| San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center |
| Published as of Friday, 24 February 2006 06:48:43 PM |
| Santa Cruz IMC | | Investigation Reveals More Santa Cruz Police Department Spying | | 14 Feb 2006 | Santa Cruz, CA, February 14th, 2006: Police Auditor Bob Aaronson rejected the results of the Santa Cruz Police Department’s investigation of its own behavior in the Parade Spying Scandal. Heading the investigation into police spying was Deputy Chief Kevin Vogel who, according to public records obtained by the ACLU, was the officer who ordered the undercover infiltration. Predictably, the police cleared themselves of any wrong-doing. Additionally the report attempted to make the case that the spying, while legally questionable, was expedient and useful.
Aaronson, in a letter to Council (.pdf) circulated at Monday's Public Safety Committee meeting, said the investigation "is incomplete and flawed for a very predictable reason. It violates one of the most basic investigative precepts by having been compiled and written by the very individual whose decisions are and should be under investigative scrutiny." He went on to say, "I am surprised and disappointed that he was assigned to that task."
Details of the 600-page report , released to the public Friday, reveal a pattern of abuses, including spying on parade organizers, spying on other unrelated groups and first amendment activities, and profiling organizers and other unrelated people. Officers posing as parade planners gathered information about the planned peaceful protest against virgin forest destruction by Victoria’s Secret and relayed this information to Capitola Police. On the date of the protest, dozens of officers denied protesters entrance to the mall. Infiltrators also gathered information about Art & Revolution's “Anti-Corporate Christmas Caroling” on Pacific Ave. and monitored the group's activities at the event. Read more
 Audio: FSRN: SCPD Internal Probe of Surveillance Rejected
 Photos: Just Us Voicing Our Concerns to Santa Cruz's Public Safety Committee |
| Santa Cruz IMC | | Internal Investigation Reveals SCPD Out of Control | | 13 Feb 2006 | The Santa Cruz Police Department cleared themselves of any wrongdoing in infiltrating the Last Night Santa Cruz DIY parade planning meetings, of course. Given that the investigation was lead by Deputy Chief Kevin Vogel who made the decision to infiltrate the planning meetings, this is no surprise. The 600-page report said that the police had every reason to monitor the group (or any group in the future) because they had public safety in mind. Read more
Download portions of Deputy Chief Vogel's Internal Investigation (pdf): Summary | Interviews | Reports
previous SC-IMC coverage of SCPD Spying: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Santa Cruz IMC | | UCSC Military Recruitment Debate Reportback | | 12 Feb 2006 | On Wednesday night, Colleges 9 and 10 organized a debate on the issue of military recruitment. William Griffin, the top dog for Army recruitment in the area, faced off against Mario Ramirez Hardy, who has been helping GIs get out of the military for over a decade, in addition to a wide array of counter-recruitment activities.
The night was very tightly controlled by Colleges 9 and 10 (c9/10) staff, headed by Wendy Baxter, and moderated by Professor Paul Roth. There were fears of protests from students, possibly by Students Against War (SAW), as military recruiters are known not to be welcome. Due to these fears, c9/10 staff taped a 'do not cross' line on the ground outside the Multi-Purpose Room, where the debate was held. Protesters and leafletters were not to cross the line. Nonetheless, important flyers found their way in the hands of almost all the student attendees. No protests were planned, as no military recruitment was to take place.
While the debate was not riddled with excitement, its existence signified the growth of UCSC's counter-recruitment movement and the prominance of the issue on campus, as the event was completely organized by college officials, not activists. It offered an opportunity for a wider audience to inform themselves on some of the issues related to military recruitment, which will hopefully transfer into more solidarity with counter-recruitment actions and campaigns in the future. It should also lead to a greater ability for student attendees (many of which were from SAW) to break down the fallacious arguments widely circulated by military recruiters - or 'salesmen' as Hardy called them. Read more |
| Santa Cruz IMC | | UCSC Academic Senate Releases Tent University Report That Includes Anonymous Spy Testimony | | 10 Feb 2006 | On February 7th, the UCSC Academic Senate Task Force investigating the police response to Tent University Santa Cruz (TUSC) released a 25 page draft report (pdf). On pages 3 and 4 of the report, in summarizing the background events leading up to the confrontation on April 18, 2005, it is stated that "The administration was particularly alarmed by the presence of the author/organizer David Solnit at training sessions at the Resource Center for Non-Violence," noting his association with the Seattle WTO protests.
