers HQ [www.occupywallstreet.org]
Organizing for this event is happening at the following places:
* On Adbusters: [http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/occupywallstreet]
* Independent site [http://www.occupywallst.org]
* On Reddit: [http://www.reddit.com/r/occupywallstreet]
* On Twitter: [https://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23OCCUPYWALLSTREET]
* On Facebook: [https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=144937025580428]
Sat, September 17, 2pm – Sat, December 24, 5pm
555 California/Bank Of America Building, 555 California Building & Civic Center/United Nations Plaza, San Francisco, CA
The Constitution of The United States of America was signed in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. It represents the greatest expression of statesmanship and compromise ever written. Composed by the founders of our country, it has protected the rights of American citizens and the democratic way for many years. Until now...
The American government today is bought and sold by major corporations who control votes, lawmakers, and our tax money. They have NO moral dedication to the people of this country and have worked for years to destroy the middle class and enslave the poor through impossible debts and mental pollution.
There is no justifiable reason that in a country so rich and powerful that people should be starving, that children should go without education, that people should work their whole lives and have nothing to show for it except a debt.
And yet, The top 1% of Americans own as much wealth as the bottom 95% percent. Something needs to change...
This September 17th 2011.
* We will no longer choose to stand still while one of our country's greatest achievements, The Constitution, is skewed and vandalized by the actions of corporate giants.
* We will no longer stay quiet while our society is destroyed by the downward spiral of mass consumer capitalism.
* We will stand up for our rights and the rights of everyone who call the United States their home.
* And we will Occupy The San Francisco Financial District.
We will not be alone. New York has over 5000 people scheduled to attend in Lower Manhattan on Wall Street. Additionally, cities around the world such as Madrid, Milan, London, and Paris have all reported September 17th occupation plans underway.
Many other organizations are involved right here in San Francisco like Anonymous, US Day Of Rage, and USUncut will be attending in large numbers.
The time has come for us to stop standing by idly while others decide our fate and the fate of our nation. Democratic revolution is taking the globe by storm as people shed their corrupt governments and take command of their future with one collective voice.
On September 17th, We ask that you add your voice to ours in demanding that the control of this nation be given back to its people and not corporations.
Wont you join us?
[http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=234168159960214]
Contact: [occupyfinancialdistrictsf@gmail.com]
[http://occupywallstwestcoast.wordpress.com]
IRC Freenode: #OWSWestCoast
San Francisco, California – September 17th, 2011 – Plans for a peaceful occupation in San Francisco are under way after the #occupywallstreet campaign has gone viral.
Activists and citizens on the West Coast who cannot venture to New York City are gathering to display a sister movement in San Francisco to protest against fiscal irresponsibility, corporatocracy, and general dissent with the United States leadership. Occupy Financial District SF is partnering with the California chapter of US Day of Rage to combine numbers and media attention. The peaceful rally is set to take place on September 17th, 2011, at 555 California Street in San Francisco at 2 p.m.
Occupy Financial District San Francisco is looking for interested persons to discuss logistics. Additional tasks are also in need of fulfillment, particularly PR and marketing. Please direct all questions and suggestions to the contact information provided below.
#OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Sat, September 17, 6:00am – Sat, December 31, 11:30pm
Wall Street, New York (map)
On September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices.
***
CAMPAIGN TIP:
First, invite all of your friends to this event, then weigh in on what our "one demand" should be at https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=question&id=10150311631011963&qa_ref=qd
***
Alright you redeemers, rebels, radicals and utopian dreamers out there,
A worldwide shift in revolutionary tactics is underway right now that bodes well for the future. The spirit of this fresh tactic, a fusion of Tahrir with the acampadas of Spain, is captured in this quote:
"The antiglobalization movement was the first step on the road. Back then our model was to attack the system like a pack of wolves. There was an alpha male, a wolf who led the pack, and those who followed behind. Now the model has evolved. Today we are one big swarm of people." — Raimundo Viejo, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain
The beauty of this new formula, and what makes this novel tactic exciting, is its pragmatic simplicity: we talk to each other in various physical gatherings and virtual people's assemblies … we zero in on what our one demand will be, a demand that awakens the imagination and, if achieved, would propel us toward the radical democracy of the future … and then we go out and seize a square of singular symbolic significance and put our asses on the line to make it happen.
On September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat our one simple demand until Barack Obama capitulates.
for the wild,
Culture Jammers HQ [www.occupywallstreet.org]
Organizing for this event is happening at the following places:
* On Adbusters: [http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/occupywallstreet]
* Independent site [http://www.occupywallst.org]
* On Reddit: [http://www.reddit.com/r/occupywallstreet]
* On Twitter: [https://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23OCCUPYWALLSTREET]
* On Facebook: [https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=144937025580428]
Friday, September 16, 2011
ACTION ALERT! (Santa Ana, SoCal) 2011-09-16 Protest/Sit In on behalf of Kelly Thomas
Fri, September 16, 3:00pm – 5:30pm
Orange County DA's Office , 401 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana, California
[http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118301504938347]
Lets keep the pressure on Tony Rackauckas -he must depose & bring charges against the Fullerton 6 for the murder of Kelly Thomas. Lets have Kelly's Army out in full force!! His record speaks for itself.....
Via Hector Villagra who is the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California....
In a nation defined by the concepts of justice, due process, and the rule of law, police must obey the law while they enforce the law. So who polices the police?
We depend on the local district attorney’s office to investigate the conduct of police officers. Now the Orange County District Attorney’s office has been called upon to investigate misconduct against Kelly Thomas, the Fullerton man who was beaten to death by six police officers last month.
Can we rely on Tony Rackauckas to police the police? His record speaks for itself.
The OC Weekly reported that as of 2004, “[d]uring Rackauckas’s 10-year reign, the DA’s office has only once pursued charges in an officer-involved shooting case (against Douglas Bates, a customs officer, in 2005)”.
There have been many more shootings—and many more officers cleared. Indeed, between January 2006 and September 2010, there were 73 officer-involved shootings in Orange County, more than half of them fatal. The DA’s office was responsible for conducting investigations into nearly all of them.
In 2007, the DA’s office cleared two Huntington Beach police officers involved in the shooting death of Ashley MacDonald, who was shot 15 times when she charged at the officers with a knife. In that case, the DA’s office upheld the Sheriff’s Department policy that if an armed suspect is less than 21 feet away, an officer who fears for his or her life is allowed to shoot to kill.
In 2009, Rackauckas’ office cleared an Anaheim officer who shot 20 year old Julian Alexander. Alexander had walked into his yard carrying a stick to investigate a commotion while his pregnant wife and in-laws slept inside. An officer shot him twice in the chest and then handcuffed him. Julian Alexander later died at a local hospital.
At that time, I was the Director of the ACLU of Southern California’s Orange County office, and I called for Rackauckas to conduct a complete and rigorous investigation of the officer’s conduct. The officer was back on duty two months later.
So we continue to question whether the DA can be relied on for an impartial investigation of Kelly Thomas’ death. The DA’s response to these concerns — that in 2008 his office filed charges against Christopher Hibbs, an Orange County sheriff’s deputy accused of tasering an armed-robbery suspect who was handcuffed in the back of his patrol car – sounds like the proverbial exception that proves the rule.
It’s time to make a change. Whether it’s having the state attorney general or the federal department of justice investigate or creating a civilian review board to investigate, we need to ensure police accountability — to make sure police officers know that they will be held responsible for their actions when they use excessive force.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
ACTION ALERT: (Oakland) Forum of fight back against police violence
The Oscar Grant Committee presents a forum on Police Racism, Brutality and Violence
Fighting Back against Police Racism, Brutality and Violence
Tue, September 13, 7pm – 9pm
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 7:00 PM
Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library
6501 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland
Phone: 510-655-5764 or 510-586-0529
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/28/18688949.php]
Speakers include:
* Gerald Smith presenting a synopsis of the Oscar Grant murder case
* Sean Gillis of the Oakland Fire Department Medical Response Team and his attorney, Phil Horne, on the medical mistreatment of Oscar Grant
* Sharena Curley on the frame-up of her brother, Antioine Thomas
* Anita Wills on the frame-up of her son, Kerry Baxter, Sr.
* Lori Davis on the murder of her son, Raheim Brown, Jr.
* Cary Downs on the murder of his step-son, James Rivera
* Verbena, from Redwood Curtain Copwatch, on the murder of Martin Cotton
Fighting Back against Police Racism, Brutality and Violence
Tue, September 13, 7pm – 9pm
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 7:00 PM
Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library
6501 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland
Phone: 510-655-5764 or 510-586-0529
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/28/18688949.php]
Speakers include:
* Gerald Smith presenting a synopsis of the Oscar Grant murder case
* Sean Gillis of the Oakland Fire Department Medical Response Team and his attorney, Phil Horne, on the medical mistreatment of Oscar Grant
* Sharena Curley on the frame-up of her brother, Antioine Thomas
* Anita Wills on the frame-up of her son, Kerry Baxter, Sr.
* Lori Davis on the murder of her son, Raheim Brown, Jr.
* Cary Downs on the murder of his step-son, James Rivera
* Verbena, from Redwood Curtain Copwatch, on the murder of Martin Cotton
Sunday, September 11, 2011
ACTION ALERT: (Oakland) Anti-Police Brutality Community Cook Out!
