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2013-04-26 "Gabriel Jumped by Homeless Haters near Cabrillo College Wednesday"
by Robert Norse [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/04/26/18735861.php]:
I received a phone call yesterday from a formerly homeless man, now a Cabrillo student named Gabriel. He gave the following report of being beaten Wednesday 4-24 near Cabrillo College as he headed for class. Subsequently he checked in with the Cabrillo Health Clinic, but was reluctant to contact the police, having heard from other formerly homeless people that police declined to investigate such incidents. He mentioned the case of a guy named Zack, whose picture was prominently posted on Facebook & rather than investigate, cops told Zack: he'd "better avoid areas where he's likely to be found."
INJURIES FROM THE ASSAULT
Gabriel reported he can barely see out of one of his eye and was kicked in a previously injured leg so badly, it's now oozing puss. He continues to feel whoozey a day later. The incident happened around 12:30 PM Wednesday. There was little pedestrian traffic and tree cover, so no witnesses nearby that he noticed.
The four assailants got out of their car and were apparently cruising around looking for people to beat up. They demanded to know where he was from. When he told them he was a student, they became skeptical and demanded to look inside his backpack. He refused and they then accused him of having something to hide. They then beat him up, but he was able to get away and get to class and ultimately to a Cabrillo medical clinic.
He didn't call the cops, he said, because of past experiences when homeless about police indifference or hostility.
A day later blood continues to run out of his injured eyes; his hand is fractured (from punching back), and the nine months in healing leg injury has been torn apart again.
He says he took photos of his injuries which he'll later post. He hasn't been homeless for three years and is now both a student and employed.
THE THUGS
He says the attackers got out of a gray 4-door pick-up truck. Some of them wore checkered shirts, jeans, baseball hats. One had blonde hair, another had black hair; most of them had short hair "buzz cuts". One had a 5-day stubble; the rest were generally clean-shaven. Between the ages of 18 and 30, he estimates. He noted their socks were pulled way up. He suggested they were "East side local" affiliated...
He says he's still in touch with old homeless friends and followed reports of the recent assaults of Sam-I-Am and Zack on Facebook and through other friends. The situation has escalated significantly since the massive officially orchestrated ceremonies and endless Sentinel police-boosting the Butler-Baker deaths.
TRASHING AND THREATS DOWNTOWN
Gabriel also said he spoke with 4 hitchhikers leaving town in a group at the Ocean St. entrance to Highway 1 South. He said it was unusual to see such a large group hitching together (since that makes getting a ride harder). They told him they'd been stopped on Pacific Avenue by thugs who knocked off their hats. The thugs then opened their backpacks, spilled the contents on the ground and announced "It's all garbage and belongs in the garbage."
The encounter continues, Gabriel reports, with “Hey, do you know what? You're all garbage and that's where you belong. You have twelve hours to get out of town before you're put in the trash.”.
Gabriel concludes, “They seemed pretty freaked out. Their main objective seemed to be clearing out of Santa Cruz.”
“A 'criminal' who is on the side of the police doing the dirty jobs the cops want to do but can't. They have to be recast somehow by showing the real literal damage they're inflicting on innocent people."
Homeless people, or those who look homeless, Gabriel concludes, or even those with backpacks should travel in groups, to provide witnesses if not greater safety.
His final words are even more sobering:
“How long before they surround a female homeless and decide to 'teach her a lesson'? I'm sure what this "lesson" would be doesn't need to be stated outright, but it's more than likely to occur the more they feel that their actions are backed by the police and by the community. Homeless folks are starting to arm themselves and you know how that's going to go down. The first time some lug gets stabbed or seriously hurt in the process of vigilante work it's gonna be a hey-day excuse to get rid of the homeless altogether.”
Gabriel may be posting some photos soon.
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2013-04-26 "Santa Cruz Contra?" comment by Steve:
Reading articles such as this is leading me to recall the days of the Contras in Nicaragua and El Salvador, and also films such as "In the Time of the Butterflies." It is sad to recall it was wealthy "landowners" (I don't like the word "landlord", a Medieval/Dark Ages term that still seems to apply today!) who pay thugs to beat up poor folks. Is this is a result of "Take Back Santa Cruz?" Santa Cruz Contras and other paid mercenaries? How sad. But ya know, I saw something this morning that speaks to how inhuman even the City treats homeless folks. On Golf Club Drive, on the other side of the Train Bridge, there is a path that in the last few days the City put a barely visible stretch of barb wire to block the path, with no sign or warning. It can hardly be seen in broad daylight. I can imagine how once dark out, someone will head down that path that has been open for years and cut themselves when suddenly encountering sharp old rusty barb wire (even thoughit is new in the sense of being just put up, the wire is old with old metal spikes protruding. If someone is bleeding, especially a wrist cut as they bump into it, and they pass out from blood loss, they could very well die. Really, if I get a chance I'll take a pic, so you all can see how crude and inhuman this is. No sign, no warning, just low lying (about waist level) barb wire, like a booby trap, a booby trap for the homeless.
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