Feature Archives

On May 4th, community members gathered at the Santa Cruz Courthouse for a press conference and rally to demand District Attorney Bob Lee drop the charges against the Santa Cruz Eleven, who have all been charged with felonies arising from the occupation of a vacant bank building last fall. Organizers of the rally believe the DA should, "re-examine the basis for the charges, and the Court must ensure that these activists are not being selectively prosecuted." Approximately 100 people were in attendance at the courthouse rally, and after a brief press conference that had seven of the Santa Cruz Eleven introducing themselves, the group marched through downtown Santa Cruz.

On Friday, May 4th, at 2:00 PM, at the Santa Cruz Courthouse, there will be a press conference, rally and march to demand dropping all charges against the Santa Cruz Eleven. The Santa Cruz Eleven are local community members who have been charged with an unprecedented variety of offenses arising from their alleged involvement with the occupation of a long-time vacant bank building late last fall, 2011. Supporters of the Santa Cruz Eleven are seeking local, regional, national and international support for the defense of these community members.

Occupy Wall Street in New York called for a nationwide May Day General Strike. Cities and towns across the United States are heeding the call. Workers will be striking, students will be leaving classes, and banks and other large corporations will be forced to close for the day across the nation. May 1st, 2012, promises to be the largest American May Day since the Immigrant Rights May Day in 2006 and probably the most widespread and furthest reaching in decades.

A resolution in support of all eleven defendants who were charged in relation to the occupation of 75 River Street in Fall of 2011 was adopted by Occupy Santa Cruz at their general assembly held on April 29. Steve Pleich facilitated the general assembly, held on the steps of the Santa Cruz Post Office, and read the resolution before Occupy Santa Cruz adopted it. The resolution by Occupy Santa Cruz "calls for the immediate dismissal of all charges presently lodged against the River Street defendants.

Thousands of angry homeowners, immigrants, union members, Occupiers and community groups converged on the annual shareholders meeting of Wells Fargo Bank on April 24th. In a carefully choreographed protest, simultaneous marches left Justin Herman Plaza on the city's waterfront, site of the Occupy San Francisco encampment last fall. Demonstrators walked up parallel streets into the financial district, where they encircled the block in which the meeting was set to take place, in the Julia Morgan ballroom of the Merchant's Exchange Building.

On April 18th, in one of the largest rallies in SEIU 1021's history, 23 members were arrested in front of Bank of America Wednesday for taking a stand against mega banks and corporations who have been cheating San Francisco residents for over a decade. More than 1,300 people were chanting “Let the People Go, Arrest the CEOs,” as 23 protesters were handcuffed and put into the back of SFPD vans. On the front and back of each protester were large stickers that read “It’s time to draw the line: downtown greed or the city we need.”

Copwatcher reports: Oakland Police claim that they have retrained all their officers in crowd control tactics for the upcoming May 1st general strike. While much is unclear about what will be different, there are things that are sure to be the same. Officers that make up most of Oakland's Police Shootings will continue to be deployed as Tango and QRF (Quick Response Force). OPD Chief Howard Jordan has suggested that he may send specialized units into the crowd for the purpose of making surgical arrests, rather than use lethal force through the deployment of chemical and less than lethal rounds indiscriminately.