[http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=241923775851042]
Sun, September 11, 2pm – 5pm
Mosswood Park, MacArthur and Broadway, Oakland, CA
The park is a ten minute walk from MacArthur BART. If you would like a ride from the BART or are driving from SF and can bring people, please FB organizers. Thanks!
Bring your family! face painting! music! *A pig piñata!* friendly folks in the sun! look for the black and red balloons!
*This event is potluck style. **vegetarian friendly. If you know what you can bring please write it in the comment section below so we can keep track of what we need.
* If you would like to table, please bring your own table.
* There will not be speakers or a bullhorn. this is not a rally or demo. this is a community kick it where we can socialize and build community and share our outrage at the pigs in informal convos and over food and just get to know each other outside of protests and meetings. :)
Justice for Raheim Brown Jr! Justice for Kenneth Harding! Justice for Charles Hill!
On the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11th, call for an end to police terrorism!
This most recent wave of cop killings including that of Kenneth Harding, Charles Hill and Raheim Brown Jr. have angered, saddened and frightened Bay Area residents. These murders draw attention to racist policies like the Oakland and San Francisco Youth Injunctions, SF’s Sit and Lie ordinance and anti-immigrant legislation that all intend to empower the police while disempowering the poor and communities of color, making us vulnerable to state terrorism.
Police brutality aims to destroy our communities through intimidation and harassment. Sometimes it takes the form of murder but often, police brutality reveals itself through beatings, arrests and sexual assaults that often go unreported due to fear of stigma and police retaliation. In order to resist, we need to build community and create coalitions that make connections between police harassment and brutality, the parole/prison system, and these local policies that criminalize communities already struggling to survive.
Lets come together for good food and good people so that we can build stronger networks in the anti-police brutality movement!
Sun, September 11, 2pm – 5pm
Mosswood Park, MacArthur and Broadway, Oakland, CA
The park is a ten minute walk from MacArthur BART. If you would like a ride from the BART or are driving from SF and can bring people, please FB organizers. Thanks!
Bring your family! face painting! music! *A pig piñata!* friendly folks in the sun! look for the black and red balloons!
*This event is potluck style. **vegetarian friendly. If you know what you can bring please write it in the comment section below so we can keep track of what we need.
* If you would like to table, please bring your own table.
* There will not be speakers or a bullhorn. this is not a rally or demo. this is a community kick it where we can socialize and build community and share our outrage at the pigs in informal convos and over food and just get to know each other outside of protests and meetings. :)
Justice for Raheim Brown Jr! Justice for Kenneth Harding! Justice for Charles Hill!
On the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11th, call for an end to police terrorism!
This most recent wave of cop killings including that of Kenneth Harding, Charles Hill and Raheim Brown Jr. have angered, saddened and frightened Bay Area residents. These murders draw attention to racist policies like the Oakland and San Francisco Youth Injunctions, SF’s Sit and Lie ordinance and anti-immigrant legislation that all intend to empower the police while disempowering the poor and communities of color, making us vulnerable to state terrorism.
Police brutality aims to destroy our communities through intimidation and harassment. Sometimes it takes the form of murder but often, police brutality reveals itself through beatings, arrests and sexual assaults that often go unreported due to fear of stigma and police retaliation. In order to resist, we need to build community and create coalitions that make connections between police harassment and brutality, the parole/prison system, and these local policies that criminalize communities already struggling to survive.
Lets come together for good food and good people so that we can build stronger networks in the anti-police brutality movement!
Saturday, September 10, 2011
CREATIVE RESISTANCE: A Benefit for Chicano activist Carlos Montes
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/15/18687783.php]
Sat, September 10, 4pm – 7pm
Parking Lot at San Jose Peace and Justice Center48 South 7th StSan Jose CA 95112 (map)
Join the South Bay Committee Against Political Repression's musical benefit for veteran Chicano activist and victim of political repression, Carlos Montes. Carlos Montes, a former Brown Beret and long-time anti-war and equal rights activist in Los Angeles, is being targeted for his political activities by the FBI.
In May of this year, Montes' house was raided by armed FBI agents, who literally broke down his door, ransacked his house, and confiscated his computer and other private possessions. Montes was arrested and falsely charged with violating firearms regulations, to which he pleaded not guilty. The FBI's raid and arrest of Montes comes alongside a recent FBI harassment campaign against international solidarity and anti-war activists, including unprovoked nation-wide FBI raids of activist offices and homes and grand jury subpoenas for peace activists.
Join us for musical performances by the Word, Ragtop with DJ David8, and Konciensia Directa, and spoken performances by Felicia Montes (Carlos Montes' daughter), Miwa Lyric, Adriana and Cynthia Garcia, Sandra Huerta, and Debora Godinez.
This event is sponsored by the South Bay Committee Against Political Repression, co-sponsored by the Green Party of Santa Clara County, the San Jose Peace and Justice Center, MAIZ, and endorsed by Anakbayan Silicon Valley and San Jose Code Pink.
Sat, September 10, 4pm – 7pm
Parking Lot at San Jose Peace and Justice Center48 South 7th StSan Jose CA 95112 (map)
Join the South Bay Committee Against Political Repression's musical benefit for veteran Chicano activist and victim of political repression, Carlos Montes. Carlos Montes, a former Brown Beret and long-time anti-war and equal rights activist in Los Angeles, is being targeted for his political activities by the FBI.
In May of this year, Montes' house was raided by armed FBI agents, who literally broke down his door, ransacked his house, and confiscated his computer and other private possessions. Montes was arrested and falsely charged with violating firearms regulations, to which he pleaded not guilty. The FBI's raid and arrest of Montes comes alongside a recent FBI harassment campaign against international solidarity and anti-war activists, including unprovoked nation-wide FBI raids of activist offices and homes and grand jury subpoenas for peace activists.
Join us for musical performances by the Word, Ragtop with DJ David8, and Konciensia Directa, and spoken performances by Felicia Montes (Carlos Montes' daughter), Miwa Lyric, Adriana and Cynthia Garcia, Sandra Huerta, and Debora Godinez.
This event is sponsored by the South Bay Committee Against Political Repression, co-sponsored by the Green Party of Santa Clara County, the San Jose Peace and Justice Center, MAIZ, and endorsed by Anakbayan Silicon Valley and San Jose Code Pink.
Friday, September 9, 2011
New African Liberation: Say It Loud, "I'm Black & I'm Proud (& when I say Black I mean Brown)"
[http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=241746492529861]
Fri, September 9, 4pm – 8pm
Youth UpRising 8711 Mac Arthur Blvd Oakland , Ca (map)
The Town hall meeting will begin with a Leadership Panel: Jasiri X, Olis Simmons, Davey D, Min Keith Muhammad, Dr Siri Brown, George Galvis, Fred Hampton Jr and David Muhammad Alameda Probation Chief. Followed by two Youth Panels facilitated by youth who will discuss Black/Black, Brown/ Brown crime, and Police Brutality also the condition of the Black/ Brown Family
These discussions are designed for our youth to discuss, but most importantly that they find solutions to bridge the gap between Black/Black , Brown/ Brown crime bridging the gap between Police and Community, dialogue about what the Black / Brown family look like. Followed by a concert by Jasiri X, Conscious political rapper “What if the Tea party was Black” Oscar Grant Tribute” Real Gangsta's and more political awaking raps. Come see history right before your eyes Fred Hampton Jr, son of Black Panther Party Chicago Chairman Fred Hampton Sr. Alongside him will be the only woman to ever lead The Black Panther Party, Elaine Brown. Come hear our future leaders as they discuss from their respective panel our issues in our community. Other performances by T-Cash, Jazz Monique Hudson, Poet, Artists, Actress, and others
Fri, September 9, 4pm – 8pm
Youth UpRising 8711 Mac Arthur Blvd Oakland , Ca (map)
The Town hall meeting will begin with a Leadership Panel: Jasiri X, Olis Simmons, Davey D, Min Keith Muhammad, Dr Siri Brown, George Galvis, Fred Hampton Jr and David Muhammad Alameda Probation Chief. Followed by two Youth Panels facilitated by youth who will discuss Black/Black, Brown/ Brown crime, and Police Brutality also the condition of the Black/ Brown Family
These discussions are designed for our youth to discuss, but most importantly that they find solutions to bridge the gap between Black/Black , Brown/ Brown crime bridging the gap between Police and Community, dialogue about what the Black / Brown family look like. Followed by a concert by Jasiri X, Conscious political rapper “What if the Tea party was Black” Oscar Grant Tribute” Real Gangsta's and more political awaking raps. Come see history right before your eyes Fred Hampton Jr, son of Black Panther Party Chicago Chairman Fred Hampton Sr. Alongside him will be the only woman to ever lead The Black Panther Party, Elaine Brown. Come hear our future leaders as they discuss from their respective panel our issues in our community. Other performances by T-Cash, Jazz Monique Hudson, Poet, Artists, Actress, and others
Thursday, September 8, 2011
ACTION ALERT: (SF) Disband the Murderous, Inept, Corrupt BART Police Department
[http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133137180114950]:
Thu, September 8, 4:30pm – 7:30pm
Embarcadero BART Station (map)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SAVE THE DATE
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
START INVITING PEOPLE
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The next NJNB action is scheduled for Thursday, September 8, at the Embarcadero Center Station, beginning at 4:30 PM. Stay tuned for more information. More details will be posted shortly, and there will be a press conference next Monday (9/5) to let everyone know what to expect from this action.
