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Berkeley Copwatch has organized a Know Your Rights and Copwatching Training Week for Saturday, May 24th through Friday, May 30th in Berkeley. Copwatch observes police interactions with civilians and teaches community members about their basic rights with the police as well as how to effectively observe police actions.
On Saturday, May 24th, there will be a Know Your Rights and Copwatching Training from 6-8:30 pm at the Grassroots House, at 2022 Blake St. On Tuesday, May 27th, a Know Your Rights and Copwatching Training will take place from 3:30-5pm at People's Park (Dwight at Hillegass in Berkeley). On Thursday, May 29th, there will be a Know Your Rights and Copwatching Training from 6-8:30pm at the Grassroots House, 2022 Blake St.
On Friday, May 30th the video "These Streets are Watching" will be shown from 7-9pm at the Grassroots House, 2022 Blake St. This 50 minute video examines police accountability through the eyes of three communities: Denver, Cincinnati and Berkeley. Independent filmmaker Jacob Crawford weaves three cities' responses to police brutality into a story of community empowerment and direct action. All of the events during the week are free and open to the public. After each training, Berkeley Copwatch will go on a Copwatching shift so that participants can put their new skills to use.
Donna Deiss Yovino writes, "At Santa Cruz parking lot A on West Cliff Drive, on Friday May 9, 2008, Sgt. C LeMoss twisted and broke the right humurus arm bone of a 60 year old disabled woman for entering her RV and attempting to close the door."
Robert Norse writes, "Donna Deiss called in last night to report that yesterday (May 9th) around 5pm, Officer La Moss (Badge #114) assaulted her, broke her arm, and then put her in handcuffs when he attempted to question her at "Three Tree Lot" near Lighthouse Field in Santa Cruz. Deiss was taken to the Watsonville hospital, where she waited hours for x-rays, which confirmed her arm was broken."
On May 8th, Eric McDavid was sentenced to 235 months. He was convicted in February of 2008 of "conspiracy to damage or destroy government property by means of fire or explosives." The "conspiracy" was fabricated by "Anna," an FBI informant who was paid over $65,000 to entrap him. Now that the sentencing is over, Eric will be able to start the appeals process. In the near future, Eric will likely be sent to a federal facility recommended to be close to his family. His supporters are hopeful that the move will bring many improvements in his overall standard of living.
Jason Paschal, an African-American tarot card reader, has successfully ended a 9-month battle to beat charges against him--after he called the Santa Cruz police last summer to complain that a patron of O'Neill's Sports Shop on Pacific Avenue called him a "nigger" and spat on him.
On Thursday May 1st, Al-Jazeera reporter Sami al-Haj was released after six and a half years at Guantanamo. Upon his arrival in Sudan early on Friday, Al-Hajj was carried off a US air force jet on a stretcher and immediately taken to a hospital. Al-Hajj told reporters at the hospital that "rats are treated with more humanity" than the inmates at Guantanamo, whose "human dignity [is] violated". Ten journalists have been held for extended periods by the U.S. military and then released without charge. The U.S. military continues to hold Jawed Ahmad, a journalist for Canada's CTV, at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
Mike Reynolds, author of the infamous Three Strikes legislation, is also the author of the Runner Initiative, which he says "will use a three-prong attack of tougher laws, cheaper jails, and more funding for public safety without raising taxes." Reynolds held a press conference on April 24 in front of the Fresno County Clerk's office. Joining Reynolds was Fresno County initiative chairperson Debbie Poochigian, Fresno Police Department Chief Jerry Dyer, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims, Fresno City Council member Jerry Duncan, and Fresno District Attorney Elizabeth Egan who were there to support the effort.
Throughout the press conference, members of the California Prison Moratorium Project (CPMP) could be heard criticizing the initiative. Debbie Reyes, the Fresno director of CPMP, said "the initiative would bankrupt the state by directing billions of dollars to fund prisons, probation, and police in the midst of a budget crisis that has caused drastic cuts to education and health care."
