Feature Archives

UPDATE: Former BART officer Johannes Mehserle made bail and was released Friday afternoon.

On Friday the 6th, many organizations called for a day of resistance to police brutality. At 9AM at the Wiley W. Manuel courthouse in Oakland, many of the over 130 people arrested for protesting the police murder of Oscar Grant had their arraignments. The Oakland 100 Support Committee called for a show of support. On the same day and court, a pre-trial hearing was scheduled but postponed for Stafani Tang stemming from demonstrations at the Marine Recruiting Station at Berkeley. At 3PM, families of victims of police murder and supporters gathered for a "March of Stolen Lives" at Frank Ogawa Plaza.

The small town of Carpinteria, California is the latest battleground in Native Americans’ fight against racism. The controversy over a supposedly “harmless” high school sports mascot has alienated the Native American population of Carpinteria, who have come to fear violent reprisals from the non-Native community.

On January 30th, bail for BART police officer Johannes Mehserle was set at $3 million. Protesters gathered outside the courthouse and marched toward 14th and Broadway after the bail was announced. Oakland police fired tear gas and projectiles at protesters and later blocked off several roads. At least nine people were tackled and arrested for "failure to disperse." On January 31st, a demonstration was held at Oakland City Hall. Around 50 people gathered despite the large number of police present. Demonstrators read their demands for police accountability.

On January 23rd, Annette Garcia, a mother of three, was shot to death by Riverside Sheriffs after they received calls that she was suicidal and under duress due to a marriage dispute. Reports by the family and witnesses state that she "posed no harm to the officers involved, yet she was shot at six times until a bullet hit her in the back as she tried to run for cover." Due to this outrage and other recent police misconducts and abuse around the nation, several community members from Watsonville and Santa Cruz held a candlelight vigil protest on January 25th in Watsonville.

American Indian leader and political prisoner Leornard Peltier was brutally beaten on Tuesday, January 20th, just after he was transferred to the Canaan Federal Penitentiary in Pennsylvania. On Friday, January 23rd, the American Indian community and their supporters came out in the rain in San Francisco to protest the attack on Leonard Peltier. Family members of Leonard feel the assault was orchestrated by the FBI to prejudice his next parole hearing.

The BART police officer filmed shooting Oscar Grant was arrested on January 13th. On January 14th, thousands gathered in front of Oakland City Hall for a rally to protest the shooting. One of the rally's organizers stated, "The job is not done. He has been arrested but he has not yet been prosecuted. The fight is definitely not over." When the main protests ended, there was a break-away protest. Around 8:20pm a Wells Fargo was attacked. Police moved in with tear-gas and over the next few hours there were 18 arrests. On January 16th, court hearings for arrested protesters were held. Oakland students walked out of classes to speak out at the county courthouse. At 4:40pm, students returned from the county courthouse to Oakland High. Other students started joining them and the police charged in. Four arrested and one student attacked violently by the OPD. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 19th, a March for Justice & Reparations for the Family of Oscar Grant III started at West Oakland BART.

SANTA CRUZ, CA – The Diversity Center’s Latino Outreach program will hold a presentation of the “Assessment of the Latino Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community of Santa Cruz County” on Thursday, January 15th, at 5:00pm at the Diversity Center (1117 Soquel Ave). This report will present what Latino LGBT people have identified as their issues and needs and how one can better support them as service providers, family, friends and teachers.