This action is being planned in coalition with community organizations and groups. This action will be very different than previous NJNB protests. Anyone interested in helping organize should email nojusticenobart@gmail.com.
FYI: There will be roles for people on the platforms as well as above ground and we will maintain a presence at multiple BART stations.
Thu, September 8, 4:30pm – 7:30pm
Embarcadero BART Station (map)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SAVE THE DATE
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
START INVITING PEOPLE
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The next NJNB action is scheduled for Thursday, September 8, at the Embarcadero Center Station, beginning at 4:30 PM. Stay tuned for more information. More details will be posted shortly, and there will be a press conference next Monday (9/5) to let everyone know what to expect from this action.
This action is being planned in coalition with community organizations and groups. This action will be very different than previous NJNB protests. Anyone interested in helping organize should email nojusticenobart@gmail.com.
FYI: There will be roles for people on the platforms as well as above ground and we will maintain a presence at multiple BART stations.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
documentary screening: Fruits of War
Sun, September 4, 6pm – 9pm
everywhere - internet broadcast (map)
* this is not meant to promote KQED in any way.
Fruits of War is a documentary that explores the US government's role in encouraging the creation of Salvadoran gangs in the 80s and 90s by waging military and police wars on people in Central America and Los Angeles.
this is a very good documentary that can spark discussions, lend to broader self-defense or KNOW YOUR RIGHTS curriculum and aid in community police accountability initiatives that help victims of racial profiling, activists and human rights advocates understand local and federal policing tactics that unleash violence in Black and Latin@ communities. *
KQED's description: Fruits of War explores a devastating cycle of gang violence that has plagued El Salvador for more than thirty years. The film follows four reformed gang members -- Bullet, Rebel, Weazel, and Duke, who escaped to the United States as child refugees from El Salvador's bloody civil war. They settled in the tough east side of Los Angeles, eventually becoming involved in street gangs.
In an effort to suppress an epidemic of gang violence, the US began an aggressive policy of deporting undocumented gang members with felony records. When these four men return to El Salvador, they discover a country ravaged by war, and facing a new wave of violence as the LA street gangs take root in their homeland.
The Salvadoran government, with support from the US, begins a brutal crackdown on the gangs, and these four men find themselves in the middle of a conflict eerily similar to the civil war -- pitting the army and police against thousands of El Salvador's poorest residents, now members of the gangs. As they come to terms with their two countries' violent histories, these former gang members redirect their lives towards helping young people deal with this legacy.
[Original air date: Sun, Oct 05, 2008]
Episode #404 | Duration: 56:24 | Closed Captioned | Stereo | TVG
KQED 9
Sun, Sep 4, 2011 -- 6:00pm PST
watch here: [http://www.kqed.org/arts/programs/trulyca/episode.jsp?epid=205907]
everywhere - internet broadcast (map)
* this is not meant to promote KQED in any way.
Fruits of War is a documentary that explores the US government's role in encouraging the creation of Salvadoran gangs in the 80s and 90s by waging military and police wars on people in Central America and Los Angeles.
this is a very good documentary that can spark discussions, lend to broader self-defense or KNOW YOUR RIGHTS curriculum and aid in community police accountability initiatives that help victims of racial profiling, activists and human rights advocates understand local and federal policing tactics that unleash violence in Black and Latin@ communities. *
KQED's description: Fruits of War explores a devastating cycle of gang violence that has plagued El Salvador for more than thirty years. The film follows four reformed gang members -- Bullet, Rebel, Weazel, and Duke, who escaped to the United States as child refugees from El Salvador's bloody civil war. They settled in the tough east side of Los Angeles, eventually becoming involved in street gangs.
In an effort to suppress an epidemic of gang violence, the US began an aggressive policy of deporting undocumented gang members with felony records. When these four men return to El Salvador, they discover a country ravaged by war, and facing a new wave of violence as the LA street gangs take root in their homeland.
The Salvadoran government, with support from the US, begins a brutal crackdown on the gangs, and these four men find themselves in the middle of a conflict eerily similar to the civil war -- pitting the army and police against thousands of El Salvador's poorest residents, now members of the gangs. As they come to terms with their two countries' violent histories, these former gang members redirect their lives towards helping young people deal with this legacy.
[Original air date: Sun, Oct 05, 2008]
Episode #404 | Duration: 56:24 | Closed Captioned | Stereo | TVG
KQED 9
Sun, Sep 4, 2011 -- 6:00pm PST
watch here: [http://www.kqed.org/arts/programs/trulyca/episode.jsp?epid=205907]
ACTION ALERT: (SF) Protest police killings and repression of civil liberties (October 22nd Coalition)
October
22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the
Criminalization of a Generation [OCT22bayarea@gmail.com] [510-206-0742]
Tue, September 6, 12pm – 4pm
San Francisco City Hall, Polk & McAllister (map)
JUSTICE FOR KENNETH HARDING AND CHARLES HILL
Protest Police Killings and Repression of Civil Liberties
Rally & Press Conference at San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Noon: Protest at City Hall, Polk & McAllister
2:00 pm: Speak-up and Speak-out at Board of Supervisors Meeting
In San Francisco this past month, two people have been brutally killed by police on or near public transit facilities. Kenneth Harding, a 19-year-old Afro-American was shot by the SFPD for supposedly evading a $2 train fare, and Charles Hill, a drunken homeless man was gunned down by the BART police on a train platform. This is outrageous and intolerable! The City of San Francisco and the Board of Supervisors must take responsibility for an independent investigation and the police involved in the killings must be prosecuted! Not only hasn’t the truth been told, the facts and circumstances of these killings have been covered up and distorted, and these victims, Kenneth Harding and Charles Hill, have been lied about and slandered by the police and the media. There have been outrageous attacks on civil liberties: witnesses and people critical of police brutality have been intimidated and hauled into jail, and in an unprecedented act of suppression, cell phone use in BART stations was shut off to prevent a protest against the police killings. We say NO MORE!
This is a call to people who are outraged by these police killings, by the suppression of civil liberties and the ongoing repression of people in the Bayview-Hunters Point district: Come to the protest at City Hall at Noon in San Francisco, and go inside at 2:00 PM to speak out at the Board of Supervisors meeting to demand that they stop the police state actions of the SFPD and BART police.
WE DEMAND:
1. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors conduct an independent investigation of the killings
2. Prosecution of the SFPD and BART police officers responsible
3. An end to the police occupation of Bayview-Hunters Point
4. No suspension of civil liberties
5. No retaliation against truth-tellers
JUSTICE FOR KENNETH HARDING AND CHARLES HILL
Tue, September 6, 12pm – 4pm
San Francisco City Hall, Polk & McAllister (map)
JUSTICE FOR KENNETH HARDING AND CHARLES HILL
Protest Police Killings and Repression of Civil Liberties
Rally & Press Conference at San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Noon: Protest at City Hall, Polk & McAllister
2:00 pm: Speak-up and Speak-out at Board of Supervisors Meeting
In San Francisco this past month, two people have been brutally killed by police on or near public transit facilities. Kenneth Harding, a 19-year-old Afro-American was shot by the SFPD for supposedly evading a $2 train fare, and Charles Hill, a drunken homeless man was gunned down by the BART police on a train platform. This is outrageous and intolerable! The City of San Francisco and the Board of Supervisors must take responsibility for an independent investigation and the police involved in the killings must be prosecuted! Not only hasn’t the truth been told, the facts and circumstances of these killings have been covered up and distorted, and these victims, Kenneth Harding and Charles Hill, have been lied about and slandered by the police and the media. There have been outrageous attacks on civil liberties: witnesses and people critical of police brutality have been intimidated and hauled into jail, and in an unprecedented act of suppression, cell phone use in BART stations was shut off to prevent a protest against the police killings. We say NO MORE!
This is a call to people who are outraged by these police killings, by the suppression of civil liberties and the ongoing repression of people in the Bayview-Hunters Point district: Come to the protest at City Hall at Noon in San Francisco, and go inside at 2:00 PM to speak out at the Board of Supervisors meeting to demand that they stop the police state actions of the SFPD and BART police.
WE DEMAND:
1. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors conduct an independent investigation of the killings
2. Prosecution of the SFPD and BART police officers responsible
3. An end to the police occupation of Bayview-Hunters Point
4. No suspension of civil liberties
5. No retaliation against truth-tellers
JUSTICE FOR KENNETH HARDING AND CHARLES HILL
Monday, September 5, 2011
ACTION ALERT: (SF) No Justice No BART Press Conference
[http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=194810477251965]
Mon, September 5, 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Embarcadero BART Station (map)
Anyone interested in helping organize should email nojusticenobart@gmail.com.
NJNB will discuss details about our next planned action. The action is scheduled for Thursday, September 8, at the Embarcadero Center Station, beginning at 4:30 PM.
* This action will be very different than what we have done before, and we need help organizing and publicizing this event.
* It is being planned in coalition with a number of other community organizations and groups. Spokespeople from these groups may participate in this press conference.
* There will be roles for people on the platforms as well as above ground and we will maintain a presence at multiple BART stations.
* Please get in touch at nojusticenobart@gmail.com if you or your group would like to be a part of this effort.
