March 30: Lt. Yoell led an operation to arrest Father Donald Weeks based on information provided from a police snitch who claims to have been sexually abused over 10 years ago. Donny Ratcliff, acting administrator and chaplain at the abbey, said Tuesday that the charges against Weeks were bogus and characterized his arrest as retribution for having briefly sheltered the recently released sexual predator Cary Verse earlier this month.
March 16: In a packed city hall, with scores of residents and organizations from Critical Resistance to the ACLU given 1 minute each to speak their piece about the city locking people out of homes and schools, the Oakland City Council approved a new draft of the "Nuisance Eviction Ordinance" 6-0 with 1 abstention; a final vote will take place at the next meeting on April 6.
March 15: Councilman De La Fuente whipped up a mob of 200 locals to protest outside of Verse's then residence at St. Patrick's Abbey, and then followed up by having an Eviction Notice served to Father Weeks and all the residents at the East Oakland location.
For info on Trinity Plaza and more in-depth coverage of other Housing Struggles, see Indybay's Poverty page