Feature Archives

The Barrio Defense Committee (BDC) has called for a vigil to protest the May 27th police killing of Samuel Martinez, who was a 34 year-old father of two children. Martinez was tasered, shot, and killed by a San Jose police officer early last Friday morning. in the 2000 block of Countrywalk Circle in North San Jose. The BDC says, "We make a call for a Vigil because too many people have been killed by the San Jose Police unnecessarily.... too many people from the Mexican community have been killed by the San Jose Police, such as Victor Duran, Danny Duran who had his hands up, Robert Treviño, 23-year old Jose Perez Flores. We make a call for this Vigil because people cannot be killed over reasons that can be dealt with verbally without force or violence." The vigil will be held on Saturday, June 4th, 2005 at 3:00 p.m., at the corner of Countrywalk Circle and Creekside Drive in North San Jose. Read more

In spite of huge budget shortfalls and polls that show that Californians want cuts to prison spending and are in favor of rehabilitation over more prisons, California will open its 33rd state prison on June 1st: the $750 million Delano II. At the same time, the state is closing schools, hospitals and libraries. On June 1st, hundreds of people all over California will protest the opening of the Delano II prison and the closing of public institutions that truly build safe communities.

"Reverse Ribbon Cuttings" were held at 12pm in several cities around the state on Wednesday, June 1st to protest the opening of the Delano II Prison. In Oakland, a protest was held at the State Building (Photos); in Delano, people gathered outside of the Delano II Prison Gates; in Los Angeles, there was a rally at the King/Drew Medical Center; in Fresno, people gathered at the Fresno Unified School District (Photos); and at 3:30pm gathered at Golden Gate Elementary School in San Francisco. More details

Californians United for a Responsible Budget

As part of an International Day of Solidarity with political prisoners in Guadalajara, Mexico, California Anarchist Prisoner Solidarity (CAPS) presented a benefit video screening. All proceeds went to support political prisoners in Guadalajara. The screening in San Francisco took place on Sunday, May 29th, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. at Station 40. In Guadalajara, Jalisco, several days of action were planned for May 26th–28th to remember the repression that took place one year ago.

Videos to be screened included: "Tortas Ahogadas," about resistance and repression in Guadalajara last May; "Green with a Vengeance," about the case of US eco-defense prisoner Jeffrey "Free" Luers; "Attica Is All of Us," a brand new video about the 1971 uprising at Attica prison in New York State; and "Charisse Shumate: Fighting for our Lives," about a prisoner who catalyzed other incarcerated women to stand up against the California Department of Corrections. More about the benefit screening

CAPS website | Freedom Archives | Free Free Website

The police corruption retrial of the Oakland "Riders" ended on May 19th in the same way the original proceedings did, with a jury acquitting on some of the charges and stalemated on the bulk of the counts. The jury reported that it was intractably divided on 13 of the 16 felony charges in the case against Clarence "Chuck" Mabanag, Jude Siapno and Matthew Hornung. The jury was evenly split on whether the former OPD officers conspired to subvert justice by lying in reports to cover up beatings and bolster bogus arrests. Mabanag and Siapno have been ordered to return go back before the same judge for a June 2 hearing on whether the DA will seek a third trial on any of the unresolved criminal counts. The judge left in place a gag order barring those involved in the proceedings from speaking about the case outside court.

The first Riders trial took over a year and ended in September 2003 with acquittals on eight criminal counts and a polarized jury deadlocked on the remaining charges. This first retrial started in November of 2004. It is now up to Alameda County District Attorney Thomas Orloff to decide whether to invest in a third Riders police corruption trial after jurors deadlocked on the majority of the charges in the case.

Hornung, Siapno and Mabanag and alleged Riders ringleader Frank Vazquez were charged with conspiring to cover for each other by lying in police reports to justify specious drug arrests or hide unwarranted uses of force. They were fired from the Oakland Police Department and then criminally charged after an investigation triggered by the resignation of a new officer. The city is already talking about getting the officers their jobs back.

