HUFFsters will slurp coffee and trade stories of Freedom SleepOut #11 at the usual time and place (703 Pacific) as well as review recent tallies of Park and Recreation Citations (thank you, Avian and Laura!). Coming up also–the “End the Violence Against Freedom Sleepers and the Homeless” Press Conference Thursday 5:30 PM in front of the Rio Theater, the River St. Shelter Waiting List–Hoax or Delusion?, Vancouver’s Decision to End the Sleeping Ban, and other stuff as well!
Author Archives: huffsantacruz
Back for More Punishment: “Guard the Homeless” Freedom Sleepers Back for Round Eleven
| Title: | No Council Meet But Freedom Sleepers Gather for SleepOut #11 |
| START DATE: | Tuesday September 22 |
| TIME: | 5:00 PM – 5:00 AM |
| Location Details: | |
| In the City Hall Courtyard as long as folks choose, and then on the sidewalks nearby. The event is scheduled to go on until 7:30 AM or 8 AM Wednesday 9-23. | |
| Event Type: | Protest |
| Contact Name | Phil Posner (posting by Norse) |
| Email Address | chatrabbi [at] aol.com |
| Phone Number | |
| Address | |
| OBJECTIVE; TO END LAWS MAKING HOMELESS SLEEP A CRIME The Freedom Sleepers is a Coalition of organizations including Food Not Bombs, Homeless Depot, the Homeless Legal Assistance Project, HUFF, and Housing Now! in Santa Cruz. We want to end the Sleeping Ban, Camping Ban, Blanket Ban, Lodging Ban–and other laws that make survival camping a crime in Santa Cruz. Instead of citing and arresting people under MC 6.36 (the Camping Ordinance), police have been using the Closed Areas ordinance, which allows city authorities to designate large areas as “forbidden to enter” at night. One of these areas is the City Hall courtyard, a large grassy area in front of City Hall, the seat of government in Santa Cruz. However in other parts of Santa Cruz in the last three months, police and rangers have issued nearly 1000 Sleeping Ban tickets, costing $157 each. There is no emergency shelter program operating; waiting lists for transitional programs are full; and social services for such essentials as food, showers, laundry, and bathrooms have been eliminated for the general homeless population at the Homeless (Lack of) Services Center. COUNTERING VIOLENCE BY FIRST ALARM SECURITY See “Sleepout protest fighting Santa Cruz anti-camping ordinance moves into tenth week” at http://www.indybay.org/ “First Alarm Security Guards Violently Detain Woman at Santa Cruz City Hall” at http://www.indybay.org/ “2 Harassment Arrests, 2 “Standing in a Parking Spot” Cites at Freedom Sleepers Protest #10″ at http://www.indybay.org/ PRESS CONFERENCE 9-24 5:45 PM IN FRONT OF RIO THEATER In response, we will be inviting the media to hear accounts of police abuse by homeless folks and housed activists. The conference will feature homeless speakers and Rabbi Phil Posner as well as others impacted by the new crackdown. SLEEPOUT WILL PROVIDE PB&J, PORTAPOTTY, AND PALS City Council has cancelled its regular second 4th Tuesday of the month meeting in deference to a Jewish holiday, but declines to suspend nightly harassment of homeless refugees outside who have no place to sleep (and are often hassled during the day for being visibly present in public spaces). THE VANCOUVER, WA BREAKTHROUGH EVERYONE INVITED: DO YOUR PART ! WITNESSES ARE ESPECIALLY WELCOME…between 9:30 PM and midnight, when police regularly descend with ticke books and handcuffs. Bring a sleeping bag, a blanket, some food, video and audio equipment, and some friends. We need your help. The conscience of the City requires it. |
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Violence by Hired Security Thugs at Freedom Sleeper Protest #10
NOTE BY NORSE: Christina Barnes was not the only person falsely arrested last night by police backing up the new freeze-em-with-force-and-fear policies of police and city-funded goon squads (i.e. First Alarm). With Council member Micah Posner looking on, SCPD punished Rabbi Phil Posner and his wife Louise Drummond for standing in one of the “no parking zones” set up by the cops all around City Hall. They cited the two for a vehicle code, though their real crime seemed to be trying to get close enough to witness police behavior towards Christina Barnes. Posner’s only response to all this was that he’d “speak to the chief.”
Shortly thereafter, they stopped Food Not Bombs organizer Abbi Samuels when she crossed the street with a coffee container. When asked her name, she referred them to Sgt. Forbis standing nearby, and was immediately handcuffed and hauled off to jail for “obstructing an officer”.
The level of harassment is rising
I have further comments below and encourage folks to go to https://www.indybay.org/
Shortly thereafter, they stopped Food Not Bombs organizer Abbi Samuels when she crossed the street with a coffee container. When asked her name, she referred them to Sgt. Forbis standing nearby, and was immediately handcuffed and hauled off to jail for “obstructing an officer”.
The level of harassment is rising
I have further comments below and encourage folks to go to https://www.indybay.org/
First Alarm Security Guards Violently Detain Woman at Santa Cruz City Hall
by Alex Darocy ( alex [at] alexdarocy.com )
Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
On the evening of September 15, two First Alarm security guards, Nathan Hammack and Ken Hietala, violently detained Christina Latic Barnes, a black woman who had been peacefully sitting on the lawn in the courtyard of Santa Cruz City Hall during hours the area is open to the public. The security guards were employed by the city to monitor the Freedom Sleepers, who held their tenth in a series of all-night sleepouts at City Hall organized to protest local laws that criminalize homelessness. [Top video: The video can also be viwed at: https://youtu.be/sV9O-frMPyA ]
 Copy the following to embed the movie into another web page:
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download video: first_alarm_security_guards. |
On September 15 at around 8pm, Nathan Hammack and Ken Hietla were patrolling the City Hall courtyard when they suddenly approached Barnes, who was sitting with a friend on a blanket on the lawn.