* Supporters and organizers should save the date (THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 8TH) and begin doing serious outreach for that event.
Mon, September 5, 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Embarcadero BART Station (map)
Anyone interested in helping organize should email nojusticenobart@gmail.com.
NJNB will discuss details about our next planned action. The action is scheduled for Thursday, September 8, at the Embarcadero Center Station, beginning at 4:30 PM.
* This action will be very different than what we have done before, and we need help organizing and publicizing this event.
* It is being planned in coalition with a number of other community organizations and groups. Spokespeople from these groups may participate in this press conference.
* There will be roles for people on the platforms as well as above ground and we will maintain a presence at multiple BART stations.
* Please get in touch at nojusticenobart@gmail.com if you or your group would like to be a part of this effort.
* Supporters and organizers should save the date (THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 8TH) and begin doing serious outreach for that event.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
New African Liberation: Marcus Garvey Upliftment Project Showcase
[http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=140484922708710]
Sat, September 3, 6:00pm – 8:30pm
7911 MacArthur Blvd (map)
The Marcus Garvey Upliftment Project will be showcasing the knowledge and arts the children have obtained while at MGUP! You are invited to join us for a night of fun, self expression and awareness as our campers perform live!
MGUP is a free arts& education center providing a safe environment for tomorrows leaders by teaching skills needed for African comunity self determination.
Tickets on sale for $10
Children 12 and under are free
Sat, September 3, 6:00pm – 8:30pm
7911 MacArthur Blvd (map)
The Marcus Garvey Upliftment Project will be showcasing the knowledge and arts the children have obtained while at MGUP! You are invited to join us for a night of fun, self expression and awareness as our campers perform live!
MGUP is a free arts& education center providing a safe environment for tomorrows leaders by teaching skills needed for African comunity self determination.
Tickets on sale for $10
Children 12 and under are free
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Community Corruption & Fascism in Modesto
2011-09-01 "Government Sponsored Thieves: How local politicians are stealing public funds"
from "Modesto Anarcho" news journal [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2011/09/government-sponsored-thieves-how-local.html]:
Recently, local politicians and those on the city council have called for a "tough-on-homeless" approach. Citing the threat of crime, business people and politicians like Mike Moradian and Councilman Joe Muratore would like to make public parks private and have a private police force patrol them. In doing so, they tell us that crime would be reduced and the homeless would be driven out of the downtown. Of course, this has nothing to do with creating a safer community and everything to do with making the area safe for business investors; investors that people like Muratore represent and can make money off of. Furthermore, a recent scandal in the city’s power structure shows that the local elites have been breaking their own laws; laws which could land some of them in jail.
Since early 2009, local politicians have been profiting from government funds aimed at fighting the depressed housing market. Recently, a group of nonprofits, government agencies, and faith-based organizations have been accused of severe mismanagement and embezzlement of federal funds that were meant to create jobs and provide housing for poor and working people. After information was leaked from an insider, many city and community bureaucrats have been placed in the spotlight, causing a scandal within the local power structure. While working class people in the Valley have been forced to work jobs for statistically lower and lower pay, and many can't afford basic housing costs, local officials and business elites and have been lining their pockets with public money.
According to the City's website[1], “Modesto applied for and received $25 million from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program to be distributed through the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) to help create jobs and stabilize declining property values in neighborhoods.” This money should have gone to benefit potential homeowners and renters with incomes between 50-120% of Area Median Income ($24,275 - $58,260 for Stanislaus County[2]), and local contractors and laborers who would do necessary repairs. This of course has not been the case.
On July 10th, HUD received an anonymous e-mail from a Stanislaus Housing & Support Services Collaborative member outlining their concerns [3]. The veteran member of more than five years[3] requested that their name be kept confidential for fear of being fired[3]. According to the Modesto Bee, The document contained the following claims[3]:
• Three members of the executive committee work for agencies that receive HUD Supportive Housing Program grants, "yet provide supposed oversight and review of their own projects with no input from the" collaborative.[3]
• Executive committee members Gibbs, Michele Gonzales and Glenn Hutsell "rigged" the application review process to get funding for their "pet projects" year after year.[3]
• The executive committee failed to review whether HUD grant recipients were complying with a grant's requirements. If they had done so, they would have spotted the problems at Community Housing and Shelter Services, a Modesto nonprofit that nearly closed because of mismanagement.[3]
• The Homeless Management Information System, a software program designed to record and store information about the homeless and their needs, still is not running after four years.[3]
• Some executive committee members provided fraudulent information on a 2010 HUD grant application.[3]
All this of course, goes against basic HUD guidelines[4], designed to prevent influence in the decision-making process and financial gain or other benefits from receiving grant funds. This new information, regardless of merit, was enough for HUD's Office of Inspector General (OIG) to take a closer look.[5]
Because of the conflicts of interest involving city officials and their private enterprises, the OIG may take as long as six to nine months to complete the investigation[6]. Julie Hannon with the Modesto Parks, Recreation and Neighborhoods confirmed that SCAP received more than $7 million in taxpayer dollars to renovate 21 foreclosed homes[7]. It was later discovered, as KCRA.com reported, that "Stanislaus County Community Assistance Program is being criticized for allowing family and staff to live in government-subsidized homes that are supposed to be for low-income residents."[7]
Hannon confirmed [8] that Denise Gibbs' parents were living at 913 Rumble Road after $340,000 in taxpayer money was spent buying and renovating the 2,383-square-foot home, and that four to five other homes were occupied by SCAP employees or their relatives[8]. An auditing firm, Moss Adams, that works for the City Council was supposed to begin their investigation in July, but has since been replaced by the HUD's OIG[5]. Leo Briones, "a Southern California political consultant who speaks for SCAP," [9], said the agency will cooperate with city auditors[10]. Members of the organization admit to the allegations and say that these acts are legal because the residents meet the income requirements of the program[8]. As reported in the Modesto Bee on July 6th, "All told, as many as six of the twenty houses renovated by SCAP have been occupied by employees of the agency or their family members. According to SCAP's agreement with the city, the homes were supposed to serve as rental housing for people with special needs, such as seniors, people with debilitating diseases, or families at risk of homelessness." [11]
Joe Gibbs, Grant Writer and Development Director for SCAP[3], received a bonus of more than $637,000 for writing grant proposals according to the Modesto Bee [12]. This is on top of his regular pay. That’s $637,000 of public money, which was supposed to go towards helping Modesto families but instead went to an official who was already highly paid. In fact, Joe and his wife Denise are SCAP's two highest-paid employees[13], raking in more than $712,000 last year[12], and more than $1.32 million in four years[12]. After the Modesto Bee revealed how much he was earning[12], Gibbs agreed to forgo $436,471 of what he said he was owed [14]. In doing so, he claimed that his "contractual agreement was made with fairness and proper legal standards in mind,[12]" although Pastor Darryl Fair, Chairman of SCAP's Board of Directors, says that after "reviewing SCAP's financial data for the year 2010, the board realized… the 4 percent incentive to our director of business and program development exceeded what was appropriate for a nonprofit agency to offer." [12]
Photograph showing Gibbs:
The same Darryl Fair has recently resigned from Stanislaus Housing & Support Services Collaborative's executive committee, along with at least five others that may or may not include Gibbs[10]. SCAP's new board includes Chairman Jonathan Dattilio of Lincoln, Vice Chairman Patrick Pokorny of Riverbank, Secretary Daniel Malakauskas of Stockton, and Tom Drury of Modesto [10]. They are also currently recruiting others in order to meet their guidelines of seven members[10].
On August 2nd, the city notified Councilman Joe Muratore[15] and his business partner Ryan Swehla[15] of a likely conflict of interest after it was found that Benchmark Commercial Real Estate Services, which they own together[15], was paid a $62,500 commission[15] for the sale of an apartment complex to Trinity Renovations[15], which is also co-owned with Swehla[15]. Trinity also hired Mike Moradian to complete the property inspections through his company Peace of Mind Home Inspections[16]. Moradian is the President of the La Loma Neighborhood Association (LLNA) [17] and sits on the city's Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness [18](see The New Map of Modesto in Modesto Anarcho #17 for more information). Moradian has been a fierce crusader against homelessness, trying to shut down the expansion of a drug and alcohol treatment center in the Airport District [17] and helping to push anti-homeless initiatives in the city. Both Moradian and Swehla also played a major role in getting Muratore on the council back in 2009 through their influence with the LLNA[19], and the group no longer retains its non-profit status[20]. Benchmark and Trinity were thus nicely poised to funnel funds into the personal bank accounts of government sponsored thieves and their elitist friends.
