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On May 4th, community members gathered at the Santa Cruz Courthouse for a press conference and rally to demand District Attorney Bob Lee drop the charges against the Santa Cruz Eleven, who have all been charged with felonies arising from the occupation of a vacant bank building last fall. Organizers of the rally believe the DA should, "re-examine the basis for the charges, and the Court must ensure that these activists are not being selectively prosecuted."
Approximately 100 people were in attendance at the courthouse rally, and after a brief press conference that had seven of the Santa Cruz Eleven introducing themselves, the group marched through downtown Santa Cruz. Those of the Santa Cruz Eleven who spoke included Brent Adams, Franklin Alacantara, Bradley Stuart Allen, Desiree Foster, Gabriella Ripley-Phipps, Grant Wilson, Becky Johnson, and Robert Norse. The Santa Cruz Eleven are either journalists or activists supportive of the Occupy movement.
 Read More and View Photos |  Photos Part 2 & Video | Support the Santa Cruz Eleven
See Also:  ACLU-NC Submits Brief in Support of Indybay's Bradley Stuart Allen and Alex Darocy
Previous Coverage: Demonstration at Wells Fargo in Solidarity with 75 River St. Arrestees || Occupy Santa Cruz Marches to Protest Repression of the Occupy Movement ||  Indybay Journalists Charged with Felony: Conspiracy to Make Media || Demonstration at Wells Fargo in Santa Cruz: "Drop the Charges! Bust the Banksters!" || ACLU Statement of Support and Petition for "Journalists, Local Press and Activists" || WILPF Condemns Local Law Enforcement and Supports Eleven Local Activists || Judge Burdick Dismisses Charges Against Four of the Santa Cruz Eleven || Occupy Santa Cruz Supports the Santa Cruz Eleven
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California filed a brief as amicus curiae, on May 3rd, in support of Bradley Stuart Allen and Alex Darocy’s motion to dismiss, pursuant to Penal Code section 995, pending before the Superior Court of California for the County of Santa Cruz.
The 995 motion to dismiss, and a motion to dismiss for selective prosecution, were filed by Allen's attorney, Benjamin Rice, and Darocy's attorney, George Gigarjian.
The ACLU of Northern California concludes, "The prosecution’s theories of liability for conspiracy to trespass and aiding and abetting trespass seek to punish Allen and Darocy for activity they engaged in that is protected by the First Amendment and the liberty of speech clause of the California Constitution. This type of prosecution endangers the freedom of the press by punishing journalists based on the content and viewpoint of the material they publish, by impermissibly burdening newsgathering, and by ultimately restricting the public’s access to newsworthy events. The Court should dismiss the conspiracy charges, as well as any other charges that rest upon an aiding-and-abetting theory of liability."
Read More and Download the Documents
See Also: Indybay Journalists Charged with Felony: Conspiracy to Make Media | Community Members Rally for Charges to Be Dropped Against the Santa Cruz Eleven | Support the Santa Cruz Eleven
Lorin Ashton / Bassnectar writes: "Santa Cruz, California is one of my favorite places in the world. It is special to me for countless reasons, and it is one of my favorite places to play music. I am stunned, and saddened that the City of Santa Cruz decided last minute to not allow our show to happen tomorrow [Thursday, May 3rd]. Basically, there is a very vague city ordinance #9.36.010... Now had they told us this 6 months ago when we booked the show, that would have been understandable (it still would have been weird, because we already did one successful show at the Civic Center, and are not going to play music any louder than last time) but having this happen so last minute is basically putting us in a very difficult situation."
Occupy Wall Street in New York called for a nationwide May Day General Strike. Cities and towns across the United States are heeding the call. Workers will be striking, students will be leaving classes, and banks and other large corporations will be forced to close for the day across the nation. May 1st, 2012, promises to be the largest American May Day since the Immigrant Rights May Day in 2006 and probably the most widespread and furthest reaching in decades.
Copwatcher reports: Oakland Police claim that they have retrained all their officers in crowd control tactics for the upcoming May 1st general strike. While much is unclear about what will be different, there are things that are sure to be the same. Officers that make up most of Oakland's Police Shootings will continue to be deployed as Tango and QRF (Quick Response Force). OPD Chief Howard Jordan has suggested that he may send specialized units into the crowd for the purpose of making surgical arrests, rather than use lethal force through the deployment of chemical and less than lethal rounds indiscriminately. However, sending teams of Officers that are known for their relationship to violence into large crowds of people is a clear indication that OPD intends to incite panic and chaos rather than develop better methods for interfacing with large groups of people.