When Barnes stood up, Hietala then walked behind her and stood very near to her body. Hammack also quickly moved in.
“I was bombarded by two men,” she recalled in an interview conducted later that evening.
She was standing next to her blanket, and within an area that was delineated by other possessions of hers that were casually laid out on the lawn close to her.
Barnes said she was stretching her arms and she accidentally touched Hietala, which is when the trouble began.
He told her she had assaulted him and that she was under arrest for battery.
“He was within my physical reach for no legal reason,” she explained. “He was within my boundaries.”
It is unclear which of the two security guards placed the handcuffs on her, but she said she thought they were adjusted especially tightly in order to intentionally cause her physical pain.
“Purposely, it was done,” she said.
Barnes was also barefoot through the entire incident.
After she was handcuffed, Hammack attempted to take control of Barnes’ body. She writhed in pain from his tugging and prodding, and in response he told her numerous times to stop “resisting” the arrest.
“I was not resisting,” Barnes said. “I was hurting.”
The two struggled physically back and forth and Hammack stated loudly to those present that Barnes had just bit him.
Briefly they both stopped tugging at each other, and Hammack dragged Barnes along on her feet to the front entrance of City Hall.
“Stop resisting, it’s gonna go a lot easier,” Hammack said to her firmly.
When in the front area of City Hall, Hammack pushed Barnes down into a sitting position on the stone retaining wall that surrounds the civic complex.
Over the span of the incident, Barnes asked Hammack many times to stop hurting her, and she also asked for a female security officer because she felt that Hammack and Hietala were touching her inappropriately. When seated on the stone wall, she began to push at both guards with her feet in what appeared to be an attempt to move them away from her.
Hammack responded by grabbing her with both hands and slamming her body on to the stone wall. She screamed and continued to say, “stop.”
When she was dropped on to the stone wall, she landed on her abdomen. The guards the shoved her face first into an agave plant that bore sharp, spiny leaves.
The security guards grabbed on to Barnes tightly and twisted her legs and body in order to flip her over. At one point her back was bent backwards as Hammack pinned her down to the retaining wall.
Barnes attempted to communicate and plead with the guards through the entire incident that the handcuffs they put on her were far too tight.
Angry onlookers surrounded the guards as they threw Barnes around on the stone wall.
“Stop hurting her,” they shouted repeatedly, though no one physically intervened.
At least four people video recorded the incident at close range.
Hietala used his walkie talkie to request a police backup. When Rodney Dukelow, the first officer from the Santa Cruz Police Department to arrive, he led Barnes away from Hammack and Hietala, and walked her to his patrol vehicle.
He provided some real relief for Barnes, she said. He worked to properly adjust the handcuffs that were placed on her by the First Alarm guards. She shrieked loudly in pain during the process.
“When the police officers came and tried to finish the arrest, I proceeded to get them to loosen up the handcuffs because First Alarm was not cooperating with my requests” she said.
Five additional police officers arrived and positioned themselves between Barnes and the large group of protesters that had amassed on the sidewalk in front of City Hall since the melee had begun.
Center Street was packed with police vehicles parked in the middle of the street.
Police politely escorted Hammack across the street from City Hall, where an officer briefly questioned him. She then photographed two areas on his body that he alleged were physically impacted by Barnes during the incident.
One officer on the scene could be heard calling for assistance, and the SCPD’s Lt. Christian LeMoss arrived a short time later. There were many witnesses and police took down the accounts of what they saw.
After a brief stay in county jail, Barnes returned on foot to City Hall at around 1am. She was in physical pain, but in good spirits. She said she had been treated fine in jail and that she was arrested on the charge of battery.
When asked where on her body she was hurt, she said her right hand hurt and her arms were, “still swollen.”
Additionally, she was bruised all over her body, she said.
Earlier in the day, Hammack openly exhibited abusive behavior towards a variety of individuals present in the City Hall courtyard.
Two different individuals stated that they had seen Hammack trying to coerce Barnes into leaving the City Hall courtyard, even though she wasn’t breaking any laws and it was her right to enjoy the space.
A short while later, Hammack could be heard telling another individual, “If you touch me I will arrest you, handcuff you, and drag you to jail.” The person Hammack threatened appeared to be maintaining a safe, respectful distance from him.
First Alarm Security Services was founded in Santa Cruz County. According to their website, the company employs more than 600 security guards throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
“Through growth, experience, and acquisition, First Alarm has become a name widely recognized for safety and dependability,” the website states.
“Our mission is to enhance life and safety.”
“At First Alarm we have a high level of accountability to our employees, our customers, and the communities we serve,” the website further states.
Over a hundred individuals have stayed the night at City Hall as part of the Freedom Sleepers’ community sleepouts, which began on July 4. The city government has not been supportive of the protests, though, and city staff has directed the police to aggressively crack down on them.
For more information about the sleepouts, see:
Freedom Sleepers
http://freedomsleepers.org/
http://www.facebook.com/
Alex Darocy
http://alexdarocy.blogspot.
§Hammack and Hietala have Barnes on her abdomen on the stone retaining wall
by Alex Darocy Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
§Twisitng Barnes on to her back
by Alex Darocy Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
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by Alex Darocy Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
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by Alex Darocy Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
§Hammack gets in the face of a witness to the assault on Barnes
by Alex Darocy Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
§Officer Rodney Dukelow loosens the handcuffs
by Alex Darocy Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
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by Alex Darocy Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
§Hietala looks on as police take away Barnes
by Alex Darocy Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
§Police officer photographs the alleged impacts on Hammack
by Alex Darocy Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
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by Alex Darocy Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
§Nathan Hammack
by Alex Darocy Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
§Ken Hietala
by Alex Darocy Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 5:48 PM
Comments (Hide Comments)
First Alarm guards Hammock and Hietala look like goons. What stupid fools stick a detainee’s face into a sharp agave plant?
