STOP LAPD SPYING Community Townhall! Saturday, January 19th at 2pm at Chuco’s Justice Center!

The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition invites you to a Community Townhall on Saturday January 19th, 2013 at 2PM at Chuco’s Justice Center. The “War at Home” has been going on for far too long on our collective human rights.

Click HERE to RSVP on the Community Townhall Facebook Event Page.

Everyday new surveillance and spying policies are assaulting our civil liberties, invading our privacy, and wasting public resources. For over a year and a half, the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition has been building diverse grassroots campaign to build public awareness, participation, mobilization and action. The coalition has engaged in broad community outreach, conducted clear analysis and confronted both the perpetrators of state violence like the LAPD and their supporters in the civil rights community who have betrayed our communities by being the mouthpieces of LAPD.

Our vision is the dismantling of government-sanctioned spying and intelligence gathering, in all its multiple forms. Together we build a movement that is intersectional to the core on issues, experiences, demographics and resources.

Start spreading the word, Saturday Jan 19th at 2 PM. Chuco’s Justice Center – 1137 E. Redondo Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90302.

Will We Sleep or Will We Fight?!?!

Click HERE to view and download an English color version of the event flyer.
Click HERE to view and download an English black and white version of the event flyer.

Click HERE to view and download a Spanish color version of the event flyer.
Click HERE to view and download a Spanish black and white version of the event flyer.

The December 2012/January 2013 Community Connection is NOW AVAILABLE!

Click on the Photo above to read the December 2012/January 2013.

You can also view a high resolution PDF version HERE.

LA CAN Concludes 7-Day Siege at the CCA Headquarters

On Monday, June 4th, LA CAN concluded its 7-Day siege at the Headquarters of the Central City Association with marches, rallying cries and a clear message: “CCA, YOUR COPS WON’T SCARE US AWAY!”

Over the past decade, the CCA, the power business lobby in Downtown LA, has been one of the strongest advocates for increased policing and the criminalization of homelessness and poverty downtown. This has made them one of the major foes of poor and homeless residents who have been fighting to preserve their right to exist in a community that many have called home long before the lofts and art galleries that now line Spring and Main.

This most recent action was planned and executed by LA CAN, Occupy LA, and Occupy the Hood L.A. in response to CCA’s successful push to get LAPD to add 50 additional officers to downtown. This is on top of the over 100 uniformed and undercover cops that came to Skid Row in 2006 as part of the Safer Cities Initiative, which was backed heavily by the CCA.

For 7 straight days and nights, over 50 folks camped out in from the the CCA offices located at 626Wilshire Blvd. In the mornings, the groups rallied, passed out fliers to people on their way to work, and maintained a continual visual presence that let CCA know that residents of downtown will not stand idly by as big business and the LAPD attempts to remove their civil and human rights.

For more photos of the action, you can view a slideshow HERE.

Police Commission Finds that Dale Garrett Shooting Last Year was Not Within Policy – But True Justice for Police Murders is Hard to Find

Dale Garrett was shot and killed by LAPD in the Skid Row community last year at this time – the anniversary of the police murder is this coming Thursday.  LA CAN members and other community members will be holding a vigil in his honor calling for the end of police murders and abuse, and accountability for officers.  The vigil will take place on 5th and Spring Streets at noon – PLEASE JOIN US!

Two weeks ago, the Police Commission finally heard the results of the use of force investigation.  Dale was actually shot twice in the back.  Just as witnesses – many of whom were LA CAN members who came forward to provide testimony – had earlier claimed, the shooting was found to be out of protocol by the Commission – though Chief Beck and the Inspector General found it to be within protocol. The Commissioners found:

“In conclusion, Detective A and B’s failure to follow proper protocols or to operate in a manner consistent with Department tactical training, by having and communicating an operational/tactical plan, to include support personnel, unjustifiably and substantially deviated from approved Department training.”

“In conclusion, the BOPC found Detective A’s lethal use of force to be out of policy.”

Although the Commission took this unusual action to overrule the internal report (they find the large majority of shootings to be justified, though communities know this isn’t true), Chief Beck gets to decide the discipline for these officers.  And the LA Times reported recently that Beck has not been strongly disciplining officers for unjustified shootings – otherwise known as police murders.

