The facts on police brutality during the 45-day Eureka Occupation:
November 7th, 2011 -- First raid of Occupy Eureka by local police forces; 13 arrests made
November 8th, 2011 -- two arrests made following rally and reclamation of the Courthouse lawn (two protestors set up a tent)
November 10th -- Comrade Verbena arrested by EPD officer Guy for filming
-- two Occupy Eureka protestors arrested on various charges; Comrade Jumbo arrested on charges of supposed assault of Betsy Lambert of KIEM news during an incident where she harassed Occupiers
November 13th -- Comrade Hans beaten to the point of broken ribs, then arrested and denied any real medical treatment after filming EPD Sergeant Sanchez tearing down protest signs
November 14th -- 33 persons arrested, without warning, at or near the Occupy Eureka site; Comrade Andrew beaten on and around his head with a metal baton by EPD's Terry Liles as Sheriff's Deputies (Charles Lamb and others) and EPD look on, including EPD Chief Murl Harpham
November 21st -- former Humboldt County Public Defender pushed to the pavement by EPD officer Anderson resulting in bloody head injuries
November 22nd -- Comrade Hans arrested for the third time; this time while crossing the street holding a protest sign during the third raid and tear-down of the Eureka Occupy site
Local California Highway Patrol broke the ribs of Felix Omai, a thin woman who had hung two banners in Southern Humboldt
EPD has destroyed and/or corrupted video files, evidence, from cameras that arrestees had on their person.EPD has arrested people merely for videotaping their raid/activities.
EPD has stolen many signs from the demonstration.
EPD has taken survival gear from demonstrators and arbitrarily help onto it. One official statement from EPD is that if the person who's property is being held by EPD wants it back, they have to promise to LEAVE TOWN!
EPD, namely Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez, ignored two men (unrelated to Occupy) busting a local business' window across the street from Occupy Eureka WITH THE HEAD OF A YOUNG WOMAN, and instead harassed the Occupy folks in front of the courthouse. Even when informed by such folks and later by the woman who was being smashed through the glass, what was going on, Sanchez chose to do nothing about it and instead play games with his sirens to harass Occupy Eureka.
The recent violence of the EPD must be exposed and action taken to disarm the officers and other officials who inflict and/or sanction the violence.
The tactics the police are employing are meant to break us down, and make us leave our Occupations out of despair. They have intimidated and harassed us, robbed us, arrested us multiple times in as little as a week, locked us in solitary confinement for days on end, subjected us to unnecessary extended custody, and held us for as long (or longer) than legally possible, only to release us without charges. These tactics allow police departments to either chase away or hold non-violent protestors, keeping them away from their Occupations, while at the same time barring them from fighting these corrupt actions in court.
We must stay strong. We must be vigilant. We must be creative in our tactics to counteract all this violence. We must do what they don't expect.
As Occupiers, we are asserting our not only our constitutional rights, but more fundamentally our basic human rights. The law is on our side, and if we are persistent enough, we will be seen though to justice. In our very questioning of corporate totalitarianism and corrupt government authority, in our direct challenges to the status quo, lies our freedom. They cannot take that from us.
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