Later that evening when First Alarm were involved in confronting some protesters at the corner, I requested to know their names aned badge numbers. Two of them refused to answer and covered their name tags when I approached to read them. I then continued to question one as he backed away saying “stay away from me”, “I’m calling the police” When police arrived shortly thereafter (probably as part of their “drive peaceful protesters out of the city hall courtyard area” agenda, he lied to the police insisting I’d “battered” him by touching him. Perhaps because of the number of video devices on the scene and the plummeting reputation on First Alarm, they chose not to charge or even question me.
The guards involved were not Nathan Hammack and Ken Hietla, so I wonder if First Alarm bosses are advising their patrol people generally not to identify themselves and to use a “battery” charge if they are confronted for abusive behavior or failure to identify themselves. Or whether they’re picking up this practice from some SCPD officers.
Several weeks ago, as Lt. Christian Le Moss set up the 30′ high klieg lights for the first time, I asked him why that action was being taken. He refused to answer. I didn’t recognize him as the man who fractured a elderly homeless woman’s arm some years back (See “Sgt LeMoss broke 60 year old woman’s arm May 9” at http://www.indybay.org/
It is generally my experience though that SCPD officers do identify themselves. As police and security guard force escalates at the Freedom Sleeper protests, this may be changing. For instance, I don’t recall that the three female officers who arrested Lucero Luna on 9-8 out of the blue responded to questions of who they were and what the charges were. [On being released from jail hours later, Lucero reported she’d been given the catch-all we-can’t-find-anything-else charge of “interfering with an officer”).
The more folks with video devices who show up at the protest next Tuesday, the better.
Vancouver, WA, takes the lead in moving to end the nighttime camping ban
NOTE BY NORSE: City politicians in Vancouver, WA has taken a dramatic step in decriminalizing not just sleeping, but camping itself at night, anticipating that they will lose a court fight. The DOJ recently filed a “statement of interest” holding that camping bans in cities with no adequate shelter (i.e. everywhere, and particularly in Santa Cruz) violate the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. This is not a court precedent, but could lead to one, and Vancouver politicos–who likely have no more compassion for homeless folks than the chairwarmers in Santa Cruz–are nervous. I regard this as a major breakthrough and a good issue for the unhoused and housed supporters to bring to the 9-22 Santa Cruz City Council and community.
The public education campaign at City Council can be sandwiched nicely in-between a scheduled 3 PM press conference denouncing violence against homeless advocates and individuals and the 11th SleepOut slated for later that night. Last night, police falsely arrested Abbi Samuels for “insufficient ID” (the charge was “obstructing an officer’) when they knew perfectly well who she was. First Alarm security guards, concealing their name tags and badge numbers brutalized Christina Barnes for battery after stalking her throughout the early evening.
Some have suggested taking sleeping bags into City Council chambers during the evening and simply rolling them out to sleep there, given the city refusal to fund emergency shelter or lift the sleeping ban, as Vancouver is now doing. Folks are invited to come on down to witness or participate in the day (and night)’s events.
The public education campaign at City Council can be sandwiched nicely in-between a scheduled 3 PM press conference denouncing violence against homeless advocates and individuals and the 11th SleepOut slated for later that night. Last night, police falsely arrested Abbi Samuels for “insufficient ID” (the charge was “obstructing an officer’) when they knew perfectly well who she was. First Alarm security guards, concealing their name tags and badge numbers brutalized Christina Barnes for battery after stalking her throughout the early evening.
Some have suggested taking sleeping bags into City Council chambers during the evening and simply rolling them out to sleep there, given the city refusal to fund emergency shelter or lift the sleeping ban, as Vancouver is now doing. Folks are invited to come on down to witness or participate in the day (and night)’s events.
By Joe Douglass, KATU News Sept. 14, 2015
VANCOUVER, Wash. – The Vancouver City Council is considering allowing homeless people to sleep outside overnight legally.
The city has banned people from camping outside in public places since the late 1990s.
Police stopped enforcing the ban entirely about two weeks ago after the U.S. Justice Department put out a statement of interest on Aug. 6 saying the government can’t ban people from sleeping outside.
The document says banning people from doing so is like saying being homeless is illegal, which the Justice Department says is unconstitutional.
“… it just keeps ‘em homeless.”
Tents and tarps line the streets around the Share House homeless shelter on West 13th Street in Vancouver.
Katherine Garrett, the shelter’s program director, said the problem is worse than ever.
“I’ve never seen this much open camping before,” said Garrett, who’s been working with the homeless in Vancouver since 2001.
She said the Share House is now serving a record 9,000 meals per month.
“It impacts more garbage,” said Garrett about the camping situation. “It impacts things that we can’t provide for them. We don’t have enough blankets, we don’t have backpacks.”
Technically, the people camping out in the area are now breaking the law.
Since 1997, the city has made camping in public places a misdemeanor.
“A lot of times it just keeps ’em homeless,” said Garrett. “Getting tickets for camping, vagrancies, any of that always puts a black mark when it comes to getting employment or housing.”
Police Chief James McElvain told KATU officers hadn’t been cracking down on illegal camping all that much.
“On average, we were finding our officers citing about nine people in a month,” said McElvain.
A proposed ordinance going before the city Monday night would allow people to camp out legally from 9:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.
McElvain said the ordinance would still allow police to crack down on other behaviors.
“You can’t be drinking alcohol in public, you can’t be urinating in public, you can’t be fighting in public,” said McElvain, “and you can’t block people’s pathway on a sidewalk.”
Kevin Lisman, who just became homeless in March, said he wishes people would have more sympathy.
“I had a job,” said Lisman. “I was working. I was making a good salary and then all of the sudden the roof fell in.”
The City Council will vote on the proposal Monday night. (Update: Council has approved the first reading of proposed ordinance. It will move to a second reading and a public hearing next Monday.)