While LAPD continues to enforce the most minor violations against poor residents in downtown LA -  sending people to jail for sitting on the sidewalk – their officers are allowed to commit major violations, even kill people, without any consequence.  LA CAN believes criminal charges should be pursued in this case and we will continue to demand police accountability throughout our community – to the policy makers and on the streets.  Stay tuned.

Joel Rubin of the LA Times reported on this today:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lapd-shooting-20120507,0,5626899.story

The public version of the use of force report is here:

http://www.lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/042-11_%20Central%20_OIS.pdf

Remembering Rampart, Remembering the Rebellion, Many Changes, Little Improvement

Written by Leonardo Vilchis and Becky Dennison, on behalf of the Los Angeles Human Right to Housing Collective (of which LA CAN is a member organization)

As so many reflected on the 1992 civil unrest last week, we heard stories of fundamental change in the LAPD and how conditions have changed so much within the City of LA since then. However, given the experiences in our communities in Downtown, South and East LA, we couldn’t disagree more. The fact that there have been changes does not mean that there have been improvements. Extreme poverty, lack of meaningful employment, a continuously growing housing and homelessness crisis, a deepening economic and social inequality, and continuing police abuse and racial profiling reflect the same conditions that spurred the uprising in 1992. At the same time we are still dealing with the self-righteous arrogance in LAPD that made Daryl Gates famous. Last week the Times reported that Chief Beck was giving only “conditional reprimands” to officers committing major violations, including unjustified police shootings (sound familiar?), causing discord among some Commissioners and the public. Yet, just one week later spurred by the 20-year anniversary, the same media outlets report on the supposed “changed” LAPD.

It is fitting, then, that the public meeting on the future of the Old Rampart Station also happened last week. The Old Rampart Station, a symbol of police abuse and arrogance, has been abandoned for the last 4 years and is a painful reminder of LAPD’s past that is worsened by the abandonment, neglect in and around the property, and a total disregard for the community that surrounds it. When the LA Human Right to Housing Collective chose the Old Rampart Station for its International Human Rights Day actions last December, it was selected as a symbolic representation of much that is wrong in the City of Los Angeles: the site of some of the worst and most pervasive police abuses in LA’s history; an abandoned and blighted City-owned property that could instead be used for human rights promoting purposes; the City’s budget priority of more than 50% of its budget going toward LAPD when housing, libraries, schools, parks, and other human rights programs are seeing devastating cuts; and the list could go on and on. The Housing Collective created a human rights camp that cold weekend in December to call attention to the abandonment and to demonstrate to the City and LAPD that this site should be used for community serving purposes. What is the city’s response? Rampart is planned to be the new headquarters for LAPD’s Metro Division, including SWAT.

There are two problems with the Metro/SWAT proposal. First, the community was unaware of these plans. There was no community input process in deciding what should happen at a space that holds such painful memories of crime and abuse. In fact, the LAPD representative at last week’s public meeting admitted there had been no community involvement, simply stating they weren’t required to do it. Second, what is the message sent by establishing a SWAT training ground in a community that was victimized and abused by the Police? The site will be turned into a militarized zone controlled by the police without providing any community services. The self-righteous arrogance of LAPD and the complicity of the city with its plans ignore the community’s needs and reaffirm the role of the police as an occupying force in Rampart. Certainly nothing has changed, and most definitely we see no improvement. The police plans and policies do not take into consideration community’s needs and desires.

Since January, local residents and other concerned Angelinos have been working to Reclaim Rampart – to ensure that community-serving purposes are included in any plans for the site and that the site is not solely used to house Metro Division, which will not serve the local community. Community members are also demanding transparency and more comprehensive public input as the City moves forward with its plans. The hearing was the first step, but much more work is needed by local residents, City Officials, and other concerned residents to be sure that LAPD is accountable to the community on this infamous site, and fully accountable to our communities across Los Angeles. That will be a change to welcome and a certain improvement for this community.

National Civil and Human Rights Groups sound the alarm on City Attorney Carmen Trutanich

From the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative website:

“National civil and human rights organizations with a long collective history of defending the right of political expression and challenging the targeting of movement leaders submitted a strongly worded appeal letter to the Los Angeles City Attorney on behalf of Mr. Steve Richardson, a community organizer with the LA Community Action Network (LA CAN) based in the Skid Row community of downtown LA.

