This was news on Wed, 2011-11-30 in anarchist news. And we were all happy for them.
Santa Cruz, CA, U.S.A.- November 30, 2011.
The formerly vacant building at 75 River St. is being repurposed by an autonomous group, in solidarity with Occupy Santa Cruz. Formerly a big bank, it was bought out by Wells Fargo. Subsequently, the building closed, and has remained vacant for nearly three years. Today this group has, without breaking & entering, taken the building with intentions of using the space in a productive way that benefits the community of Santa Cruz . The property will no longer be left open by big development companies as a sign of the economic despair in this county, but will rather be used to enrich and teach the local community.
While the middle class quickly falls toward the poverty line, the big banks and the extremely wealthy continue to get rich at the expense of all. Across the United States 1.05 million properties were seized by banks in the year 2010. In Santa Cruz County alone 1,594 homes were auctioned off between November 2010 and October 2011. The foreclosed and vacant buildings in this country serve as a reminder of the ever-growing gap between the 'rich' and the 'poor'. As people are left without shelter and social space due to foreclosures and a declining economy; big banks and developing companies buy out space to simply leave empty.
An existing time-honored U.S. and California law allows for the transfer of a property title when a property is occupied and taken care of by an alternative party for an extended period of time. This law is called adverse possession. The law was born out of the belief that society's best interests are met when land and property are utilized productively rather than sitting vacant. Today, the building at 75 River St. has been adversely possessed. No longer will the property exist only as an empty parking lot and a vacant building with a sign re-directing people to Wells Fargo across the street. It will be repurposed and used to benefit the community instead of Cassidy Turley, the large-scale commercial real estate company currently leasing the building, and Wells Fargo bank.
Instead of an empty space, there will be a space for community teach-ins, an open library, and discussion forums. The space will be offered to Occupy Santa Cruz as an opportunity to have a roof over its head and allow for more organization to take place. The space will be safe, non-violent, non-destructive and welcoming. The building will be a forum for individuals in the community to learn from one another, and help the Occupy movement grow.
There is a hope to see community support for the reclamation of property and space from the very wealthy, the 1%, back into the hands and benefit of the community.
This action was not decided on by the General Assembly of Occupy Santa Cruz. This press release is not from the Occupy Santa Cruz media team.
Then on the 3rd Dec a meeting was convened inside the occupied building at 75 River St. in Santa Cruz. At the meeting, a two page handwritten letter was composed, addressed to the Santa Cruz Police Department from The 75 River Street Community Center. The letter was left on a table for the police to find when they enter the building.
Below is the transcribed text, along with photographs of the original handwritten letter.
Hello SCPD,
This letter is to contest the notion that vacant, unused private property should be ethically or legally seen as the equivalent of an occupied home. The basis for [City Manager] Martin Bernal's criticism of our efforts to reclaim 75 River Street for the community was that this goes against existing property laws, and that the needs of this community's poor - notably the homeless - can be met through more traditional methods, such as voting procedures, or by continuing to protest extreme social inequality without breaking the law. This argument suffers from numerous deficiencies, and as it's been used to justify aggressive behavior towards us it's worth scrutinizing.
With regard to voting, it should be amply clear from the two major political parties' decision-making these past three decades that the interests of the masses, the 99%, are not the driving force in political change. Money, corporate interest groups, and international capital have been. As there is currently no political group with poor and homeless peoples' needs in mind, and the "mainstream" political system is funded to work against these interests, it is entirely understandable that many in our community and others like it are skeptical of voting. This space has been occupied to meet urgent, concrete needs that can't wait for election time to be met: food, shelter, bathrooms, safety from abuse, and many more.
A related argument that's been used against us is that positive social change can occur through forms of protest that obey the law. This of course ignores the question: How is it possible to effectively protest our system of laws, while at the same time fully obeying them? Perhaps an answer would be: through mobilizing public opinion. We certainly do believe in ethically mobilizing public opinion, but the issue remains of what to mobilize it for. As stated above, we have no interest in participating in a structurally corrupt voting system dominated by two massively corporate-funded political parties - so a traditional "get out the vote" effort is not the primary goal of what we are doing. We want the public to take direct action and actually join us in solidarity - and if they cannot join us here, to do it by occupying neglected spaces in their own city. As you know, this building occupation has become an object of national, and increasingly international, interest. For people who value human life over private property, it will doubtless serve as an inspiration.
To conclude, we would like to share one very important thought: whether or not this building occupation is shut down, others will spring up. You, the police, have taken a stand against the 99% in the service of an obsolete 1%. In these times of rapid change, it is guaranteed you will lose what support you have by continuing to protect the commodities of the super-elite at the expense of people's health, well-being, and sense of community. Please begin thinking and acting conscientiously, by joining the 99%!