Tristia Bauman, senior attorney for the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty in Washington D.C., sent KATU a statement saying:
We are pleased that cities are paying attention to what the Justice Department has said, and that they are revising their criminalization policies. We are concerned, however, when cities attempt to do the bare minimum. Vancouver’s law does not go far enough to address the constitutional problems identified by the federal government. Moreover, it is not the kind of constructive policy that the federal government is actively promoting, and that other cities are successful implementing. The much more cost-effective, constitutional, and humane approach is to provide permanent housing to homeless people.
“It is legal in Portland to sleep overnight in public spaces,” said Dana Haynes, spokesman for Portland Mayor Charlie Hales. “That includes parks and sidewalks. It isn’t legal to put up structures. That includes tents.”
The city has banned people from camping outside in public places since the late 1990s.
Police stopped enforcing the ban entirely about two weeks ago after the U.S. Justice Department put out a statement of interest on Aug. 6 saying the government can’t ban people from sleeping outside.
The document says banning people from doing so is like saying being homeless is illegal, which the Justice Department says is unconstitutional.
“… it just keeps ‘em homeless.”
Tents and tarps line the streets around the Share House homeless shelter on West 13th Street in Vancouver.
Katherine Garrett, the shelter’s program director, said the problem is worse than ever.
“I’ve never seen this much open camping before,” said Garrett, who’s been working with the homeless in Vancouver since 2001.
She said the Share House is now serving a record 9,000 meals per month.
“It impacts more garbage,” said Garrett about the camping situation. “It impacts things that we can’t provide for them. We don’t have enough blankets, we don’t have backpacks.”
Technically, the people camping out in the area are now breaking the law.
Since 1997, the city has made camping in public places a misdemeanor.
“A lot of times it just keeps ’em homeless,” said Garrett. “Getting tickets for camping, vagrancies, any of that always puts a black mark when it comes to getting employment or housing.”
Police Chief James McElvain told KATU officers hadn’t been cracking down on illegal camping all that much.
“On average, we were finding our officers citing about nine people in a month,” said McElvain.
A proposed ordinance going before the city Monday night would allow people to camp out legally from 9:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.
McElvain said the ordinance would still allow police to crack down on other behaviors.
“You can’t be drinking alcohol in public, you can’t be urinating in public, you can’t be fighting in public,” said McElvain, “and you can’t block people’s pathway on a sidewalk.”
Kevin Lisman, who just became homeless in March, said he wishes people would have more sympathy.
“I had a job,” said Lisman. “I was working. I was making a good salary and then all of the sudden the roof fell in.”
The City Council will vote on the proposal Monday night. (Update: Council has approved the first reading of proposed ordinance. It will move to a second reading and a public hearing next Monday.)
Tristia Bauman, senior attorney for the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty in Washington D.C., sent KATU a statement saying:
We are pleased that cities are paying attention to what the Justice Department has said, and that they are revising their criminalization policies. We are concerned, however, when cities attempt to do the bare minimum. Vancouver’s law does not go far enough to address the constitutional problems identified by the federal government. Moreover, it is not the kind of constructive policy that the federal government is actively promoting, and that other cities are successful implementing. The much more cost-effective, constitutional, and humane approach is to provide permanent housing to homeless people.
“It is legal in Portland to sleep overnight in public spaces,” said Dana Haynes, spokesman for Portland Mayor Charlie Hales. “That includes parks and sidewalks. It isn’t legal to put up structures. That includes tents.”
Vancouver OKs overnight camping in public places
Unanimous vote by city council amends ordinance
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Vancouver Police Cpl. Drue Russell, left, runs a man’s identification that he found camping next to the Slocum House in Esther Short Park while VPD Cpl. Duane Boynton secures the man after he disclosed to officers that he was carrying a knife, as part of an ongoing effort by authorities to make the park a safer place on Friday March 4, 2011. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian)
By Amy Fischer, Columbian City Government Reporter
Published: September 14, 2015, 9:13 PM
Published: September 14, 2015, 9:13 PM
Amending a Vancouver city ordinance to allow overnight camping in public places is just a “baby step” toward solving the city’s homeless troubles and lack of shelter space, citizens told the city council Monday.
“I don’t want to see the council put a bow on our problem and make it look all pretty by providing (camping) hours when we’re not addressing the real issues,” Hough neighborhood resident Heidi Owens said.
The council unanimously voted Monday to change Vancouver’s unlawful camping ordinance to allow camping in public places from 9:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Such overnight camping previously had been a misdemeanor. The change wouldn’t affect park hours (parks close from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.) or laws prohibiting disorderly conduct, drinking in public, urinating in public and other health and safety issues.
The city’s legal staff recommended the change in response to a federal Department of Justice opinion, issued Aug. 8, on a case pending in federal court in Boise, Idaho. The opinion states that outlawing camping in all places and all times, including when shelter space is unavailable, is cruel and unusual punishment and therefore unconstitutional. Basically, the opinion says, all people have a right to sleep.
Mayor Tim Leavitt said he realizes some residents aren’t happy about the change to the camping ordinance.
“We have to do this because we’re not going to win taking on the Supreme Court,” he said.
City Manager Eric Holmes emphasized that the ordinance revision is an interim measure while the city continues to look for solutions. Vancouver has a lack of toilets, showers and trash cans for the homeless — and an overwhelming need for beds.
Andy Silver, executive director of the Council for the Homeless, told the city council that 823 different people called the housing hotline this summer asking for emergency shelter. The agency was forced to say no to 722 of them — 88 percent — due to lack of shelter space, he said.
“Those folks have nowhere else to go,” Silver said. “I’m very optimistic that this is a step in the right direction, but I don’t want anyone to think this is the end of the road.”
Katherine Garrett, director of Share House, said that in the eyes of landlords, people who have three camping violations on their record might as well have a felony. Continuing to cite homeless people, fine them and jail them hinders their movement forward and keeps the cycle of homelessness going, she said.
