Feature Archives

On April 4th, a dozen people demonstrated on the sidewalk in front of the Wells Fargo Bank located at 74 River St. in downtown Santa Cruz, and across the street from the vacant bank building at 75 River St. The event was held to "encourage those victimized by the bank to learn they have allies" and "support the hundreds of people who visited or protested the vacant building at 75 River St. in late November and early December last year."

On Sunday, April 1st, Occupy SF working groups and affinity groups occupied a vacant building at 888 Turk Street, The idea was to liberate a vacant building and convert it into a social center, shelter and food bank for the people. The SF Commune stated that they initiated the occupation "to provide a perpetual, autonomous headquarters for the Occupy SF movement." The building has space for food preparation and distribution, bedrooms for housing, event rooms for General Assemblies and art projects, classrooms and space for medical services. When San Francisco police raided the building on April 2nd, over 50 people were arrested.

On February 26th, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot dead by self-styled vigilante George Zimmerman in Sandford, Florida. Sanford police did not arrest Zimmerman for killing the unarmed teenager, nor even take physical evidence such as Zimmerman's clothing or the handgun he used that night. Police allowed Zimmerman to walk away without charges under the protection of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law. Rallies and marches have been held across the country for Trayvon, including at least three thus far in San Francisco and Oakland.

Gary Johnson is a homeless activist who maintained a nightly protest at the Santa Cruz Courthouse from late December until earlier January against local and state laws which criminalize the basic human necessity to sleep. Johnson, who slept next to a sign which stated "6.36.010 647(e) A LEGACY OF CRUELTY", was arrested four times for "lodging" in violation of Penal Code 647(e) and "trespassing" PC 602(o) during his protests. A jury trial was held March 20th-22nd at the Santa Cruz Courthouse, the publicly owned building which Johnson slept in front of. About an hour after assembling, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all four counts of "illegal lodging".

Santa Cruz County District Attorney Bob Lee has embarked on a full frontal assault against independent media in Santa Cruz by including four regular contributors to the independent news website Indybay.org amongst the eleven people charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors after the occupation of a vacant bank building on November 30th, 2011. District Attorney Lee is attempting to dictate how events such as the occupation of the vacant bank at 75 River Street should be reported on by the media.

On December 31st, 2011, President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2012, codifying indefinite military detention without charge or trial into law for the first time in American history. The NDAA’s dangerous detention provisions would authorize the president — and all future presidents — to order the military to pick up and indefinitely imprison people captured anywhere in the world, far from any battlefield.

On February 27, several dozen community members involved with Occupy Santa Cruz joined in a solidarity march with occupies across the country and the world, protesting repression of the occupy movement and the associated police violence. The march started from the Santa Cruz County court house occupation location of Occupy Santa Cruz, and it made its way through the downtown to City Hall, where a candlelight vigil was held.