Sincerely,
The 75 River Street
Community Center
About 75 River from their own website.
75River was a community space in Santa Cruz, California, that existed between Nov. 30 and Dec. 3, 2011. The occupation began to establish a variety of community projects in the space until occupiers left the evening of the 3rd.And then suddenly I heard that they are closing down. Well here is what they say.
The occupation was set up in the former Coast Commercial Bank, a quite useful building held vacant by Wells Fargo since 2008.
Please help occupations inspire more of its kind by spreading the word! Send your links, art, and support to seventyfiveriver@yahoo.com
Last night, the occupiers of 75 River Community Center chose to end their occupation. Just after 9pm the building was left vacant, just as it has been since 2008. Before leaving, signs were hung from every office and conference room door with suggestions for a future community center. Servicess such as free childcare, free drug counseling, homeless outreach and senior speed-dating are just a few examples of what could have been available at 75 River, which aspired to become a community center for the residents of Santa Cruz.
This effort was disrupted and distorted by the Santa Cruz Police, the City Council, and Wells Fargo Bank. The occupiers chose to exit the building since it became clear that police were targeting a small group of individuals not directly involved with the occupation. Besides being a further testament to the ineptitude of the Santa Cruz Police Department, this targeting shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the Occupy organizing model. These targeted individuals acted as observers and monitors of the occupation and communicated to police and media, but were in no way central to the occupation. The Occupy movement has neither leaders nor central individuals.
The violence that occurred at 75 River was entirely initiated by the police. At least four individuals were brutalized by police, one of whom was hospitalized due to their injuries. The appropriation of tax funds for intimidation and unprovoked violence was a waste of money that could be used to fund public services, rather than to disrupt individuals autonomously providing those resources.
The police and some media have focused on Wells Fargo as the “victim” in this scenario. This logic is exactly the problem. Wells Fargo has foreclosed countless families out of their homes (not to mention investing in heinous ICE detention centers, engaging in predatory lending, and yielding profits of over $12 Billion last year). The reclamation and re-purposing of a vacant building valued at $3.5 million is an injustice to no person and no institution. The real injustice is people being pillaged out of homes they spent years working legitimately to obtain, by an objectively greedy and inherently predatory legal entity.
Within the occupied space, a sense of togetherness was created that many had never felt elsewhere. Many also found safety within the building. These are not trivial things for people forced into living on the streets, but rather powerful and beautiful experiences that will remain with those who participated in the bank occupation for the rest of their lives.
It was inevitable that an occupation like the River St. one would spring up, as winter approaches and the core members of Occupy, many of whom are homeless, find themselves needing shelter from the elements (not to mention a place to fall asleep without concern that one is committing an illegal act). Future occupations across the country are similarly inevitable. Marginalized members of this society are beginning to discover their power. Beyond their overwhelming numerical superiority, the people have a vision of society that is compelling and profoundly fairer than the current way of things. Every day we struggle together is a
a day closer to this vision.
We’ll be back.
Nice one they occupied it for 74 hours and peacefully removed themselves out of the place, but the olice were targeting few people who were Journalists and observers/ monitors. Check this one for more info .
On the 4th Po-lice of santa cruz put this in blog .
75 River Street - Takeover Has Ended
On late Saturday night, after over 72 hours of difficult negotiations, Occupy Santa Cruz ended their takeover of a vacant bank building at 75 River Street. Our goal was to have a peaceful resolution to this illegal and unproductive action and we were successful in that endeavor. Thankfully, the group was able to show the maturity that had been lacking in the first three days of the takeover.
It is our intent to work with the District Attorney's Office to identify those that are responsible and hold them accountable for the trespass. In addition, we will be reviewing the costs associated with the takeover to see if there is any way we can recoup some of the public funds that were spent during the last few days. Clearly, as chief, I would prefer our resources be dedicated to more pressing issues than people that blatantly disregard reason, property rights and common sense. I can't make it clearer that no one has a First Amendment right to break into someone's property, commit acts of felony vandalism and ignore the law. Their actions were senseless and childish and diverted our limited resources. In addition, it placed our officers in needless danger; something that I find completely unbelievable.
