Feature Archives

Nineteen year-old Kenneth Harding was approached by San Francisco police officers doing fare inspections on the Muni platform at Third and Palou on Saturday, July 16th, 2011. Within a half block of running from police through a plaza, he was shot down on Oakdale Street and left to bleed to death as police offered no medical assistance and crowd-control police arrived to hold back a growing mass of angry residents well before any emergency paramedics reached the area. Numerous gatherings, marches, rallies, and vigils have challenged SFPDs evolving version of events and protested police who continue to kill with impunity. Bayview activist Debray Carpenter was arrested by SFPD late last week and he was finally released on July 26th with no charges.

On the evening of July 3rd at the Civic Center BART station in San Francisco, two as of yet unidentified BART police officers shot and killed Charles Hill with three rounds to his chest. BART's police chief Kenton Rainey declared that he is "comfortable" with the shooting. On July 11th, at least 150 demonstrators converged at the very same station to protest the killing, to demand that the officers be held accountable and that the BART police department be shut down. Protesters had promised to disrupt the Bay Area Rapid Transit system's business as usual and BART PR spokesman Linton Johnson was forced to concede, "They succeeded."

UPDATE 7/12: Hunger Striker’s Health Rapidly Deteriorates | 7/14: Vigil to support the Prisoner Hunger Strikers

Thousands of California prisoners have come together in solidarity with the prisoners at Pelican Bay SHU. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s own figures acknowledge 6,600 prisoners participated in the hunger strike across 13 prisons in California this past weekend. The first solidarity actions were held on July 1st on both sides of the SF Bay. Further solidarity actions were held in Oakland on July 8th and San Francisco on July 9th.

Homes Not Jails took over the former Hotel Sierra at 20th and Mission streets in San Francisco on July 4th. The Hotel Sierra has been vacant for nearly 20 years. Almost 50 rooms have been empty on the building’s second floor. The action began in the afternoon with a rally in Dolores Park, then a march right into the Hotel Sierra, which had its doors wide open. There was music, food, sunbathing on the roof, and dancing in the streets. Police reportedly assaulted and hauled away one man without provocation.

Prisoners in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California announced that they are beginning an indefinite hunger strike on July 1st to protest the conditions of their imprisonment, which they say are cruel and inhumane. An online petition has been started by supporters of the strikers. Key demands include the elimination of group punishments, modification of active/inactive gang status criteria, and the provision of adequate food.

Joshua Hart, Director of Stop Smart Meters! was arrested on June 21st after blocking the entrance to the Capitola PG&E payment center in protest of PG&E’s illegal “smart” meter installations in the County. The County of Santa Cruz, as well as the Cities of Capitola and Watsonville, have adopted urgency ordinances prohibiting the installation of wireless “smart” meters within their jurisdictions. Forty-three local governments throughout the state have formally demanded a halt to the program because of concerns about health, privacy, accuracy, and fire safety.

Hundreds of people turned out at San Francisco City Hall on Friday, June 17th, to participate in the "Communities Rising to End the Drug War and Mass Incarceration" rally and march to protest the 40-year "war on drugs" and continued criminalization of the poor, the addicted, and communities of color. The protest then marched to the state and federal buildings nearby.