Photograph showing Moradian
As it was reported in the Modesto Bee on August 18th, Muratore was also found guilty of illegally voting in the council decision that initially allowed the city to accept federal housing funds[15]. Since then, Trinity has had it's NSP funds frozen[6] and been barred from working with the HUD program[6]. Muratore admitted guilt to the accusation and the $62,500 commission has been returned[6]. At a Modesto City Council meeting regarding SCAP on August 3rd, 2011, Muratore said he promptly had his attorney notify the California Fair Political Practices Commission after checking logs and “discovering” that he had placed a vote [15]. The FPPC response was a warning letter with no administrative prosecution or fines[15]. Muratore said that at the time that he was as an inexperienced official when he had made the vote.[15]
But, while this Harvard grad plays dumb, Muratore may face federal prosecution or at the least his expulsion from the council. It’s also telling that while businessmen like Muratore and Moradian have called for a ‘tough on homeless’ approach, including a recent push to have a private security force patrol the parks for homeless people, they have broken more laws than any homeless person with an open container. While they attract support from the upper-middle and some of the working classes through a tough on crime stance, in reality they only care about the law when it rules in their favor. For rich elites like Muratore and Moradian, the law and the police are instruments to use at their will, and against us. Moradian and Muratore’s “tough on crime” façade is just a smokescreen for a push to gentrify and develop the downtown; free of lower and working class elements. Surely, just as they have used the SCAP, they will seek to make money from this displacement of poor people as well. Hopefully this scandal exposes people to the swindlers that people like Muratore and all his friends are; willing to take public money that is designed to help people and make themselves even richer.
Photograph showing Muratore
The current SCAP scandal, just as the current crisis unfolding with the Modesto Police Department and the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, shows us several things. Firstly, that those in power have organized amongst each other in order to siphon money out of the public’s hands and straight into their pockets. The politicians get the deals, and then have their companies or their friends' companies do the work, looking the other way when they take hundreds of thousands of dollars right off the top. Secondly, this scandal proves that those masquerading as our “leaders” have never had our interests at heart. This isn’t a problem of a few bad apples, but a whole rotten tree. The network of business interests and political big-wigs all needs to be pushed out and overthrown. Thirdly, the corruption going on at City Hall is the same as that within the Federal Government and corporations. Our money goes to fund wars and the bailout of banks, while the CEOs kick back and make record-breaking profits. We must take power into our own hands; we must not wait for the elites in downtown Modesto or Washington D.C. to swindle us again while people are without money, food, and shelter.
The time is now to take what we need and occupy it. We shouldn't wait for government officials to screw us over when we can take over hundreds of abandoned foreclosed houses and apartment units ourselves. Talk with neighbors, agree not to call the police, fix the place up, move right in. If an eviction notice comes, tell the bank to shove it. Get together with family and neighbors to drive off inspectors and the cops. Our neighborhoods become vacant save for boarded-up buildings while the bankers grow rich and the Muratores of the world do as they please. Its time for all of them to go, and for all of us to bring this corrupt system down.
Citations:
Citation 1: "Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2." City of Modesto. Accessed 02 Sep 2011. [http://www.modestogov.com/nsp2/]
Citation 2: "State and County Quick Facts." U.S. Census Bureau. Accessed 02 Sep 2011. [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06099.html]
Citation 3: "Member Criticizes Stanislaus Homeless Aid Panel. Kevin Valine. Modesto Bee. 18 Aug 2011 [http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/18/1821832/member-criticizes-homeless-aid.html]
Citation 4: HUD Guidelines. Document 14169. HUD.Gov City of Modesto, California [http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=DOC_14169.pdf]
"Forty (40) of these homes will be specifically allocated to provide housing for special needs households who are in need of permanent housing. All activities will benefit households whose income is at or below 120percent of area median income, with 25percent of the funds for households at or below 50percent area median income."
Citation 5: "Modesto Auditor Off SCAP Probe." Modesto Bee. Ken Carlson. 03 Aug 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/02/1801069/modesto-auditor-off-scap-probe.html]
Citation 6: "Modesto Councilman's Firm Benefitted From Sale of Apartment Complex." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 03 Aug 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/03/1802526/modesto-councilmans-firm-benefitted.html]
Citation 7: "Modesto Nonprofit Under Investigation." KCRA.com. 28 July 2011. [http://www.kcra.com/news/28384117/detail.html]
Citation 8: "New Question Surface for Modesto Nonprofit." J.N. Sbranti. Modesto Bee. 28 Jun 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/06/27/1751953/new-questions-surface-for-nonprofit.html]
Citation 9: "Luxuries at Modesto SCAP Homes Described," by Ken Carlson, Modesto Bee, 03 Aug 2011 [http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/02/1800648/modesto-nonprofits-role-under.html]
Citation 10: "SCAP Turns Over Documents to Modesto." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 01 Jul 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/06/30/1756905/scap-turns-over-documents.html]
Citation 11: "More Trouble for Modesto Nonprofit Agency Scap." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 06 Jul 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/07/06/1764704/more-trouble-for-scap.html]
Citation 12: "Cashing In: Salaries of Modesto Housing Agency Attract Federal Scrutiny." J.N. Sbranti. Modesto Bee. 30 May 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/05/28/1709062/federal-investigators-probing.html]
Citation 13: "Stanislaus Community Assistance Project." Informational graph. Modesto Bee. Accessed 02 Sep 2011. [http://media.modbee.com/smedia/2011/05/28/23/Scapcomp.source.prod_affiliate.11.pdf]
Citation 14: "SCAP Worker Gives Up $436k." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 03 Jun 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/06/03/1717879/scap-worker-gives-up-436k.html]
Citation 15: "Modesto Councilman Muratore Broke Law With Vote, State Says." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 18 Aug 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/17/1820405/muratore-broke-law-with-votestate.html]
Citation 16: "Modesto CIty Hall Facing Questions of Favoritism." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 21 Aug 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/20/1824048_p2/city-facing-questions-of-favoritism.html]
Citation 17: "Modesto Mission Dispute Resolved." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 05 Apr 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/04/06/1631944/mission-dispute-resolved.html]
Citation 18: "Boards, Commissions, and Committees: City of Modesto Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness." City of Modesto. Accessed 02 September 2011. [http://www.modestogov.com/council/boards/cag.asp?id=29]
Citation 19: "With Cities Squeezed, Neighborhood Groups Catch On." Leslie Albrecht. Modesto Bee. 22 Apr 2010. [http://www.modbee.com/2010/04/22/1139118/with-cities-squeezed-neighborhood.html]
Citation 20: "Words Matter." Carmen Sabatino. The Voice of Modesto. 30 Aug 2011. [http://voiceofmodesto.org/wordpress/?p=2439]
Citation 21: "Modesto Puts Brakes On Neighborhood Rehab Program." Central Valley Business Times. 03 August 2011. [http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=19039]
Comment:
Just take a small sample, and soon you see the unseen.
If only knew all of these people and who they are related to, you would truely be astonished.
* The Hub Master: [http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1295981851#!/harold.a.petersonIII?sk=friends&v=friends]
* [http://www.facebook.com/gosner?ref=ffa#!/profile.php?id=1446678860&sk=friends&v=friends]
* [http://www.facebook.com/gosner?ref=ffa#!/profile.php?id=1670791404&sk=friends&v=friends]
* [http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1295981851#!/profile.php?id=525467407&sk=friends&v=friends]
* [http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1295981851#!/profile.php?id=100000014458390&sk=friends&v=friends]
* [http://www.modbee.com/2011/09/01/1841274/a-couple-of-good-men-in-modesto.html]
* [http://www.facebook.com/duane.hutton?sk=friends&v=friends]
2012-06-07 "Police Write Ordinance for City Council that Criminalizes Homeless Camps and Occupy Movement"
from "Modesto Anarcho" news journal [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2012/06/police-write-ordinance-for-city-council.html]:
On Tuesday, June 5th, in a 6-1 vote, the City Council passed an ordinance that would make forms of illegal camping a misdemeanor within Modesto. Despite an over-whelming majority of the crowd coming out to shout down the ordinance, calling it a "war on the poor," and claiming that it was leading Modesto into "a police state," everyone on the Council voted in favor of the move except the new Mayor, Garrad Marsh. But Marsh's nay vote didn't come out of his love for the homeless or freedom itself, he was simply concerned that it didn't contain language that would allow parents with homes to allow their children to camp outside. As for those with children and without homes, perhaps if they couldn't eat cake, they could eat whatever the Mission was serving that night...
The decision for the camping criminalization ordinance came when a subcommittee of the City Council allowed members of the Modesto Police Department to write up and create the ordinance [http://www.modbee.com/2012/06/03/2226879/modesto-council-targets-homeless.html]. But the criminalization of camping is not just aimed at stamping out the homeless. According to the Modesto Bee [http://www.modbee.com/2012/06/05/2229770/modesto-council-passes-anti-camping.html]:
[begin excerpt]
City officials said the camping ordinance will give police a tool to deal with makeshift camps that increasingly are appearing in Modesto. It also will give police the authority to break up any camps tied to the Occupy movement and prohibit residential property owners from charging rent to campers.
Under the ordinance, anyone who stores personal property, including camping paraphernalia, on public or private property without consent of the owner can be cited on a misdemeanor. Those convicted could be sentenced to jail and probation.
[end excerpt]
Council members claim that the push for the ordinance came after businesses began complaining of homeless people living in the back of parking lots along McHenry Ave. as well as from people who have complained that they "can't walk their dogs" along the canal on Briggsmore Ave., due to homeless encampments.