On October 12, 2005, Josh Sonnenfeld, a student at UCSC, was invited to discuss the events surrounding TUSC with the Task Force investigating the issue. The TUSC Task Force was chaired by Professor Carolyn Martin Shaw, and included other professors, staff members, and a couple token students. During the course of this private meeting, Professor Shaw noted that UCSC’s administration had obtained information about the internal proceedings of a planning meeting/workshop for the participants of Tent University. This meeting, located off-campus at the RCNV, was not open to administrators or police, only the event participants.
When Professor Shaw was asked how they had obtained detailed information about what occurred during this meeting, she informed Josh that the University administration sent ‘someone’ for the sole purpose of documenting the meeting and passing the information on to administrators. It is not clear who this agent of the administration may have been, but it is clear that they did not identify themselves to student organizers, and thus, acted in the capacity of a spy. This information of administrative spying on student political activity is in stark contrast to Chancellor Denton’s claims that UCSC’s administration and police are not engaged in spying on students. Read more |
| Santa Cruz IMC | | New Orleans: The American Disaster | | 08 Feb 2006 | February 13th-16th at the UCSC campus will be dedicated to raising awareness about the issues surrounding New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The event, titled "New Orleans: The American Disaster," will highlight issues regarding the various levels of institutionalized inequity exemplified by the post hurricane response. Each night will focus on making connections to the day-to-day parallels of injustice in the social makeup of America. The event will be action oriented, encouraging opportunities for community members and students to engage with activists from the Bay Area and grassroots organizers from New Orleans. [Schedule of Events]
see also: FEMA "Evicted" from Oakland on February 7th || Indybay's Health and Housing Page |
| Santa Cruz IMC | | Feb 16th: El Enemigo Común premiers in Santa Cruz | | 06 Feb 2006 | El Enemigo Común (The Common Enemy) scratches beneath the surface of neoliberalism, and looks at some of the most hidden atrocities in recent North American history. The film documents instances of paramilitary activity against indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico from 2002 through 2005, and includes footage of protests in Cancun against the World Trade Organization, and in Miami against the Free Trade Area of the America's. The three locations in isolation expose the disparities in North American resistance movements, but also bring us closer to understanding the nature of an emerging common struggle.
Bouncing back and forth from community to community, El Enemigo Común is both an introduction to some of the many ignored resistances in North America, and an urgent call to action for international civil society, to stand in solidarity against state sponsored repression and for human peace, dignity and justice, in Oaxaca, Mexico. The film provides a historical context for the current violent incarnation of capitalism and empire, and provokes action against it as a common enemy. Read more
Santa Cruz IMC and Guerilla Drive-In present the Santa Cruz premier of El Enemigo Común at the RCNV (515 Broadway) on Thursday, February 16th at 8:00pm. Simon Sedillo, the director of the film, will be in attendence.
 Preview: Watch the Video Trailer! || Audio PSAs: long | medium | short || El Enemigo Común blog
There's more!: Radical Folksingers Ryan Harvey and Mark Gunnery at 7:00pm
Ryan and Mark, from Riot-Folk! Records, will be doin' what they do best: playing hard-hitting anarchist folk music. |
| Santa Cruz IMC | | Key Documents Detailing Santa Cruz Police Spying Now Available Online | | 05 Feb 2006 | Key documents from the ACLU Public Records Act request are available in pdf form.