“They don’t have a chance,” she said.
Councilor Bart Hansen said he didn’t want to see “an unnecessary amount of resources going into people who have a tent up.”
Police would not be doing “sweeps” of homeless camps, but they would respond to complaints from neighborhood residents and business people about problems such as fighting and drinking in public, Vancouver Police Chief James McElvain said. Even then, officers have discretion about handling situations.
“Our first go-to isn’t to enforce the law. Our first go-to is to gain compliance from people. I don’t see us immediately going out and citing somebody,” McElvain said. “We’re not going to ignore it. … But our priority starts with crimes against persons and then crimes against property.”
FOR THE STAFF REPORT AND PROPOSED TEXT OF THE ORDINANCE, GO TO
http://images.bimedia.net/
HUFFing Again After A Tense Night 11 AM Sub Rosa 703 Pacific 9-16
HUFFsters, some of us anyway, will be dragging our weary butts to the Sub Rosa Cafe today to ponder on the outcome of Freedom Sleep #10, brood on the likely upcoming RV bans at City Council either next Tuesday or the one two weeks later, and seek solidarity perhaps with We Copwatch and Black Lives Matter to encourage some direct action in Santa Cruz. A sleep-in inside City Hall chambers itself has been suggested. We’ve got the coffee if you drink it.
Santa Cruz Freedom Sleepers Face Rough Treatment at Sleep-Out #10
2 Harassment Arrests, 2 “Standing in a Parking Spot” Cites at Freedom Sleepers Protest #10
by Robert Norse
Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 3:21 AM
Wednesday Sep 16th, 2015 3:21 AM
The 10th Freedom Sleepers Sleep Out at City Hall attracted nearly 20 sleepers–even after two massive raids by the police, colder/wetter weather, and At least 4, perhaps 5, agendas were posted describing city government commission meetings happening in the next 48 hours, but police refused to allow anyone on the supposedly legal passways through the park to view the agendas. One woman, Christina Barnes, was brutally arrested by two (out of five) First Alarm Security guards for “touching” a First Alarm security thug who was insisting she leave at a time when the park was open; Food Not Bombs Abbi Samuels was arrested for crossing the street with a coffee container for the protest. Activists continued to sleep on sidewalks adjoining City Hall and the library afterwards.
CLOSED DOOR MEETINGS; CLOSED EARS COUNCIL; CLOSED TO PUBLIC CITY HALL GROUNDS
While a closed door City Council meeting excluding the public examined (for the third time in as many meetings) City Manager Martin Bernal’s “performance”, homeless folks and housed supporters gathered to set up tents in the courtyard area, share food, and prepare to bed down for the night. Bernal is the most highly paid and powerful city official, and has still refused to follow the law allowing access to city hall grounds at night as well as the right to sleep for homeless folks.PROVOCATIVE FIRST ALARM AND
An unusually high number of First Alarm Security guards gathered near several of the more volatile homeless folks prompted anger, cries of harassment, and demands that the 4 (ultimately 5) uniformed patrolers move away. When that didn’t happen, cries “go home”, “get away”, and the like filled the air.
An unusually high number of First Alarm Security guards gathered near several of the more volatile homeless folks prompted anger, cries of harassment, and demands that the 4 (ultimately 5) uniformed patrolers move away. When that didn’t happen, cries “go home”, “get away”, and the like filled the air.
Sanctuary Village supporter Brent Adams set up a display table, but provoked controversy by insisting on speaking at length about his project and attacking the Freedom Sleeper approach, denouncing activists by name, and ultimately becoming the recipient of threats and pranks. Adams did go to some lengths to video the First Alarm brutality that subsequently passed unchecked by police. (There was no apparent investigation of the Security Guard’s subsequent assault on Christina Barnes–see below–and certainly no arrest of the assailant).
BRUTALITY HITS BARNES
Before security guards arrested Christina Barnes, a thin African-American woman, short-circuiting the usual practice of calling the police department to take action. A violent security guard, reportedly angered at Barnes’ ignoring him earlier in the evening when he demanded she leave from a public area, harshly handcuffed her, dragged her across the lawn and bricks, and ultimately shoved her into an thorn-ridden agave plant while she screamed in pain.
The Security Guard (who later refused to give his name) kept replying to her screams with “stop resisting arrest”–a familiar litany for police agencies covering up brutality. A crowd quickly gathered–with photos and video likely to come. Police then arrived–7 vehicles strong at one point to “interview” witnesses. Christina was taken to jail, then released some hours latter on a charge of “battery”. She later noted an older “False Alarm” heavy (as some call them) had invaded her personal space, and she had brushed his arm.
FIRST ALARM THUGS COVER UP BADGES AND DUMMY UP
Several First Alarm security guards, covered their name tags when approached and refused to show them to me or others demanding to know who they were. They also declined to name their superior officer. When followed with video cameras, one called the police and stated I had grabbed him, seeking to have me arrested. Police ignored this lie, but the First Alarmettes continued to decline to show their name tags, covering them up when the cameras arrived.
Police then turned to clearing those in the park. Since most if not all in the group had decided previously to move and set up their sleeping gear on the sidewalk, this operation simply involved a line of police standing menacingly in a line across City Hall, an area many had thought was the primeval First Amendment-protected zone. But not, apparently, in Santa Cruz at night.
NO CARS ALLOWED–BUT NO PEOPLE EITHER–AT LEAST, NO PROTESTERS!
Police then moved to cite Louise Drummond and Rabbi Phil Posner for “standing in a parking space”. Ironically, it was one of the many spaces where vehicles were prohibited from parking–apparently to deter activists from parking their vehicles there. At about this time the noisy bright 30′ high klieg lights went on–another anti-activist measure.