We find this recent criminalization of both the homeless and the Occupy Movement in Modesto to not be at all surprising, although it shows the direction in which local elites are heading; giving themselves the legal tools to lock-up, displace, and fine those which threaten downtown development and those who would seek to possibly organize against it. We do not find this latest move surprising because over the past year, City Council members, either through the general council or through subcommittees, have helped produce a variety of ordinances all aimed at removing the homeless from the downtown area through criminalization. These include a ban on dumpster-diving [http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/2925], which further criminalized the act of digging through the garbage and threatens the would be trash expropriator with fines and up to six months in jail. The ordinance was pushed by both the La Loma Association, a notoriously anti-homeless group and the Modesto Police Department. There was also the shutting down of a public park, Paperboy Park, or Rose Garden Park, in 2010, which was located across from the Library [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2011/06/new-map-of-modesto-budget-cuts.html]. Joe Muratore, a city council member who is also involved in the La Loma Association, helped back the ordinance [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2011/02/joe-muratore-elected-with-your-taxes.html] [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2011/03/la-loma-association-fights-anti.html]. He claimed that homeless people were ruining the park and making non-homeless people afraid to use it. Paperboy Park became the first park in Modesto that went from public to only being available to those who paid a user fee. Muratore wanted to continue this work even further with the creation of a private park police force that would harass the homeless, youth, and others in local parks and enforce various municipal codes [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2011/08/joe-muratores-committee-proposes.html].
There is also the looming question of where homeless people will go? The answer from the police, the City Council, and the business interests is quite clear: either into institutions, or hopefully out of Modesto for good. In a recent expose, the Modesto Bee discussed how the local jail is filling up with homeless people who are incarcerated because it is the only place where they can receive medical treatment and also because it is the only place where they can be 'treated' for mental illness [http://www.modbee.com/2012/05/20/2207052/special-report-mental-healthcare.html]. With homelessness on the rise in the local area, compounded and made worse by the economy, increased evictions, and the foreclosure crisis, as well as continued repression of the homeless community, we will only see an increase in the amount of homeless people incarcerated, locked up, and thrown in mental facilities simply for the crime of not having a place to live.
Students at MJC camped out as part of 'Occupy MJC' to protest rising fees. Now, they could face jail time for such an act.
While many will point out that there has not been any sizable Occupy protests and encampments in Modesto, this new ordinance was in part crafted with the understanding that the police could use it in the event that ever such a movement did develop and protesters needed to be scared with possible jail time. Occupy encampments have appeared in other Valley cities such as Sacramento, Merced, Fresno, and Stockton, so it is not far fetched to believe that if the movement was to expand again that camps could spring up here. Furthermore, such anti-camping laws could also be used against Central Valley activists attempting to occupy foreclosed buildings. If police could claim that those inside foreclosed homes are 'camping,' instead of 'squatting' or 'refusing to leave their homes,' then they could easily threaten occupants with misdemeanor charges.
According to City Councilman Dave Geer, police will use their "discretion," and only target "problem" camps and will not use the law to "harass" the homeless [http://www.modbee.com/2012/06/05/2229770/modesto-council-passes-anti-camping.html]. But of course, this is the same police department that shoots people claiming they have guns which turn out to be spatulas [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2010/09/rip-fransisco-moran-murdered-by-modesto.html]. These are the same police that shoot out a deaf man's back windows' because he's too busy screaming "I'm deaf," to respond to their commands [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2010/12/modesto-wikileaks-police-insider-sheds.html].
What is clear is that such an ordinance has nothing to do with improving the quality of life for most people in the city, and instead, bending to business interests and controlling a population of people seen as outside of the law. It is also an attempt to stop Occupy protests before they become larger in the Modesto area - strategic thinking on the part of the police and the elites in the City Council.
Marsh: "If you're poor, you're screwed!"
The City Council is made up largely business owners and property developers types who stand to gain from the removal of the poor in the downtown and the coming in of new capital investments. In a recent forum hosted by Marsh [http://cvar.org/a-community-conversation-on-the-future-of-modestos-downtown/], which featured annoying bourgie local muckie muck Chris Richie (X-Fest, etc), Pete Janopaul (who plans to turn the former downtown post office into upscale lofts [http://www.modbee.com/2012/04/21/2168210/developer-has-lofty-ambitions.html]), developer John Giver, as well as a presentation by developer supa-star Joe Minicozzi, who works with a "for profit real-estate company." Joe argues that city governments can increase their revenue by concentrating urban development in their cores with mixed zoning: having lofts and upscale apartments next to fine dining and nice hair saloons [http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/03/simple-math-can-save-cities-bankruptcy/1629/]. From Minicozzi's presentation:
[begin excerpt]
Per-acre, our downtowns have the potential to generate so much more public wealth than low-density subdivisions or massive malls by the highway. And for all that revenue they bring in, downtowns cost considerably less to maintain in public services and infrastructure.
[end excerpt]
For developers turned politicos like Muratore, this of course is a wet dream. The city can increase tax revenue by fixing up and re-developing old buildings that are vacant (which surprise, surprise, is exactly that kind of business that Muratore is in!), and making the downtown into a concentrated money making focal point and a play ground for the wealthy and upscale consumers. It's this same kind of 'good old boy' system, in which politician businessmen swinging back room deals with their other businessmen friends that got Muratore in hot water last year, when the SCAP scandal hit and some of Muratore's businesses were involved [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2011/09/government-sponsored-thieves-how-local.html]. Who cares if the communities of Airport, West-Side, South-Side, Prescott, and working class neighborhoods throughout the city have major problems and in many cases, lack basic services such as sidewalks? For the city elites, what's important is that revenues coming into the city coffers continue to increase and the town continues to look more white, more upper-class, and less like it is now.
It's only in looking at the ultimate goal of 'downtown revitalization' and 'development' that we can begin to see a strategy for local elites becoming clear [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2010/12/why-is-downtown-dead-homelessness.html]. It makes sense for political, police, and business interests to come together to support each other in a push for greater repression of the poor and the suppression of grassroots organizing. That question as always, is that if they are organized around their interests, why aren't we?
from "Modesto Anarcho" news journal [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2011/09/government-sponsored-thieves-how-local.html]:
Recently, local politicians and those on the city council have called for a "tough-on-homeless" approach. Citing the threat of crime, business people and politicians like Mike Moradian and Councilman Joe Muratore would like to make public parks private and have a private police force patrol them. In doing so, they tell us that crime would be reduced and the homeless would be driven out of the downtown. Of course, this has nothing to do with creating a safer community and everything to do with making the area safe for business investors; investors that people like Muratore represent and can make money off of. Furthermore, a recent scandal in the city’s power structure shows that the local elites have been breaking their own laws; laws which could land some of them in jail.
Since early 2009, local politicians have been profiting from government funds aimed at fighting the depressed housing market. Recently, a group of nonprofits, government agencies, and faith-based organizations have been accused of severe mismanagement and embezzlement of federal funds that were meant to create jobs and provide housing for poor and working people. After information was leaked from an insider, many city and community bureaucrats have been placed in the spotlight, causing a scandal within the local power structure. While working class people in the Valley have been forced to work jobs for statistically lower and lower pay, and many can't afford basic housing costs, local officials and business elites and have been lining their pockets with public money.
According to the City's website[1], “Modesto applied for and received $25 million from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program to be distributed through the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) to help create jobs and stabilize declining property values in neighborhoods.” This money should have gone to benefit potential homeowners and renters with incomes between 50-120% of Area Median Income ($24,275 - $58,260 for Stanislaus County[2]), and local contractors and laborers who would do necessary repairs. This of course has not been the case.
On July 10th, HUD received an anonymous e-mail from a Stanislaus Housing & Support Services Collaborative member outlining their concerns [3]. The veteran member of more than five years[3] requested that their name be kept confidential for fear of being fired[3]. According to the Modesto Bee, The document contained the following claims[3]:
• Three members of the executive committee work for agencies that receive HUD Supportive Housing Program grants, "yet provide supposed oversight and review of their own projects with no input from the" collaborative.[3]
• Executive committee members Gibbs, Michele Gonzales and Glenn Hutsell "rigged" the application review process to get funding for their "pet projects" year after year.[3]
• The executive committee failed to review whether HUD grant recipients were complying with a grant's requirements. If they had done so, they would have spotted the problems at Community Housing and Shelter Services, a Modesto nonprofit that nearly closed because of mismanagement.[3]
• The Homeless Management Information System, a software program designed to record and store information about the homeless and their needs, still is not running after four years.[3]
• Some executive committee members provided fraudulent information on a 2010 HUD grant application.[3]
All this of course, goes against basic HUD guidelines[4], designed to prevent influence in the decision-making process and financial gain or other benefits from receiving grant funds. This new information, regardless of merit, was enough for HUD's Office of Inspector General (OIG) to take a closer look.[5]
Because of the conflicts of interest involving city officials and their private enterprises, the OIG may take as long as six to nine months to complete the investigation[6]. Julie Hannon with the Modesto Parks, Recreation and Neighborhoods confirmed that SCAP received more than $7 million in taxpayer dollars to renovate 21 foreclosed homes[7]. It was later discovered, as KCRA.com reported, that "Stanislaus County Community Assistance Program is being criticized for allowing family and staff to live in government-subsidized homes that are supposed to be for low-income residents."[7]
Hannon confirmed [8] that Denise Gibbs' parents were living at 913 Rumble Road after $340,000 in taxpayer money was spent buying and renovating the 2,383-square-foot home, and that four to five other homes were occupied by SCAP employees or their relatives[8]. An auditing firm, Moss Adams, that works for the City Council was supposed to begin their investigation in July, but has since been replaced by the HUD's OIG[5]. Leo Briones, "a Southern California political consultant who speaks for SCAP," [9], said the agency will cooperate with city auditors[10]. Members of the organization admit to the allegations and say that these acts are legal because the residents meet the income requirements of the program[8]. As reported in the Modesto Bee on July 6th, "All told, as many as six of the twenty houses renovated by SCAP have been occupied by employees of the agency or their family members. According to SCAP's agreement with the city, the homes were supposed to serve as rental housing for people with special needs, such as seniors, people with debilitating diseases, or families at risk of homelessness." [11]
Joe Gibbs, Grant Writer and Development Director for SCAP[3], received a bonus of more than $637,000 for writing grant proposals according to the Modesto Bee [12]. This is on top of his regular pay. That’s $637,000 of public money, which was supposed to go towards helping Modesto families but instead went to an official who was already highly paid. In fact, Joe and his wife Denise are SCAP's two highest-paid employees[13], raking in more than $712,000 last year[12], and more than $1.32 million in four years[12]. After the Modesto Bee revealed how much he was earning[12], Gibbs agreed to forgo $436,471 of what he said he was owed [14]. In doing so, he claimed that his "contractual agreement was made with fairness and proper legal standards in mind,[12]" although Pastor Darryl Fair, Chairman of SCAP's Board of Directors, says that after "reviewing SCAP's financial data for the year 2010, the board realized… the 4 percent incentive to our director of business and program development exceeded what was appropriate for a nonprofit agency to offer." [12]
Photograph showing Gibbs:
The same Darryl Fair has recently resigned from Stanislaus Housing & Support Services Collaborative's executive committee, along with at least five others that may or may not include Gibbs[10]. SCAP's new board includes Chairman Jonathan Dattilio of Lincoln, Vice Chairman Patrick Pokorny of Riverbank, Secretary Daniel Malakauskas of Stockton, and Tom Drury of Modesto [10]. They are also currently recruiting others in order to meet their guidelines of seven members[10].