Over the past 16 months, Mr. Richardson has been booked, processed and jailed four times on the same troubling charges arising out of one non-violent act of protest.  The letter of appeal in full is attached.”

Civil and Human Rights Organizations that have signed on to the letter:
American Civil Liberties Union – Southern California
Center for Constitutional Rights
International Alliance of Inhabitants
National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty
USA-Canada Alliance of Inhabitants
U.S. Human Rights Network

Click HERE to read the letter.

September/October 2011 Community Connection NOW AVAILABLE!

Click on the photo above to read the September/October 2011 Edition of the Community Connection (or download a PDF version HERE).

“HOUSE KEYS NOT HANDCUFFS!”

 

This past weekend, over 50 LA CAN members hopped on a bus and headed north to San Francisco for the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) Congress. They were joined by groups and folks from up and down the west coast, all of whom convened with one goal in mind – to build a regional movement that exposes and eliminates the root causes of homelessness and poverty.

During the three day event, members took part and led various workshops on issues very familiar to LA CAN – such as addressing the criminalization of homelessness and conducting effective community outreach.

LA CAN and WRAP members also participated in the Great American TARP Tour – a protest targeting the various groups and institutions responsible for the current national financial crisis and bank bailouts. In one action, over 500 people marched to Wells Fargo, a Hyatt Hotel currently neglecting the contract demands of employees, Charles Schwab and various other institutions – all of whom continue to play a role in widening the gap between the rich and the poor.

Demonstrators let these groups know loud and clear – homeless and impoverished folks are not going to stand for increasing budget cuts and the criminalization of their communities while irresponsible corporate entities receive tax payer funded bailouts.

See below for more photos and footage from the amazing protest.

 

 

 

 

LAPD Continues Criminalization Efforts against LA CAN to Squash Organizing and Silence Dissent, but We Won’t Let that Happen

On Wednesday, July 6th, just hours after the conviction of General Dogon was announced, LA CAN and partners including Dream Team LA, Comunidad Presente, Hippie Kitchen and others gathered for our monthly protest of the supposed Skid Row Neighborhood Watch Walk.  Pete White, LA CAN Co-Director, was distinctly targeted and arrested during the protest.

This Walk is organized by the Central City East Association, a business improvement district which promotes criminalization of homelessness and the increased policing and enforcement under the Skid Row Safer Cities Initiative.  Often, City Attorney Trutanich, Councilmember Jan Perry, other business leaders, and media attend the walk.  What is conspicuously missing every month is Skid Row residents.

LA CAN and our partners decided to begin a monthly protest of this event for several reasons, including: 1) the City Attorney’s crackdown on protest and dissent which has impacted all of the participating organizations; 2) the lack of resident involvement in the Walk – instead using the walk to demonize and degrade residents; and 3) to protest the Safer Cities Initiative (SCI), since the Walkers are generally accompanied by several SCI officers who have made thousands of arrests of poor, mostly Black residents as part of the Initiative.

We have been doing this protest since March, but this month the response from LAPD was quite different and more intense.  Although there were only 10-12 people, mostly business reps, participating in the Walk, there were dozens of LAPD officers on hand.  Officers gave conflicting information to legal observers about our right to be there and our right to protest on public property.

LAPD at 6th and Gladys, a block before arrest

Although we were simply exercising our first amendment right on a public sidewalk that was not closed to the public nor occupied by a permit obtained by CCEA, Pete White was arrested for what LAPD claimed was disrupting a public meeting.  After the arrest, an order to disperse was given and all others were threatened with arrest.

A community partner who also attended the protest of the “Safety Walk” posted this video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_4qOHHall8&feature=channel_video_title

LA CAN leadership has been targeted with arrests, detentions, false charges, degrading comments and public statements by LAPD, and much more because of our opposition to Safer Cities and our active resistance to criminalization efforts.  We believe this arrest, and especially this ridiculous charge, is unjust like all the rest and we will fight it all the way.  Pete has been released from jail and his first court date is scheduled for July 27th.  Stay tuned for ways to support.

 

General Dogon Unfairly Convicted and City Attorney Releases Lies

On Wednesday, July 6th, a jury found LA CAN Organizer General Dogon guilty of 9 of 11 trumped up misdemeanor charges that supposedly took place during approximately 6 seconds of a 20 minute, non-violent protest in City Council Chambers last May.  Although video evidence countered all charges, the jury decided against us – shocking but not surprising since the criminal justice system often has disastrous and unfair results for Black men.