Officer Rodreguez then apprehended Abbi Samuels, crossing the street with a container of coffee and detained her to write her a citation. When he demanded her ID, she told him he knew who she was, as did the cluster of officers including Sergeant Forbus, standing a few feet away. Samuels was taken away in handcuffs and reportedly has refused to sign out at the jail and demanded to be taken to a magistrate for a probably cause hearing, which is supposed to be happening later this morning.
PRESS CONFERENCE AND PROBLEM-SOLVING
Freedom Sleepers then held a second meeting and decided to hold a public press conference next Tuesday at 3 PM when there will simultaneously be a City Council meeting. Folks then returned to their tents and sleeping bags–now arrayed all along the sidewalk, and tried to sleep. The intensity of events did sufficiently upset and arouse an ongoing stream of shouts, speeches, and exclamations. One activist reported that police earlier threatened to arrest one man doing percussion by striking two rods together with “unreasonable noise” because the noise was “bothersome” to the group across the street (which had not complained).
Several folks stopped by with food, donations, and warm expressions of support. Some suggested moving the protest to discourage the disruptively loud; others were still determined to return to City Hall for Freedom SleepOut #11 next Tuesday on September 22nd.
Photographic Coverage of Freedom Sleepout #9 in Santa Cruz; #10 Begins 6 PM Tuesday September 15th
NOTE BY NORSE: For more photos and commentary, go to https://www.indybay.org/
Join the Freedom Sleepers Tuesday Night in front of Santa Cruz City Hall to challenge the City’s brutal policies criminalizing homeless sleep in a city with no emergency shelter space.
Santa Cruz Police Make More Arrests at City Hall Sleepout #9
by Alex Darocy ( alex [at] alexdarocy.com )
Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
On September 8, community members protesting laws that criminalize homelessness held their ninth in a series of group sleepouts at Santa Cruz City Hall, which is closed to the public at night. At least three people were issued citations, and two others were reportedly arrested for participating in the latest protest. Despite that, a large group stayed through the night and slept at City Hall. They call themselves “Freedom Sleepers” and have planned their next sleepout for September 15. [Top photo: A person inside a small tent in the courtyard of Santa Cruz City Hall is issued a citation. Scroll down for more photos from the September 8 sleepout.]
Since the sleepouts began on July 4, police have consistently attempted to disperse protesters away from City Hall and its garden courtyard by conducting raids. In the process, many participants have been issued citations, and several have been arrested.
One individual taken to jail on the evening of September 8/9 had been holding a protest sign and speaking loudly about the injustice of the police raids as people were being cited in the courtyard. She was arrested when she began to walk away from two police officers who were attempting to communicate with her. She had been standing on a flat, open section of the brick walkway that serves as the main entrance to the City Hall property. The area is only feet from the public sidewalk, but is considered by police to be part of the “no trespassing” zone.
To discourage individuals from sleeping at City Hall, portable stadium lighting units have been employed by police during the last two protests, and “no parking” hoods were placed over parking meters on Center and Church Streets to distance protesters from their cars.
The lighting units are placed in front of the courtyard where protesters have been setting up sleeping locations, and have been guarded all night by a team of First Alarm security guards who also watch over the protest.
Additionally, a no trespassing zone was established and maintained around council chambers while the September 8 city council meeting was in session. Food Not Bombs had previously been using the area to cook and share food.
During the police raids, protesters generally leave the courtyard area of City Hall and sleep on the sidewalk. The group decided early on at a general assembly that this would be the tactic used whenever the police arrived. This was a strategic decision, since the sidewalk around City Hall is exempt from the sit/lie ordinance, and sleeping there narrows the laws applicable to the protest. Many of the protesters want to be cited specifically for sleeping, while others have stated they are also concerned with issues more broadly related to the right to sleep or protest 24 hours a day at Santa Cruz City Hall, the center of local civic life.
For more information about the sleepouts, see:
Freedom Sleepers
http://freedomsleepers.org/
http://www.facebook.com/
Alex Darocy
http://alexdarocy.blogspot.
§No trespassing zone around council chambers
by Alex Darocy Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
§No parking on Church Street
by Alex Darocy Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
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by Alex Darocy Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
§The Santa Cruz City Hall courtyard
by Alex Darocy Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
§City council meeting
by Alex Darocy Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
§City Hall before the police raid
by Alex Darocy Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
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by Alex Darocy Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
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by Alex Darocy Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
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by Alex Darocy Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
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by Alex Darocy Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
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by Alex Darocy Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
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by Alex Darocy Saturday Sep 12th, 2015 8:42 PM
10th Homeless SleepOut to be Covered Live on Free Radio
| Title: | Free Radio to Cover 10th Homeless SleepOut at City Hall |
| START DATE: | Tuesday September 15 |
| TIME: | 5:00 PM – 5:00 AM |
| Location Details: | |
| City Hall Courtyard and then the Sidewalk at 809 Center St. next to City Hall. Parking available off of Church St. between Center and Chestnut, along the library side of Center, or the Civic Center Side of Church. Assuming police again put up obstructive barriors | |
| Event Type: | Protest |
| Contact Name | Phil Posner (posting by Norse) |
| Email Address | chatrabbi [at] aol.com |
| Phone Number | |
| Address | |
| BACK AGAIN FOR ROUND TEN In a continuing challenge to the community to support new priorities in policing and restoration of rights for the poor, Freedom Sleepers will be back against with another Community Campout. PUNISHMENT TO DRIVE AWAY THE PROTESTERS Lucero Luna, a vocal Spanish-speaking worker, was roughly grabbed last week without warning or charge by three police officers whose “compliance holds” left bruises on her body when she was released with an ‘interfering with an officer” type charge three hours later. Lucero’s response–she’ll be back Tuesday night. WHY ARE WE THERE? City hall is a place for the unhoused and the housed to meet and petition the government to recognize that the right to sleep is as elementary, as attorney Ed Frey once put it, as the right to breathe. NO SHELTER, NO MERCY Meanwhile homeless folks report getting ticketed multiple times at night, even at places where they had previoulsy been left alone–such as the Red Church at Lincoln and Cedar. LIVE ON THE AIR FRSC streams at freakradio.org . You can call in at 831-427-3772 or 831-469-3119. The FRSC collective is still offering a $500 reward for anyone who can find them a studio space for a year. Last radio broadcast will be September 21 if no one steps up. Last week’s sleep out is described at http://www.indybay.org/ For more info: follow the links at http://www.indybay.org/ |
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Help Save Free Radio Santa Cruz
NOTE BY NORSE: Free Radio Santa Cruz has broadcast my homeless info-and-interview show twice weekly for the last 20 years. I’d hate to see it gone. If anyone can help, though the hour is late, the chance is still there.Free Radio Santa Cruz’s Last Plea: $500 Reward for a Year’s Lease
by Robert Norse ( rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com )
Friday Sep 11th, 2015 7:39 AM
Friday Sep 11th, 2015 7:39 AM
Free Radio Santa Cruz will begin dismantling its studio on Sunday September 13th, with our final broadcast on September 20th. UNLESS get community help. We need to secure a 10′ X 10′ rental space in someone’s garage, backyard, basement, or house to set up a studio. We’ll pay. And there’s a $500 reward if your help is successful. Please contact me at rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com; or go to freakradio.org with any information. We don’t want to end of our 20 year run.