In response to an ACLU Public Records Act request, the Santa Cruz Police Department has produced over 200 pages relating to their undercover infiltration of a peaceful New's Year's parade group known as Last Night Santa Cruz. Though the documents produced were incomplete in relation to the Public Records Act request, they portray a department with little concern for the privacy rights of peaceful community members and a seeming disdain for the use of diplomacy as an investigation technique. Read more
see also: SCPD Police Spying Scandal - deputy chief leads investigation
For more information on the Santa Cruz Police Department spying on peaceful community groups, see previous SC-IMC coverage: Council votes to continue to do nothing about spying (again) || "Just Us" Action Against SCPD Spying || Police Infiltrate Peaceful Parade Organizers |
| Santa Cruz IMC | | Women as Social Warriors IV: Prevenir y Protejer | | 02 Feb 2006 | Our 2006 convening and connected activities focused on HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness for a population often overlooked and/or ignored in health policy for Latinas. There exists a growing prevalence of HIV/AIDS among women in highly mobile migrant communities on both sides of the border. This challenges us to bring a broad based coalition to the table, acknowledging that solutions locally must respond to transnational factors.
The convening took place on February 2nd and featured three of the most important leaders on health policy for Latinas. Xóchitl Castañeda of the California-Mexico Health Initiative offered a perspective on the relationship between Mexican migration and HIV/AIDS transmission for women on both sides of the border. Barbara Garcia, Deputy Director of Health for San Francisco, spoke on health services and the role of Latino/a-serving agencies, drawing on her previous work as Director of Salud Para La Gente in the Pajaro Valley. Juanita Quintero, of UCSF offered a regional perspective on her work with Latina health in San Francisco. |
| Santa Cruz IMC | | ACLU of Northern California Seeks Pentagon Files on Peace Groups | | 02 Feb 2006 | SAN FRANCISCO -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC) today filed a federal Freedom of Information Act request on behalf of UC students and groups whose lawful activities may have been monitored by the Pentagon. The move is part of a national ACLU effort to reveal the extent and purpose of Pentagon spying.
“Students should be able to freely express themselves on campus without fear of ending up in a military database,” said Mark Schlosberg, Police Practices Policy Director of the ACLU-NC. “The Department of Defense should act quickly and disclose all information it has collected on these student organizations and their members.”
The ACLU of Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Guardian filed its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on behalf of UC Santa Cruz Students Against War (“SAW”) and UC Berkeley students with Berkeley Stop the War Coalition (“BSTW”). The ACLU is seeking the disclosure of all documents maintained by the Department of Defense on the individuals and groups, as well as information on whether the records have been shared with other government agencies.
The national ACLU filed a similar FOIA request on behalf of the American Friends Service Committee, Veterans for Peace, United for Peace and Justice and Greenpeace. In Georgia, Rhode Island, Maine, and Pennsylvania ACLU affiliates are also seeking Pentagon files on local groups. Read more...
previous coverage: UC Students Demand Answers about Spying Scandal || Students Denounce Pentagon Surveillance of Counter-Recruitment Activities |
| Santa Cruz IMC | | Report from FSM: Build Coalitions for Fair Trade! | | 27 Jan 2006 | The World Social Forum (or Foro Social Mundial, FSM) in Caracas, Venezuela began Tuesday 24 of January with a march of delegations and participants from all over the world. Various workshops, lectures and discussions are being held between 24 January and 29 January to collaborate and educate each other about social movements maintaining a world based on peace and justice. Rather than provide a summative article on the forum, this article will provide calls to action and resources for you or your organization to help build coalitions between the global south and global north. Foremost, this article will provide websites and contacts for action to ensure fair trade in Central America and Latin America.
While the US government and Central American governments (except Costa Rica) have agreed to “Free Trade” Agreements, a strong coalition of people in these countries continue to resist these agreements because of how these agreements will affect our daily lives. Movements based throughout the Americas work together to resist economic oppression and ensure fair trade and fair standards of living. The resources exist for us to collaborate, empower, cultivate fair trade and maintain a just and peaceful community of the Americas. Read more about Building Coalitions for Fair Trade!
Audio: FRSC: Interview from Caracas
see also: In the FSM Peace Collaborations Continue || Read more and view photos on Indybay's Americas Page |
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