We had worked hard to develop a Plan B to protect people and property and were fortunate that we were able to end this through the skilled work of our negotiators. It was difficult, especially given the lack of a central figure in the group to negotiate and their initial greeting of expletives and slurs about police; not exactly the best basis for friendly negotiation. Within hours, they stopped answering phone calls on the cell phone we provided and continually provided us with unreasonable desires and no time horizon for vacating a space they had no right to be in. The sense of entitlement and disregard for the law is appalling. To say the least, it detracts from whatever their initial message was to have such an escalation of action. Some were quoted in media outlets showing their willingness to be arrested and their lack of interest in negotiation. Others were shown harassing the media or police that were there to speak to them. No longer can we trust that their intentions are purely political protest or other reasonably protected First Amendment actions. We witnessed anarchists, like those involved in the May Day riots, openly participating in the initial takeover and saw some quoted that were willing to face any sort of police action in order to defend their "right" to illegal takeover of the building.
We cannot thank the community enough for their support during this time and their calls of encouragement of how we handled the takeover. I personally share the frustrations of many that this was a completely unacceptable and over the top way to garner attention to their vague cause. I plan to continue the conversation about these issues with the community in the coming week.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us.
Kevin Vogel
Chief of Police
Then on the 6th the Santa Cruz Po-lice Department put some pictures on their website asking people to recognize them and grass on them. Then they had an update on 28th of dec Thus:
Update on Takeover of 75 River Street
Throughout the past 4-weeks, Santa Cruz Police Department investigators have worked tirelessly to identify those responsible for the takeover and vandalism of the vacant building located at 75 River Street on Wednesday November 30, 2011. Much of the information regarding the identity of those responsible for the illegal entry and takeover was the direct result of information provided to SCPD by concerned community members after viewing photographs of the individuals responsible for participating in this incident.
Thus far, Santa Cruz Police Investigators have identified 13 individuals who are suspected of being responsible for planning, organizing and participating in these unlawful acts. The names and other identifying information for these 13 people have been submitted to the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office and arrest warrants have been requested in conjunction with this case. We expect to begin making arrests as soon as the warrants are issued. This is the first wave of names that have been submitted for arrest warrants. As this investigation progresses, we expect to identify additional individuals who are responsible and we intend to hold them accountable for their unlawful actions as well.
The Santa Cruz Police Department would like to thank the community for their assistance in helping identify those responsible for this illegal takeover. We would also like to encourage anyone who has information on the identity or whereabouts of anyone who was involved in this incident to contact Santa Cruz Police Investigations at (831) 420-5820. You may leave an anonymous tip at (831) 420-5995. You may also submit a tip using our iPhone app, or via our website by clicking here.
Sincerely,
Kevin Vogel
Chief of Police
Thursday, February 9th, 2012On the 9th Santa Cruz Sentinal published an article with statements from two attorneys.
Posted by OccupyAdmin Feb. 8, 2012 75 River St. Charges & Arrests
All of the following are named on Case No. F22196, Superior Court Complaint,
Charged with felonies, except for Gabriella with a third misdemeanor charge of delaying an officer.
If they go to the courthouse to get a court date, they will not have to be arrested or post bail. Becky Johnson was arrested, handcuffed and taken from her home with pancakes burning on the stove around 10 am today. She is now in jail with $5000 bail needed, and David Silva for whom she is caretaking is alone at her house. Clearly the police don’t know who the #75River occupiers were, or they are targeting people they don’t like, including the media.
It is believed that Desiree and Brent were also arrested.
ROBERT NORRIS KAHN
BRENT ELLIOTT ADAMS
FRANKLIN CRUZ ALCANTARA (ANGEL)
BRADLEY STUART ALLEN................................. see my page
ALEX GEORGE DAROCY .................................. see my page
BECKY ANN JOHNSON
DESIREE CHRISTINE FOSTER
CAMERON STEPHENS LAURENDEAU
EDWARD DANIEL RECTOR
GABRIELLA CELESTE RIPLEYPHIPPS
GRANT GARIOCH WILSON
Two men facing charges in connection with the takeover of a former bank are slated for a preliminary hearing Tuesday. Their attorneys say the men are photojournalists and were working in that capacity when the alleged violations took place.
Alex Darocy, Bradley Stuart Allen and nine other people are charged with two felony counts of vandalism and conspiracy, and two misdemeanor counts of trespassing. The charges stem from the takeover of the building at 75 River St. late last year. In that incident, a group claiming to be acting "anonymously and autonomously" but in solidarity with Occupy Santa Cruz remained in the building for nearly three days before leaving peacefully.
Darocy and Allen, who pleaded not guilty to the charges last month, are photojournalists who have done work for a number of outlets, including Santa Cruz Indymedia, according to defense attorneys George Gigarjian and Ben Rice.
I follow quite a lot of legal issues in and around the Indymedia outlets. sometimes the tactics by US gov and the Po-lice are deplorable to say the least. Most of the cases get thrown out of court after spending millions in court costs etc. Freedom country they say loud and clear.
See here for the latest.
I am a selfish person. If you cannot find the links in this blog, I have majority of them filed, Email me!