The fight is not over.  The sentencing hearing is next up and we are organizing and preparing now.

However, we also want to point out that the City Attorney is continuing to perpetrate the officers’ lies in their press release (one might question why they would do a press release on a misdemeanor trial to begin with – only supporting our theory that this case is a political and personal attack on Dogon, LA CAN and the Right to Housing Collective).  The City’s entire description of events (bolded by LA CAN in release printed below) is exactly the two assault charges that the jury DID NOT CONVICT on.  Dogon was found NOT GUILTY on two charges of assault on an officer – those charges were directly tied to these lies about digging nails into an officer and pinning an officer against a wall.  In fact, it was Dogon who was the victim of use of force.  The City’s lies and continued degradation of General Dogon, an amazing human rights organizer and human being, should not be tolerated by anyone.

Dogon’s personal statement reflecting on the trial is included at the bottom of this post. Stay tuned for updated information.

Press Release from the Los Angeles City Attorney:

THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2011 LOS ANGELES MAN CONVICTED OF CLASHING WITH OFFICERS IN CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS LOS ANGELES – Following a five day jury trial, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury yesterday found a Los Angeles man guilty on multiple criminal counts for his role in a disturbance in City Council Chambers last May. Deputy City Attorney Brad Rothenberg successfully prosecuted the case. Following less than an hour of deliberation, the jury found Steve Richardson guilty of eight counts of resisting arrest and one count of battery on a peace officer. Richardson was remanded into custody and sentencing has been scheduled for July 14 in Department 52 of the Los Angeles Superior Court. Richardson could face up to 9 years in county jail. On May 21, 2010, the City Council was meeting to take up the issue of a rent increase freeze. About 40 protesters refused to leave after Councilman Zine asked the sergeant-at-arms to clear the chamber.As officers were escorting the protesters out, Richardson started pushing civilians into police officers and charging against the officers.Officers then attempted to arrest the defendant when he started to resist, grabbing an officer’s hand and burying his nails into the officer’s hand. Richardson also swung his arms and body at officers, pinning one officer against a wall, ripping another officer’s uniform, and kicking an additional officer.Richardson continued fighting even after being cuffed and taken into custody.  Note: Red print added by LA CAN – all of these made-up events and lies were linked to the two charges that Dogon for which he was found NOT GUILTY.

A message from General Dogon, upon his release from jail on July 7th:

In regards to the May 21,2010 incident in city hall, I’d like to take this time to personally thank the LA CAN members, L A Right to Housing Collective members (especially Union de Vecinos), Hippie Kitchen, and all other comrades and supporters for their continued and outstanding support throughout this trial. Thank you for turning out to fight for a just and needed cause.  We know that anybody that stands up and speaks out against state oppression is a target of state oppression.  Me and the other two other LA CAN members that were arrested that day understood this fact.  Although the city dropped all charges against us in the beginning, they later re-filed 11 criminal charges against me only after I had torn up and threw back a violence prevention certificate that was given to me by the city.  It wasn’t worth the paper it was written on after the violence they used against us.

During the trial, the city presented their case which only consisted of only cops for witnesses.  Because every officer that took the stand in support of the city was caught up in lies and perjured themselves on the stand during questioning, we felt that all of the video that was supplied by the media and Right to Housing Collective members totally contradicted their statements so badly that we (my lawyer John Raphling and I) decided not to present a defense due to this fact. The city had the burden to prove their case in which we felt they did not do.  The video clearly showed that “IT IS WHAT IT IS.”  And that reality contradicted the statements of police over and over again. We know that there is a risk of putting on witnesses, as much as it is a risk to not put on witnesses.  John and I have made many legal decisions together – including the ones that got me free from a 25-to-life sentence a couple of years ago when LAPD targeted me because of my organizing.  We decided on this strategy and believe it was the best decision.

Obviously, the jury didn’t see anything the way we saw it and lived it.  Yesterday, July  6, the jury found me guilty of 9 of the 11 counts. Although we don’t agree with this verdict, there is still a lot of work to be done.  The next court date is July 14 (although it will likely be postponed a couple of weeks) and we plan to pump up the heat.  We‘ll be calling on folks to continue this fight together.  Once again I’d  like to thank everyone for their continued support during this time……………all power to the people.

general dogon