Feature Archives

4/25 marks the latest deadline for BCIS special registration, this time for nationals of Bangaldesh, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Indonesia. In response, antiwar, civil rights, and other groups have once again joined together to protest the unjust registration and detentions of Middle-Eastern and South-Asian visitors and immigrants. The SF rally is scheduled for noon-1:30pm at 444 Washington St.; tune in to Enemy Combatant Radio coverage from 8am to 3pm.

Thousands of immigrants from dozens of countries have been subjected to INS (now BCIS) special registration, with many detained and brutally treated. The FBI has begun compiling detailed information on mosques and Middle Eastern communities. Pakistani immigrants, fearful of detentions, have attempted to enter Canada, only to be stopped at the border and returned to the US. The latest victims of the police-state roundup include Professor Sami Al-Arian and Michael Hawash, who is being detained as a material witness under secret warrants issued at the request of the Justice Department. Refuse and Resist | Blue Triangle Network

Citing Liability, Oakland City Attorney Puts a Lid on Public Hearing
The Oakland Police Department's violent attacks on non-violent demonstrators during a demonstration on 4/7, which received condemnation from Amnesty International, is being met with resistance. On Apr 26 a union-led rally is being held against the brutality suffered by ILWU members and activists, along with an Injured Protester Feeder March. In an attempt to highlight the daily violence inflicted upon low-income and mostly people of color communities, a community forum is being organized for Apr 28 to discuss responses and make policy proposals to the city's public safety committee, which is meeting on Apr 29. Event synopsis

4/7: Anti-War demonstrators arrived around 5AM at the port of Oakland to picket two firms profiteering off the war in Iraq. By 7AM, the picket line was successful in provoking the ILWU into sending many of its workers home for the day. After approximately 30 minutes, the Oakland Police Department moved in to disperse the demonstrators, using concussion grenades , wooden bullets, and beanbags full of metal shot. Scores of people, including six onlooking workers, suffered injuries and Jack Heyman (Business Agent, ILWU Local 10) was arrested with over 35 other protesters and port workers.

Police violence quickly forced protesters back to the West Oakland BART station and there was then a spirited march downtown to the Oakland Federal Building. A press conference was held at 2:30 in front of City Hall to address issues of police violence towards workers and protesters.

Strong anti-war sentiments by longshoremen combined with disgust at OPD violence kept large portions of the Oakland docks shut down for most of the day, but as would be expected Mayor Jerry Brown defended the police brutalization of protesters.

Photos:   1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10   Reports:   1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8   Video:   1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Over the last few weeks Willie Brown and the SFPD have shown their true colors with
arbitrary arrests of dissidents:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18
brutalization of peaceful protesters:
1| 2| 3| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19
theft of property (1)
and open prowar activities by on-duty police officers.
Street sweeps resulting in arrests of journalists have been part of a new SFPD policy of intimidating any press coverage of protests that does not follow the Newsom/Brown line.

A confidential police memo, part of a dossier obtained under the Sunshine Ordinance, acknowledges the SF Police Department has been monitoring this web site, using undercover officers to spy on antiwar protesters, and apparently collecting personal information about political dissidents, the Bay Guardian has learned. The internal SFPD documents and a new audit performed by the city's police watchdog agency, the Office of Citizen Complaints, indicate the department has been gathering intelligence on the militant wing of the antiwar movement since last fall. The documents suggest some SFPD commanders may have orchestrated a secret spying program without the knowledge of top police officials, which violates the department's own rules. Full Story | Confidential Police Documents | Special Operations Bureau and Spying At March 15 Protest | Spying Last Year At May Day Protest In East Bay

Latest News: Facing an unprecedented indictment of corruption in SFPD, the Police Commission decided to do absolutely nothing at a hearing today. All six commanding officers said they would "step aside" during the investigation. Chief Sanders has been suddenly struck ill and must take a "medical leave disability." Maybe frauding the public employee's medical disability laws is next on the agenda for the fallen chief? Terrence Hallinan has said he will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.

Monday, 12 Noon, 850 Bryant, Room 551: Join others to demand that the Police Chief, Mayor and others be immediately fired for their history of corruption and murder. Surprise indictments have cast a long shadow on Willie Brown and SFPD, including those who have helped cover up their brutality, like Amos Brown, Dianne Feinstein, and the entire editorial staff of the SF Chronicle. read more

Grand jury indictments against ten SFPD commanders and officers have created an unprecedented emergency for the Willie Brown political machine with the city awaiting almost all of the top brass to turn themselves in. New police chief Prentice Sanders and gestapo bureaucrat Alex Fagan were among those indicted. Years of corruption including frame-ups, murder, election fraud and even mass suicide are now thrown in the face of these "consummate professionals" (in the words of the equally corrupt SF Chronicle). As the U.S. rolls onward towards a war which will provoke intense domestic unrest in San Francisco, the city's old elite are finding their backs against the wall.

More Local Police News | SFPD Paramilitary Scoresheet

The PATRIOT Act, hastily signed into law after 9/11 in a frenzy of flag-waving and hand wringing by politicians, corporate america, and the corporate media, has a successor. The Center for Public Integrity leaked the draft to the public before the Justice Department put out a statement.

The legislation is nicknamed Patriot II and would markedly increase the government's ability to legally surveil and detain you. Amongst other things, the law allows the government to ease restrictions on the use of secret evidence, conduct domestic wiretapping without court order for 15 days following a congressional authorization of use of force or an attack on the US, and deport any alien, including green-card holders, who are convicted of drug possession or an aggravated felony. Walk against the Patriot Act | ACLU Questions & Answers | Wired.com article | All about COINTELPRO