By OccupySD Media team
- OSD to march this evening to protest continued violations of 1st Amendment rights
- Protesters demand police chief resignation
- Police spokesman lies about reason for latest police raid
- Another protester to join hunger strike
Occupy San Diego will march Tuesday December 6 at 6:30pm from Freedom Plaza (formerly known as Civic Center) to the San Diego Police station on Broadway and 14th in protest of the continued police brutality, misconduct and unlawful arrests at the OSD protests.
In the fourth raid since October 7, 30 San Diego Police Department officers arrested nine protestors around 2am Monday morning (12/5/11), charging most of them with Penal Code148(A)(1) resisting, delaying or obstructing an officer, Penal Code 647(E) illegal lodging, and the infamous Municipal Code 54.0110 unauthorized encroachments.
The protestors arrested were not sleeping or camping when the officers poured in, but were watching a DVD of Michael Moore’s “Capitalism – A Love Story.” No warning was giving to disperse before officers began grabbing people and arresting them. A member of OSD’s media team who began filming the unlawful arrests was also arrested. This adds to the more than 100 arrests OSD protestors have been subjected to since the first arrest on October 14, one week after occupying Freedom Plaza.
Since the arrests, we have discovered that a transgender female protestor has been placed in the Central jail with the general male population, and a female protestor is being detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
There have also been erroneous quotes in the media yesterday by SDPD spokesman Gary Hassen that protestors were setting up tents, falsely justifying the raid. Documented video shows the protestors calmly awake, without tents, and watching a movie when the officers arrived.
In protest, Occupy San Diego is calling for the resignation of Chief Police Landsdowne by petition for the way he has mishandled the Occupy San Diego protests.
In addition, Julie, a young female protestor who does graphic design for the OSD media team, has declared a hunger strike until Chief Lansdowne apologizes to Occupy San Diego for the continued intimidation, harassment, and suppression of our 1st Amendment rights.
“I will end my hunger strike when Chief Landsdowne apologizes for the gross police misconduct, police brutality and police harassment Occupy San Diego has faced,” Julie explained. “I am not asking for anything but one simple apology.”
Additional Information
- It has been become routine for SDPD to enforce municipal codes at whim and often violently, to prevent, deter, and intimidate protestors at OSD from exercising their first amendment rights. During the first raid on October 14, SDPD was aggressive with protestors and maced numerous people simply for having tents.
- A member of OSD’s media team documenting the second police raid on October 28 was arrested for Penal Code 408 unlawful assembly for standing in the middle of the street and Municipal Code 59.5.0401 excessive noise for using a megaphone. The 51 protestors arrested during the second police raid on October 28 were subject to police brutality and inhumane conditions at the jail with even the San Diego County Sheriff’s Dept. admitting the protestors were forced to urinate and defecate in the buses while being transferred to jail.
- In the following weeks police began heavily enforcing Penal Code 647(E), Illegal Lodging, which means very aggressively arresting people for allegedly sleeping, or just laying down in a sleeping bag – even a homeless man in a wheelchair on Thanksgiving morning. During the November 16 raid police arrested another media team member while he was documenting action for code 83.0203 pedestrian standing on the sidewalk.
- Another member of the media team was arrested, this time for registering voters, on private property under a citizen’s arrest from the owner of the Civic Center – CB Richard Ellis. Police continue to arrest protestors for simple things such as allegedly tearing police caution tape and calling it vandalism.
- Chief Landsdowne apologized earlier in the year on behalf of SDPD for the recently accused misconduct by numerous SDPD officers, claimed to have been caused by stress, “coupled with alcohol and prescription drug abuse”. (Editor: He now needs to apologize to OccupySD demonstrators for his own misconduct. )
For further information, contact:
Email: info@occupysd.org
Kali Katt 619-916-1304
Rick Halsey 760-822-0029
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Sorry, I saw documented video by an occupier where the occupier doing the filming is asking the police loudly why they had to wake up people who were sleeping.