On August 2nd, the city notified Councilman Joe Muratore[15] and his business partner Ryan Swehla[15] of a likely conflict of interest after it was found that Benchmark Commercial Real Estate Services, which they own together[15], was paid a $62,500 commission[15] for the sale of an apartment complex to Trinity Renovations[15], which is also co-owned with Swehla[15]. Trinity also hired Mike Moradian to complete the property inspections through his company Peace of Mind Home Inspections[16]. Moradian is the President of the La Loma Neighborhood Association (LLNA) [17] and sits on the city's Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness [18](see The New Map of Modesto in Modesto Anarcho #17 for more information). Moradian has been a fierce crusader against homelessness, trying to shut down the expansion of a drug and alcohol treatment center in the Airport District [17] and helping to push anti-homeless initiatives in the city. Both Moradian and Swehla also played a major role in getting Muratore on the council back in 2009 through their influence with the LLNA[19], and the group no longer retains its non-profit status[20]. Benchmark and Trinity were thus nicely poised to funnel funds into the personal bank accounts of government sponsored thieves and their elitist friends.
Photograph showing Moradian
As it was reported in the Modesto Bee on August 18th, Muratore was also found guilty of illegally voting in the council decision that initially allowed the city to accept federal housing funds[15]. Since then, Trinity has had it's NSP funds frozen[6] and been barred from working with the HUD program[6]. Muratore admitted guilt to the accusation and the $62,500 commission has been returned[6]. At a Modesto City Council meeting regarding SCAP on August 3rd, 2011, Muratore said he promptly had his attorney notify the California Fair Political Practices Commission after checking logs and “discovering” that he had placed a vote [15]. The FPPC response was a warning letter with no administrative prosecution or fines[15]. Muratore said that at the time that he was as an inexperienced official when he had made the vote.[15]
But, while this Harvard grad plays dumb, Muratore may face federal prosecution or at the least his expulsion from the council. It’s also telling that while businessmen like Muratore and Moradian have called for a ‘tough on homeless’ approach, including a recent push to have a private security force patrol the parks for homeless people, they have broken more laws than any homeless person with an open container. While they attract support from the upper-middle and some of the working classes through a tough on crime stance, in reality they only care about the law when it rules in their favor. For rich elites like Muratore and Moradian, the law and the police are instruments to use at their will, and against us. Moradian and Muratore’s “tough on crime” façade is just a smokescreen for a push to gentrify and develop the downtown; free of lower and working class elements. Surely, just as they have used the SCAP, they will seek to make money from this displacement of poor people as well. Hopefully this scandal exposes people to the swindlers that people like Muratore and all his friends are; willing to take public money that is designed to help people and make themselves even richer.
Photograph showing Muratore
The current SCAP scandal, just as the current crisis unfolding with the Modesto Police Department and the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, shows us several things. Firstly, that those in power have organized amongst each other in order to siphon money out of the public’s hands and straight into their pockets. The politicians get the deals, and then have their companies or their friends' companies do the work, looking the other way when they take hundreds of thousands of dollars right off the top. Secondly, this scandal proves that those masquerading as our “leaders” have never had our interests at heart. This isn’t a problem of a few bad apples, but a whole rotten tree. The network of business interests and political big-wigs all needs to be pushed out and overthrown. Thirdly, the corruption going on at City Hall is the same as that within the Federal Government and corporations. Our money goes to fund wars and the bailout of banks, while the CEOs kick back and make record-breaking profits. We must take power into our own hands; we must not wait for the elites in downtown Modesto or Washington D.C. to swindle us again while people are without money, food, and shelter.
The time is now to take what we need and occupy it. We shouldn't wait for government officials to screw us over when we can take over hundreds of abandoned foreclosed houses and apartment units ourselves. Talk with neighbors, agree not to call the police, fix the place up, move right in. If an eviction notice comes, tell the bank to shove it. Get together with family and neighbors to drive off inspectors and the cops. Our neighborhoods become vacant save for boarded-up buildings while the bankers grow rich and the Muratores of the world do as they please. Its time for all of them to go, and for all of us to bring this corrupt system down.
Citations:
Citation 1: "Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2." City of Modesto. Accessed 02 Sep 2011. [http://www.modestogov.com/nsp2/]
Citation 2: "State and County Quick Facts." U.S. Census Bureau. Accessed 02 Sep 2011. [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06099.html]
Citation 3: "Member Criticizes Stanislaus Homeless Aid Panel. Kevin Valine. Modesto Bee. 18 Aug 2011 [http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/18/1821832/member-criticizes-homeless-aid.html]
Citation 4: HUD Guidelines. Document 14169. HUD.Gov City of Modesto, California [http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=DOC_14169.pdf]
"Forty (40) of these homes will be specifically allocated to provide housing for special needs households who are in need of permanent housing. All activities will benefit households whose income is at or below 120percent of area median income, with 25percent of the funds for households at or below 50percent area median income."
Citation 5: "Modesto Auditor Off SCAP Probe." Modesto Bee. Ken Carlson. 03 Aug 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/02/1801069/modesto-auditor-off-scap-probe.html]
Citation 6: "Modesto Councilman's Firm Benefitted From Sale of Apartment Complex." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 03 Aug 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/03/1802526/modesto-councilmans-firm-benefitted.html]
Citation 7: "Modesto Nonprofit Under Investigation." KCRA.com. 28 July 2011. [http://www.kcra.com/news/28384117/detail.html]
Citation 8: "New Question Surface for Modesto Nonprofit." J.N. Sbranti. Modesto Bee. 28 Jun 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/06/27/1751953/new-questions-surface-for-nonprofit.html]
Citation 9: "Luxuries at Modesto SCAP Homes Described," by Ken Carlson, Modesto Bee, 03 Aug 2011 [http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/02/1800648/modesto-nonprofits-role-under.html]
Citation 10: "SCAP Turns Over Documents to Modesto." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 01 Jul 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/06/30/1756905/scap-turns-over-documents.html]
Citation 11: "More Trouble for Modesto Nonprofit Agency Scap." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 06 Jul 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/07/06/1764704/more-trouble-for-scap.html]
Citation 12: "Cashing In: Salaries of Modesto Housing Agency Attract Federal Scrutiny." J.N. Sbranti. Modesto Bee. 30 May 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/05/28/1709062/federal-investigators-probing.html]
Citation 13: "Stanislaus Community Assistance Project." Informational graph. Modesto Bee. Accessed 02 Sep 2011. [http://media.modbee.com/smedia/2011/05/28/23/Scapcomp.source.prod_affiliate.11.pdf]
Citation 14: "SCAP Worker Gives Up $436k." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 03 Jun 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/06/03/1717879/scap-worker-gives-up-436k.html]
Citation 15: "Modesto Councilman Muratore Broke Law With Vote, State Says." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 18 Aug 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/17/1820405/muratore-broke-law-with-votestate.html]
Citation 16: "Modesto CIty Hall Facing Questions of Favoritism." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 21 Aug 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/20/1824048_p2/city-facing-questions-of-favoritism.html]
Citation 17: "Modesto Mission Dispute Resolved." Ken Carlson. Modesto Bee. 05 Apr 2011. [http://www.modbee.com/2011/04/06/1631944/mission-dispute-resolved.html]
Citation 18: "Boards, Commissions, and Committees: City of Modesto Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness." City of Modesto. Accessed 02 September 2011. [http://www.modestogov.com/council/boards/cag.asp?id=29]
Citation 19: "With Cities Squeezed, Neighborhood Groups Catch On." Leslie Albrecht. Modesto Bee. 22 Apr 2010. [http://www.modbee.com/2010/04/22/1139118/with-cities-squeezed-neighborhood.html]
Citation 20: "Words Matter." Carmen Sabatino. The Voice of Modesto. 30 Aug 2011. [http://voiceofmodesto.org/wordpress/?p=2439]
Citation 21: "Modesto Puts Brakes On Neighborhood Rehab Program." Central Valley Business Times. 03 August 2011. [http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=19039]
Comment:
Just take a small sample, and soon you see the unseen.