Read more | Report | Indybay coverage of 2003 acquittal | Indybay coverage from 2002 Jury Selection | Coverage from before beginning of trial

May 18, 2005: The American Civil Liberties Union charged today that the FBI and local police are engaging in intimidation based on political association and are improperly investigating law-abiding human rights and advocacy groups. These charges were determined based on documents that were obtained through a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. ACLU affiliates today filed FOIA requests seeking similar documents in ten states.

After hearing widespread complaints from students and political activists who said they were questioned by FBI agents in the months leading up to last summer’s political conventions, the ACLU filed FOIA requests in several states and the District of Columbia in December of 2004 on behalf of over 100 groups and individuals. The ACLU has so far only received fewer than 20 pages in response to the FOIAs. The ACLU charges that the FBI is wrongfully withholding thousands of pages of documents, and today filed a lawsuit in federal court to compel the FBI to comply with the FOIA requests. The complaint seeks files kept by the FBI on the ACLU, as well as Greenpeace, United for Peace and Justice, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. A memo that the ACLU has obtained indicates that the feds have been watching a Food Not Bombs chapter in Colorado for some time. Read more

A classified FBI intelligence memorandum disclosed publicly in November 2003 revealed that the FBI has directed police to target and monitor lawful political demonstrations under the rubric of fighting terrorism. This memo is available online. For details and legal papers regarding the FOIA requests filed this week by ACLU affiliates around the country, including a list of clients, go to the ACLU's FBI Spy Files page.

These activists were not the only ones who were targeted by the FBI in 2004- animal rights activists' homes were invaded, Indymedia server hard drives were confiscated, and people of Arab and Muslim descent in part under the October Plan, as well as Native Americans on reservations, were harassed all year, often a result of collusion betwen local police and the FBI. "Preempt the FBI" and what to do if the FBI comes to your house.

Intimidation against DNC Activists | Account from one of the Denver activists | FBI visits Lawrence, Kansas activists | Anti-Media Terrorism at the DNC | 7/22 statement from Kansas Mutual Aid Legal Collective | Anarchist Report from the RNC, including analysis of FBI "intelligence" efforts

The Coalition for Justice and Accountability held a press conference on a rainy Monday, May 9th, in front of San Jose City Hall calling for a ban on the use of tasers, which are the electric shock devices now carried by all San Jose patrol officers. After the killing of Bich Cau Thi Tran in 2003, the Coalition itself for a short time welcomed tasers as an alternative to deadly force. But the tasers turned out to be deadly themselves, and now over 100 have died across America after being shocked by the devices.

The Coalition, anxious to prevent a taser killing in San Jose, issued a report Monday that says that tasers are being used with alarming frequency, and since they were put into use in San Jose, the number of police shootings has increased, not decreased as was predicted. "They are being used primarily on the vulnerable members of our population," said Aram James, a Coalition spokesperson. "They've been tested in the streets, and we've had more than 100 deaths now, and if that's not enough to say 'look, it's time to ban them,' I don't know what is." Photos

Julio Ayala, a 26 year-old Salvadoran national, was beaten to death for 15 minutes by thirteen South San Francisco police on April 3rd, 2005. The police came after him a bit after midnight because an SF Airport Inn Manager and the occupant of the room adjacent to Julio's had complained about excessive noise. The official version stands: Julio "stopped breathing" while constrained in a body wrap. Julio Ayala's family was not allowed to view the body due to "lack of suitable facility," was barred from talking to hotel staff, and has not been able to access autopsy, PD, paramedic, or Fire Department reports. Idriss Stelley Foundation, October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Ella Baker Center, and staff from SF Carecen and Coleman Advocates are launching the Justice4JulioAyala Campaign to support the Ayala family's struggle for justice. A candlelight vigil was held on the 30-Day Anniversary of Julio's death by the SF Airport Inn.

The Ayala family attended the march and rally on the anniversary of the death of Cammerin Boyd in San Francisco on May 5th, and have joined the ranks of families whose loved ones have been killed by Law enforcement in the Bay Area, who are struggling for justice. A press conference and protest were held on the steps of South San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday May 18th, 2005 at 5pm (Report | Photos). A traditional 40-day mass was held on Thursday, May 12th at St. John of the Shipwreck on 3rd and Jamestown in San Francisco. The next step in the justice campaign will be a special hearing to be scheduled with the San Mateo City Council in June.