No programmer or supporter of FRSC has ever been taken to court for our unlicensed but unapologetic station. No one who has hosted FRSC has ever been charged with any crime or violation, though threats have forced us to move from time to time.Surprisingly, considering our critical commentators on city government, we’ve received two commendations from Santa Cruz City Council. We have broadcast 24-hours a day with 15-30 programmers since 1995, covering news and opinion that mainstream and “alternative” media wouldn’t touch.
Our programs include English and Spanish language shows.
An archive of some of the older programming we offered can be found at http://www.freakradio.org/
If you believe in Free Speech, helping us relocate is a concrete and real way of furthering this cause.
Without a location, I am concerned that Free Radio Santa Cruz will not be able to sustain a regular schedule, though individual broadcasters may be able to find a way to podcast on the net.
I myself am uncertain of the future of my Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides show (archived at http://radiolibre.org/brb/ ) if we have no studio space.
Santa Cruz City Council Craps on Homeless: Police Ramp Up Repression on Protesters
9th SleepOut Holds The Sidewalk, Faces Klieg Lights, Parking Barriers, Police Retaliation
The 9th Freedom Sleepers protest event at City Hall September 8-9, challenged City Council and confronted continued repression from Santa Cruz police. Police made 2 arrests, reportedly gave 14 citations, and “successfully” drove protesters from the grass and bricks of the City Hall Courtyard (the seat of government in Santa Cruz) to the adjoining sidewalk. There they laid out sleeping bags or slept in adjacent cars, next to tables sporting “Sleep is Not a Crime”-style signs and Food Not Bombs numnums.
Activists have located their weekly Tuesday night sleep-out protests at City Hall because it is the seat of city government. The City Council Courtyard adjoins where the City Council meets every other Tuesday. The grounds are also adjacent to the offices of City Manager Martin Bernal. He can direct police on discretionary enforcement of anti-homeless laws such as the Sleeping Ban (MC 6.36.010a) as well as the level of police repression of activists–a level which has steadily increased with each passing protest. City Council, of course, has the the power to create or eliminate anti-homeless laws
REACTIONARY COUNCIL SETS ITS SIGHTS ON HOMELESS IN RV’S
At it’s Tuesday afternoon meeting September 8th, City Council moved forward directing staff to write up new laws severely restricting RV parking. These would either eliminate or severely shrink RV parking space or establish “permit parking” zones such as are currently used to drive away homeless-owned vehicles at night. The excuses used were “illegal dumping”, “blocking the view”, “safety of our children”, “illegal activities”, “burden on the taxpayer”, and “obstructing traffic”.
The underlying motivations, echoed by a group of younger women sporting “Take Back Westcliff” placards, seemed to be an upper-middle class aesthetic, NIMBY paranoia, a mobilized anti-homeless agenda, and a generalized xenophobia (suspicion of strangers).
There was zero concern about finding alternative spots for folks whose only home is their vehicle before laying down the “get out of our neighborhood” laws they favored. Nor did the Council want to pause in establishing the new “no homeless vehicle” zones though they give lip service to a weakened proposal for Councilmember Posner to investigate possible areas for RV parking. The elimination of existing space was to proceed independently however. Posner voted along with the rest of the Council for this new attack on the homeless.
The two anti-RV laws likely to return were presented by Scott Collins with City Manager Martin Bernal’s approval. They originated with the Transportation and Public Works Commission, the same body that declined to hold public hearings to stop “no parking without a permit on near the Homeless (Lack of) Services Center on Coral St.
The two anti-RV laws from last year. eliminated all “oversized parking spaces” city-wide and banned RV parking city-wide from 2 to 6 AM without a permit as well as setting up forbidden to park zones 50′ from intersections. Venomous property owners were demanding more extensive homeless removal–which may be in the cards in the months ahead.
No specific stats were presented regarding particular “crimes” committed by the RV dwellers and the expense of enforcing the proposed ordinances/ Councilmember Richelle Nironyan was previously chair of the Transportation and Public Works Commission when the NIMBY assault on RV’s came up there. Her Commission apparently sought and got no input from the RV dwellers, homeless service providers, or groups other than the cops and Take-Back-Santa-Cruz organized residents. Nor has Scott Collins and Martin Bernal in their report to City Council.
The proposal originated in a concern about the disposal of RV wastes, but there, as well, we heard no specifics about the number of citations, the extent of the problem, or the costs of the clean-up. The waste concern seemed to be a cover for a broader perception that RV’s were “traveling drug dens” as “Skindog” Ken Collins proposed.
