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UID:Indybay-18852089
SEQUENCE:19014777
CREATED:20220917T051600Z
DESCRIPTION:Several dozen folks were displaced and the property they could not remove 
 was trashed in Phase One last Monday.  Those who fled with their property 
 deeper into the Benchlands encampment report being pursued and threatened 
 by police claiming the property they took with them was "trash".\n\nSeveral 
 days ago, a police officer collapsed Lawrenceh McGregor's tent  while he 
 was inside, injuring him and destroying the tent.  The officer reportedly 
 claimed he had "fled" from the Phase One area (now destroyed and bulldozed) 
 to the Phase Two area (slated for bulldozing noon Monday September 
 19th).\n\nOn Wednesday, attorney Anthony Prince of the California Homeless 
 Union, Alicia Kuhl, and Keith McHenry advised a group of Benchlands 
 residents of strategies for resisting the illegal demolition of their 
 camps.  These included a possible Temporary Restraining Order stopping the 
 City Manager's phased demolition, communities to other areas but 
 maintaining solidarity, and/or filling up the inadequate shelter spaces to 
 protect the remainder of the Benchlands campers.\n\nThe Martin v. Boise 
 court decision bans prosecution of unhoused folks living outside under 
 ordinances that criminalize their presence unless there is alternate indoor 
 shelter,  Such shelter does not exist in Santa Cruz for the totality of the 
 Benchlands residents (much less the broader unhoused community.  That 
 community faces harassment, displacement and camp destruction under the 
 City's harsh CSSO (Camping Services and Standards Ordinance).   \n\nPrince 
 and the Union have previously secured limited injunctions in Santa Cruz, 
 Sausalito, Watsonville, Novato, Sacramento, and elsewhere.  Some are 
 pessimistic about the prospects of an injunction in the Benchlands because 
 of the public safety problems created last winter by flooding.  Others 
 believe the history of encampment destruction affecting hundreds of 
 residents over the last year and the statements of the City Manager stating 
 that the CSSO is now legally enforceable make an injunction a possible 
 success.\n\nCome to the Benchlands at 6 PM Saturday September 17th to map 
 out further strategies for dealing with the short term deadline of 
 September 19th, and the longer term creeping devastation coldly planned the 
 rest of the Benchlands encampment in phases.\n\nBring friends, video 
 equipment, cameras, notebooks, and warm clothing.   Rain is a 
 possibility.\n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2022/09/16/18852089.php
SUMMARY:Benchlands Resistance Organizing
LOCATION:Benchlands near the 2nd stairway down from the Courthouse parking lot as 
 you walk from Water St. towards the Duck Pond in San Lorenzo Park.
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2022/09/16/18852089.php
DTSTART:20220918T010000Z
DTEND:20220918T023000Z
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