Reynolds, in his press release, referred to himself as the "father of three strikes" and said "when it comes to punks with guns, they've got to be stopped the first time. You can't wait for three strikes."
The purpose of the press conference was to announce that they were turning in over 700,000 signatures in 58 counties to qualify the Safe Neighborhoods Act for the November 2008 ballot.
 Video and article | Defeat the Runner Initiative coalition grows
Thousands of students from around the Monterey and San Francisco Bay Areas participated in a "Four Twenty" celebration in Porter Meadow at UC Santa Cruz on April 20th, 2008. Four Twenty (420) is a time of day when people, often a group of friends, smoke cannabis together or eat foods cooked with it. For that reason, April 20th has evolved into a counterculture holiday where people gather to celebrate and consume cannabis.
On Wednesday, April 17, sophomore Jesse Carrisalez was shot and killed by Fresno Police Department (FPD) officer Junus Perry at Roosevelt High School. The FPD, shortly after the incident, released information to the public that indicated officer Perry shot the student in self defense. Carrisalez was said to have hit Perry with a baseball bat and a knife was found nearby. Police Chief Jerry Dyer said that "this was a case of suicide by cop."
The first reports of this shooting said Perry, after being hit with a baseball bat, was knocked to the ground. The magazine to his handgun fell out as he hit the ground and Perry grabbed a second gun from his ankle and shot Carrisalez in the chest. On Friday, a pathologist's finding raised questions about what happened. According to The Fresno Bee, Harry Bonnell who is a San Diego pathologist, said the trajectory of the bullet is not consistent with Perry's description of the incident. Instead of an upward trajectory, as would be expected if someone was shooting from the ground up, the bullet had a slightly downward angle.
At Saturday's press conference, Gloria Hernandez, speaking on behalf of the Central California Criminal Justice Committee demanded a public hearing on this shooting incident. "We need a public forum, we demand that the City Council call a public forum and let the people listen, let the people talk, because sometimes the people have recommendations that are outside of the box," Hernandez said. She also said that this incident is further evidence of why we need an Independent Police Auditor in Fresno.
Ben Benavidez of the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) said "we feel that the Fresno Unified School District let Jesse down. He was a Special Education student. Where was his support and intervention? We want answers, we will get them!"
Video and story
Addy writes, "Since the administration is closing campus on 4/20, the UCSC students are extending an invitation to everyone to come up on Friday, April 18th to take over the quad. We'll have our 4/20 celebration early, to let them know that it is our campus, that we pay THEM. This new 4/20 policy is draconian and unnecessary as there have been no issues in the past."
On April 7, two indigenous Triqui women who worked at the community radio station La Voz que Rompe el Silencio (The Voice that Breaks the Silence), in the autonomous municipality of San Juan Copala (Mixteca region), were shot and murdered while on their way to Oaxaca City to participate in the State Forum for the Defense of the Rights of the Peoples of Oaxaca. Three other people were injured.
According to the state attorney general, the victims are Teresa Bautista Merino (24 years old) and Felícitas Martínez Sánchez (20 years old). Francisco Vásquez Martínez (30 years old), his wife Cristina Martínez Flores (22 years old), and their son Jaciel Vásquez Martínez (three years old) were also injured in the attack.
According to prelimary reports, the women had left the station, which is part of the Network of Indigenous Community Radio Stations of the Southeast (Red de Radios Comunitarias Indígenas del Sureste), around 1 p.m. They were traveling in a truck on their way to Oaxaca City, but were ambushed on the outskirts of the community of Llano Juarez.
The two community radio activists were supposed to coordinate the working group for Community and Alternative Communication: Community Radio, Video, Press, and Internet, at the State Forum for the Defense of the Rights of the People of Oaxaca, which was to begin on April 9 in the auditorium of the teachers union in Oaxaca. The Center for Community Support Working Together (CACTUS) released a statement denouncing the murders and demanding that the state authorities investigate and punish those responsible for the crime.