CUTTING BACK TIME AND MOVING AWAY PROTEST
Mayor Lane, instead of allowing Oral Communications at its scheduled 5 PM time, allowed 2 1/2 hours of mostly bigoted bumbashing by TBSC zealots—forcing those who had come to speak on other issues to wait until after 7 PM for their chance (and then cutting back their time to 2 minutes each).
Special red ropes were set up creating “forbidden zones” all along the side of the City Council next to the windows to prohibit the usual placement of literature tables there. This restriction of public and political space was done without any kind of public input–behind closed doors (like the closing off of the City Council grounds 5 years ago–for which activists are now being ticketed each Tuesday night). Additional signs warned people against loitering near the City Council outside using the same MC 13.04.011 for which Freedom Sleepers are facing $198 each for the several dozen citations they’ve gotten.
CITY MANAGER REJECTS COMPROMISE
City Manager Martin Bernal previously met with Rabbi Phil Posner and other Freedom Sleepers. Protesters had experienced a massive escalation of protest the previous Tuesday (See http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/09/07/18777265.php ). Freedom Sleepers proposed a compromise to step back from their Tuesday night protests at City Hall, if Bernal agreed to direct police to make camping-related citations the lowest enforcement priority city-wide–given the increased crisis created by the elimination of shelter and waiting list as well as emergency services at the Coral St. complex. We further asked that police phone to determine if a shelter bed was actually available before waking up a sleeping homeless person who is not creating any other problem. We asked this be done for a period of two weeks as show of good faith. Bernal rejected the proposal
Bernal would not agree to take down the high-intensity klieg lights, the signs banning parking around City Hall, and the increased “ticket-before-talking” process used by police on September 1st. Nor would he recommend that the City Hall grounds be reopened at night to the public–as they have been for decades before he, the police chief, and the Mayor closed them down in a closed door meeting 2010 to drive away another protest against the city’s anti-homeless Sleeping Ban law.
Police have been denying activists the right to access city government agendas during the night, as the state Public Meetings Act requires. Police have also violated the “okay to be on the walkways through the area” provision of the “closed area” law being used to ticket and remove demonstrators from the City Hall complex at night. As of Wednesday night, Bernal had not advised the Freedom Sleepers of his “research”. He said he’d “look into” whether the community was being denied the right to view posted agendas posted in the “closed areas”.
GUESTS FROM OUT OF TOWN, MUSICIANS, AND LONGTIMERS POPULATE THE PROTEST
Bob Arenson, the Santa Cruz Police Auditor, and Robert Aguirre, San Jose activist from H.O.M.E.L.E.S.S. checked out the protest as nervous observer and dedicated participant respectively. Visionsong Valerie, an organizer from the ancient SAFE organization (Society for Artistic Freedom and Expression) played “Mama, Don’t Allow No Sleepin’ Around Here” as the hot day cooled into night. Food Not Bombs old-timer Keith McHenry cooked hour after hour, supplying coffee and other vegan munchies. Abbi Samuels meandered about in her blue bathrobe checking on the welfare of those bedding down for the night.
QUICK MOVE TO THE SIDEWALK, BUSTED FOR BELLY-DANCING?
Sometime after midnight Lamp-in-the-Night Lucero Luna raised the alarm, wakening sleepers to the arrival of 14 cops. Those who wanted not to be ticketed moved to the sidewalk. But, as the week before, police had stepped up pressure and were ticketing even those who had surrendered their right to be in the City Hall Courtyard at night as they stood on the sidewalk.
Lucero Luna had been tabling all weekend downtown in front of Marini’s for the Freedom Sleepers and loudly announcing the upcoming protest to everyone within earshot on Pacific with an occasional bellydancing visual accompaniment.
When police came for their midnight rousts, she darted in and out with her signs denouncing the SleepCrime Patrols. Two female officers arrested her, initially refusing her request to be told what she was being arrested for. She was taken to jail.
Though it was clear most of the sleepers had expeditiously moved to the sidewalk or were strugglng to do when police reached them, many (14 was one person’s count) were cited anyway. This continued the escalation of the week before–punishing the protesters for returning to protest.
COURTROOM CAPERS
I left early to be able to return for the HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom meeting) which happens every Wednesday at 11 AM at the Sub Rosa as well as the court appearance of Phil and Louise. Charged with MC 13.04.011 violation (being on city hall grounds after dark), they patiently waited an hour with 6 supporters and got their cases continued for several months.
Though I’d been jailed a week before for asking to be taken to a magistrate before signing a similar citation, the Superior Court clerk had no record of my case. Nor had any charges been filed against Israel Dawson, who was jailed weeks before the night when police targeted reporters and photographers there.
What’s next at SleepOut #10 on September 15th? Another nip at the anti-homeless laws in Santa Cruz.
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Friday Sep 11th, 2015 6:56 AM
See “Take Back Santa Cruz (TBSC) Targets Homeless RV Dwellers 8/8/2015 Santa Cruz City Council” at http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/09/08/18777297.php .
Friday Sep 11th, 2015 8:20 AM
Papachristou v. Jacksonville (1972)
Desertrain v. Los Angeles (2014)
Bell v. Boise (2015, Statement Of Interest)
Desertrain v. Los Angeles (2014)
Bell v. Boise (2015, Statement Of Interest)
The courts (and DoJ) have made their intentions clear. Bigots abusing rule of law will not be tolerated. When those intentions become actions, Santa Cruz taxpayers will pay. The City Manager, Staff, Attorneys, and elected officials generally enjoy immunity from prosecution. They get paid either way, so they have little incentive to worry about consequences. It’s profitable for them to sell hate! In the short term, they can take the money and run. But in the end, petty tyrants fall. It’ll be tax payers left holding the bag for their crimes.