If only knew all of these people and who they are related to, you would truely be astonished.
* The Hub Master: [http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1295981851#!/harold.a.petersonIII?sk=friends&v=friends]
* [http://www.facebook.com/gosner?ref=ffa#!/profile.php?id=1446678860&sk=friends&v=friends]
* [http://www.facebook.com/gosner?ref=ffa#!/profile.php?id=1670791404&sk=friends&v=friends]
* [http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1295981851#!/profile.php?id=525467407&sk=friends&v=friends]
* [http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1295981851#!/profile.php?id=100000014458390&sk=friends&v=friends]
* [http://www.modbee.com/2011/09/01/1841274/a-couple-of-good-men-in-modesto.html]
* [http://www.facebook.com/duane.hutton?sk=friends&v=friends]
2012-06-07 "Police Write Ordinance for City Council that Criminalizes Homeless Camps and Occupy Movement"
from "Modesto Anarcho" news journal [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2012/06/police-write-ordinance-for-city-council.html]:
On Tuesday, June 5th, in a 6-1 vote, the City Council passed an ordinance that would make forms of illegal camping a misdemeanor within Modesto. Despite an over-whelming majority of the crowd coming out to shout down the ordinance, calling it a "war on the poor," and claiming that it was leading Modesto into "a police state," everyone on the Council voted in favor of the move except the new Mayor, Garrad Marsh. But Marsh's nay vote didn't come out of his love for the homeless or freedom itself, he was simply concerned that it didn't contain language that would allow parents with homes to allow their children to camp outside. As for those with children and without homes, perhaps if they couldn't eat cake, they could eat whatever the Mission was serving that night...
The decision for the camping criminalization ordinance came when a subcommittee of the City Council allowed members of the Modesto Police Department to write up and create the ordinance [http://www.modbee.com/2012/06/03/2226879/modesto-council-targets-homeless.html]. But the criminalization of camping is not just aimed at stamping out the homeless. According to the Modesto Bee [http://www.modbee.com/2012/06/05/2229770/modesto-council-passes-anti-camping.html]:
[begin excerpt]
City officials said the camping ordinance will give police a tool to deal with makeshift camps that increasingly are appearing in Modesto. It also will give police the authority to break up any camps tied to the Occupy movement and prohibit residential property owners from charging rent to campers.
Under the ordinance, anyone who stores personal property, including camping paraphernalia, on public or private property without consent of the owner can be cited on a misdemeanor. Those convicted could be sentenced to jail and probation.
[end excerpt]
Council members claim that the push for the ordinance came after businesses began complaining of homeless people living in the back of parking lots along McHenry Ave. as well as from people who have complained that they "can't walk their dogs" along the canal on Briggsmore Ave., due to homeless encampments.
We find this recent criminalization of both the homeless and the Occupy Movement in Modesto to not be at all surprising, although it shows the direction in which local elites are heading; giving themselves the legal tools to lock-up, displace, and fine those which threaten downtown development and those who would seek to possibly organize against it. We do not find this latest move surprising because over the past year, City Council members, either through the general council or through subcommittees, have helped produce a variety of ordinances all aimed at removing the homeless from the downtown area through criminalization. These include a ban on dumpster-diving [http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/2925], which further criminalized the act of digging through the garbage and threatens the would be trash expropriator with fines and up to six months in jail. The ordinance was pushed by both the La Loma Association, a notoriously anti-homeless group and the Modesto Police Department. There was also the shutting down of a public park, Paperboy Park, or Rose Garden Park, in 2010, which was located across from the Library [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2011/06/new-map-of-modesto-budget-cuts.html]. Joe Muratore, a city council member who is also involved in the La Loma Association, helped back the ordinance [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2011/02/joe-muratore-elected-with-your-taxes.html] [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2011/03/la-loma-association-fights-anti.html]. He claimed that homeless people were ruining the park and making non-homeless people afraid to use it. Paperboy Park became the first park in Modesto that went from public to only being available to those who paid a user fee. Muratore wanted to continue this work even further with the creation of a private park police force that would harass the homeless, youth, and others in local parks and enforce various municipal codes [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2011/08/joe-muratores-committee-proposes.html].
There is also the looming question of where homeless people will go? The answer from the police, the City Council, and the business interests is quite clear: either into institutions, or hopefully out of Modesto for good. In a recent expose, the Modesto Bee discussed how the local jail is filling up with homeless people who are incarcerated because it is the only place where they can receive medical treatment and also because it is the only place where they can be 'treated' for mental illness [http://www.modbee.com/2012/05/20/2207052/special-report-mental-healthcare.html]. With homelessness on the rise in the local area, compounded and made worse by the economy, increased evictions, and the foreclosure crisis, as well as continued repression of the homeless community, we will only see an increase in the amount of homeless people incarcerated, locked up, and thrown in mental facilities simply for the crime of not having a place to live.
Students at MJC camped out as part of 'Occupy MJC' to protest rising fees. Now, they could face jail time for such an act.
While many will point out that there has not been any sizable Occupy protests and encampments in Modesto, this new ordinance was in part crafted with the understanding that the police could use it in the event that ever such a movement did develop and protesters needed to be scared with possible jail time. Occupy encampments have appeared in other Valley cities such as Sacramento, Merced, Fresno, and Stockton, so it is not far fetched to believe that if the movement was to expand again that camps could spring up here. Furthermore, such anti-camping laws could also be used against Central Valley activists attempting to occupy foreclosed buildings. If police could claim that those inside foreclosed homes are 'camping,' instead of 'squatting' or 'refusing to leave their homes,' then they could easily threaten occupants with misdemeanor charges.
According to City Councilman Dave Geer, police will use their "discretion," and only target "problem" camps and will not use the law to "harass" the homeless [http://www.modbee.com/2012/06/05/2229770/modesto-council-passes-anti-camping.html]. But of course, this is the same police department that shoots people claiming they have guns which turn out to be spatulas [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2010/09/rip-fransisco-moran-murdered-by-modesto.html]. These are the same police that shoot out a deaf man's back windows' because he's too busy screaming "I'm deaf," to respond to their commands [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2010/12/modesto-wikileaks-police-insider-sheds.html].
What is clear is that such an ordinance has nothing to do with improving the quality of life for most people in the city, and instead, bending to business interests and controlling a population of people seen as outside of the law. It is also an attempt to stop Occupy protests before they become larger in the Modesto area - strategic thinking on the part of the police and the elites in the City Council.
Marsh: "If you're poor, you're screwed!"
The City Council is made up largely business owners and property developers types who stand to gain from the removal of the poor in the downtown and the coming in of new capital investments. In a recent forum hosted by Marsh [http://cvar.org/a-community-conversation-on-the-future-of-modestos-downtown/], which featured annoying bourgie local muckie muck Chris Richie (X-Fest, etc), Pete Janopaul (who plans to turn the former downtown post office into upscale lofts [http://www.modbee.com/2012/04/21/2168210/developer-has-lofty-ambitions.html]), developer John Giver, as well as a presentation by developer supa-star Joe Minicozzi, who works with a "for profit real-estate company." Joe argues that city governments can increase their revenue by concentrating urban development in their cores with mixed zoning: having lofts and upscale apartments next to fine dining and nice hair saloons [http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/03/simple-math-can-save-cities-bankruptcy/1629/]. From Minicozzi's presentation:
[begin excerpt]
Per-acre, our downtowns have the potential to generate so much more public wealth than low-density subdivisions or massive malls by the highway. And for all that revenue they bring in, downtowns cost considerably less to maintain in public services and infrastructure.
[end excerpt]
For developers turned politicos like Muratore, this of course is a wet dream. The city can increase tax revenue by fixing up and re-developing old buildings that are vacant (which surprise, surprise, is exactly that kind of business that Muratore is in!), and making the downtown into a concentrated money making focal point and a play ground for the wealthy and upscale consumers. It's this same kind of 'good old boy' system, in which politician businessmen swinging back room deals with their other businessmen friends that got Muratore in hot water last year, when the SCAP scandal hit and some of Muratore's businesses were involved [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2011/09/government-sponsored-thieves-how-local.html]. Who cares if the communities of Airport, West-Side, South-Side, Prescott, and working class neighborhoods throughout the city have major problems and in many cases, lack basic services such as sidewalks? For the city elites, what's important is that revenues coming into the city coffers continue to increase and the town continues to look more white, more upper-class, and less like it is now.
It's only in looking at the ultimate goal of 'downtown revitalization' and 'development' that we can begin to see a strategy for local elites becoming clear [http://www.modestoanarcho.org/2010/12/why-is-downtown-dead-homelessness.html]. It makes sense for political, police, and business interests to come together to support each other in a push for greater repression of the poor and the suppression of grassroots organizing. That question as always, is that if they are organized around their interests, why aren't we?
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