Video |
ACLU and NLG Ask Oakland Police Department If It Seeks to Abandon Key Protections for Demonstrators
A resolution in support of all eleven defendants who were charged in relation to the occupation of 75 River Street in Fall of 2011 was adopted by Occupy Santa Cruz at their general assembly held on April 29. Steve Pleich facilitated the general assembly, held on the steps of the Santa Cruz Post Office, and read the resolution before Occupy Santa Cruz adopted it. The resolution by Occupy Santa Cruz "calls for the immediate dismissal of all charges presently lodged against the River Street defendants.
Santa Cruz, CA — DA Bob Lee's prosecution (some say "witchhunt") of eleven activists and alternative media journalists came to a crashing halt on April 25th, as Judge Paul Burdick stopped the preliminary hearing after hearing only two prosecution witnesses.
After listening to Officer William Winston of the SCPD and Det. David Gunter's testimony, Burdick challenged Assistant DA Rebekah Young by saying, "Ms. Young, you agree that none of these four defendants committed any act of vandalism."
Young offered that if there were any questions, she had brought Sgt. Harms and Officer Hedley to court "just in case." Neither could testify, however, since neither officer was on the prosecution's witness list. Burdick ignored her and went on, "I have no evidence in this record that any of these defendants committed any act of vandalism. You are relying on an 'aiding' and 'abetting' theory?"
Read More | Support the Santa Cruz Eleven
Previous Coverage: Demonstration at Wells Fargo in Solidarity with 75 River St. Arrestees || Occupy Santa Cruz Marches to Protest Repression of the Occupy Movement || Indybay Journalists Charged with Felony: Conspiracy to Make Media || Demonstration at Wells Fargo in Santa Cruz: "Drop the Charges! Bust the Banksters!" || ACLU Statement of Support and Petition for "Journalists, Local Press and Activists" || WILPF Condemns Local Law Enforcement and Supports Eleven Local Activists
On April 18th, U.S. Federal authorities removed a server from a colocation facility shared by Riseup Networks and May First/People Link in New York City. The seized server was operated by the European Counter Network (“ECN”), the oldest independent internet service provider in Europe, who, among many other things, provided an anonymous remailer service, Mixmaster, that was the target of an FBI investigation into a series of bomb threats against the University of Pittsburgh.
“The company running the facility has confirmed that the server was removed in conjunction with a search warrant issued by the FBI,” said May First/People Link director Jamie McClelland. “The server seizure is not only an attack against us, but an attack against all users of the Internet who depend on anonymous communication.”
Disrupted in this seizure were academics, artists, historians, feminist groups, gay rights groups, community centers, documentation and software archives and free speech groups. The server included the mailing list “cyber rights” (the oldest discussion list in Italy to discuss this topic), a Mexican migrant solidarity group, and other groups working to support indigenous groups and workers in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. In total, over 300 email accounts, between 50-80 email lists, and several other websites have been taken off the Internet by this action. None are alleged to be involved in the anonymous bomb threats.
“The FBI is using a sledgehammer approach, shutting down service to hundreds of users due to the actions of one anonymous person,” said Devin Theriot-Orr, a spokesperson for Riseup. “This is particularly misguided because there is unlikely to be any information on the server regarding the source of the threatening emails.”
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Congress is currently considering HR 3523, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, a bill that purports to protect the United States from “cyber threats”. This legislation would create a gaping loophole in all existing privacy laws. If CISPA, as the bill is called, passes, companies could vacuum up huge swaths of data on everyday internet users and share it with government agencies without a court order. Internet privacy groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Free Press say that CISPA uses dangerously vague language to define the breadth of data that can be shared with the government.
Just months after UC Davis police pepper sprayed seated students in the face during a protest against university privatization and police brutality, Chancellor Linda Katehi's administration is trying to send some of the same students to prison for their alleged role in protests that led to the closure of a US Bank branch on campus. On March 29th, weeks after an anti-privatization action against the US Bank branch, 11 UC Davis students and one professor received orders to appear at Yolo County Superior Court. District Attorney Jeff Reisig is charging campus protesters with 20 counts each of obstructing movement in a public place and one count of conspiracy. Support has been requested for their arraignment on April 27th.
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