The state attorney general said that twenty 7.62 caliber bullet shells were found at the site of the murders, along with other arms including an AK-47. International supporters have been asked to contact their local embassies and consulates and organize demonstrations condemning the paramilitary repression of indigenous women and community media projects.
 Read more | Two Community Radio Announcers Killed in Copala, Oaxaca | Deep Dish TV blog
On Wednesday, April 9th, the Olympic Torch came to San Francisco.
The Olympics will be taking place between August 8th and 24th in Beijing, China. Many human rights groups are concerned that China is cracking down on dissidents ahead of the games. Some pro-Tibetan organizations have called for a boycott of the Olympics, and organizations such as Amnesty International are upset with China's involvement in the crises in Darfur and Burma.
Thousands of people gathered in an Francisco to either cheer or protest, but few saw the torch as the relay did not go along the announced route and the closing ceremony was cancelled.
One torchbearer tried to display a Tibetan flag but the SFPD quickly took the torch from her and pushed her onto the sidewalk.
At 9:45 in the morning of March 31st, a large force of Yolo County Sheriffs stormed the buildings at D-Q University, battering their way into the hallway of the large dorm with guns drawn, and arresting 18 students, community supporters, and elders. In a similar incident on February 20th, Sheriff's deputies came onto the sovereign campus and arrested three students. The students arrested on February 20th have their court date on Wednesday, April 2nd at 7:30am at the Woodland Courthouse and they have put out a call for supporters to attend. The court date for the 18 people arrested on March 31st is not yet known.
The international network demanding accountability for the murder of US journalist Brad Will released secret documents detailing proposed military support for Mexican security forces implicated in murder, torture and continuing arbitrary detentions.
“Finally we were able to obtain these documents, which even Members of Congress have yet to see. We hope that by releasing them to the public we will be able to better make our case for withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in military subsidies to the Mexican military. The murderers of Brad and many others in Oaxaca and Atenco and Chiapas must be brought to justice if U.S. support for human rights is to mean anything.” said Harry Bubbins, of Friends of Brad Will. Over 70% of the proposed $1.5 billion would entail lethal aid analysts revealed.
President Bush announced a $1.5 billion dollar “security cooperation initiative” proposal for Mexico that the President is trying to bury into the Iraq supplemental spending package submitted to Congress. The initiative allows sharing of U.S. military intelligence information with Mexican military counterparts and provides weaponry and training with the notoriously corrupt and brutal Mexican military and police. Read More
 PDF of leaked documents: high resolution (33 MB) or low resolution (3 MB) |  Indynewswire: Harry Bubbins on Plan Mexico and Brad Will | Stop "Plan Mexico" (Merida Initiative) | Friends of Brad Will | El Enemigo Común
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal. The court has called for a sentencing hearing that would result in either an execution or life in prison without parole. Supporters of Mumia called for protests to be held "the day after" the decision. The San Francisco demonstration and press conference took place at 5:00 pm at the federal courthouse at 7th and Mission ( Report | Audio). In Oakland on Friday, protester gathered at 14th and Broadway from 4:30-6:30 pm. ( Photos) A "day after" protest also took place in New York on Friday.  Report from press conference and protest outside the federal courthouse in Philadelphia on March 31st. National protests are being planned for April in San Francisco and Philadelphia.
It was announced on March 27th that U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has rejected all of Mumia Abu-Jamal’s demands for a new trial. In 1982 Jamal was convicted of the murder of Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in a trial where most African American jurors were systematically excluded and where critical evidence that would have proved the defendant’s innocence was excluded. The State of Pennsylvania has been ordered to hold a new sentencing hearing within 180 days. In that hearing the jury's decision will be limited to a finding of either life imprisonment, or execution by lethal injection. Jamal’s attorneys will appeal the Third Circuit's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
3rd US Circuit's Decision in Full, including Ambro's Dissent | Abu-Jamal-News.com | Mobilization to Free Mumia, SF | Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, NYC | Campaign to End the Death Penalty | Feb. 2008: PA Supreme Court rejects Mumia Abu-Jamal’s PCRA appeal
6:30PM Tuesday Jun 3
Polk Street Seance
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