National Protest Against Prop 8! Join the Santa Cruz Rally!!!

While I fully support demands that attacks on the equal right to marry, I want to remind middle-class supporters that the SCPD in their drive to "cleanse" the downtown of "undeisreable"-looking elements has reportedly:

*** ticketed and driven away religious food providers for homeless people in front of Borders on Thursday afternoon.

*** three-times tasered a man Wednesday night in front of Borders in an incident that shocked three employees of a neighboring store.

*** have repeatedly ticketed and driven away homeless sleepers in front of the Greek Orthodox Church across the street from the main library in spite of the fact that sleepers report they were given permission to sleep there.

*** have massively increased ticketed for "sitting near a panhandler", "being within 50' of a change-making machine while seated", "performing music while sitting on the lip of a planter",
"spitting on the sidewalk" in the rain, biking "the wrong way" on Pacific Ave., and going through Stop signs on a bike when no traffic was coming in either direction--among other harassment stops being made by police, sometimes sweeping the sidewalk four abreast.

*** been backed up by reported hate speech by merchants--such as that reported in the Wednesday Santa Cruz Sentinel (http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_10962547 )

*** supported a false arrest at the Metro Bus Station on Security Guard complaint on an activist, talking with homeless people there, who drew the station's attention to religious radio propaganda (KSCO) being broadcast live over the loudspeakers there.

*** are reportedly harassing poor people of color downtown repeatedly in response to Mayor Ryan Coonerty's new call to "clean up" Santa Cruz

*** have stepped up the war on marijuana downtown--again against the poor--in spite of community consensus that this is a corrupting costly and abusive activity.