Sacramento blows a million to intimidate protestors.
by Dan Bacher
Dissident Voice
July 29, 2003
The Sacramento City Council appears to be doing John Ashcroft’s dirty work
by passing two unconstitutional ordinances, 2003-026 and 2003-028, that
suppress freedom of speech. The Council unanimously voted for the secretive
resolutions on June 17, just prior to the USDA Conference on Biotech and
Agriculture on June 23 to 25.
Supposedly fearing “another Seattle,” the Council set chilling restrictions
on the size and construction of protest signs. Ordinance 2003-026 stated,
“It shall be unlawful for any person to carry or possess any sign, poster,
plaque or notice” unless it “is constructed solely of a cloth, paper or
cardboard material no greater than one-quarter inch in thickness.”
The ordinance also prohibited the carrying or possession of “any length of
lumber, wood or wood lath unless it is one-fourth inch or less in thickness
and two inches or less in width or if not generally rectangular in shape,
such object shall not exceed three-quarters inch in its thickest dimension.”
It specified that “both ends of the length of lumber, wood or wood lath
shall be blunt and shall not be pointed.”
The same ordinance outlawed possession of glass bottles, jars or containers
(making it illegal to drink a bottle of mineral water!) It also outlawed the
carrying and possession of golf balls, ball bearings and marbles.
Furthermore the odious ordinance deemed unlawful “for any person to carry,
possess or wear any gas mask or similar device to filter all air breathed
and that would protect the respiratory tract and face against irritating,
noxious or poisonous gases.”
Although the organizers of the protest had been meeting with the Police
Department for months about the protest plans and had gone out of their way
to get the necessary permits, they were never informed of the ordinance
being on the city council agenda. And the agenda item was not put onto the
agenda until the last possible minute to avoid public scrutiny.
The ordinance was moved by Council Member Sheedy and seconded by Lauren
Hammond. The Council members, including Steve Cohn, Hammond, Dave Jones,
Bonnie Pannell, Sandy Sheedy, Ray Tretheway, Jimmy Yee and Mayor Heather
Fargo, voted for the ordinance. Councilman Robbie Waters wasn’t present.
The repressive ordinance was buttressed by an unprecedented presence of
thousands of “Robo-cop” attired police from the city, CHP, state police and
other jurisdictions. A total of 77 people were arrested, 3 in Davis and rest
in Sacramento, during the agricultural ministerial that brought thousands of
people from California and internationally to protest the promotion of
genetically engineered food.
Apparently only 6 of those have been charged by the District Attorney,
including three under the ordinance, according to Amy Sprowles, who worked
on the legal team during the mobilization. The legal team lawyers are
working to substantiate that claim.
In fact, two of those arrested were local pranksters holding “Save naboo!’
and “Stop the Imperial Senate!” signs to make fun of the protesters.
However, the joke backfired on them when they were arrested for violating
the draconian protest sign regulations under the provisions of the
unpublicized ordinance.
The Sacramento Police Department said in a press release on June 22 that
said, “Prior to the march, officers confiscated a bag in front of the
Capitol which contained cans of spray paint and several dangerous weapons.
The items included: light bulbs filled with flammable liquid, a wrist
rocket, sharpened sticks, and wooden shields.”
The press release was accompanied with photos, including one captioned,
“Anarchist literature and light bulbs filled with flammable liquid” and
another captioned, “Sling portion of the wrist rocket and sharpened sticks.”
Reports from sources within the Department indicate that the mobilization
was successfully infiltrated by police agents- and that agent provocateurs
may have been employed. Local activists are speculating that these supposed
“weapons” may have been part of COINTELPRO-like set up.
Interestingly enough, the legal team has received no information on anybody
being charged with possession of these “weapons” - except for one individual
who was arrested for wearing a “shield.”
Outraged about the large number of arrests during the bio-tech conference,
many under the controversial ordinance, over 30 members of the Sacramento
Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture and supporting groups, including the
Gray Panthers, Peace Action and Veterans for Peace, held a press conference
before the July 17th City Council Meeting. During the public comment of the
council meeting, they passionately blasted the ordinance and the massive,
almost comical police presence during the public comment section of the
meeting.
Heidi McLean, spokesperson for the Coalition, presented the coalition’s list
of demands during the press conference and council meeting:
* The Council must rescind the Biotech Ordinances
* The City must drop all charges against those arrested in relation to the
Biotech Conference.
* An independent evaluation of the use of city resources and law enforcement
in relation to the ministerial must be performed.
Julia Harumi Mass of the ACLU reported that she had received many disturbing
reports, include problems that mobilization organizers had with getting
access to parks and excessive fee requirements in the weeks before the
mobilization.
In response to a comment by Mayor Heather Fargo (in response to my
testimony) that the ordinance wasn’t secretive and was voted for unanimously
in a council meeting, Mass noted that the process appeared designed to avoid
public scrutiny.
“The agenda item was not on the agenda on Wednesday, but was typed in
Saturday,” she explained. “And the people engaged in the mobilization
activities were not informed of it before or after the council meeting. As a
result, many people with no intent of civil disobedience were arrested.”
She said the “overbroad” ordinance was a “constitutional loss,” and
supported SCSA’s call for an independent review of police misconduct during
the conference and a repeal of the ordinance.
Other participants in the mobilization said the huge police presence
deterred many members of the public from coming to the event to exercise
their right to freedom of speech out of fear. Although the police were
prepared for 10,000 demonstrators, only several thousand showed up for the
rally and march and other actions.
“I thought it was the right of everybody to show opposition to the city’s
closing of our sustainable community garden,” said Rita Gonzalez, a member
of the Mandella Community Garden Board who was arrested during the
ministerial. “But I chose to keep my seven year old daughter at home for her
own safety during the ministerial because of the heavy police presence.”
She was also very disturbed that the horse stables for thousands of cops
were put in Cesar Chavez Park, showing immense disrespect to “a park
dedicated to a man who fought industrial agriculture.”
“It’s becoming more and more illegal to do what I consider my patriotic duty
to do - to bring to light what our policy makers are doing. I’m saddened by
the fact that the city doesn’t help things out, but makes things worse,” she
stated.
Dr. David Walker blasted the city for the squandering of over $1,000,000 in
tax dollars for an overwhelming - and unneeded - police presence. He also
criticized the city council for providing subsidized rent to the conference
(50 percent), even though there was a sum loss of revenue to downtown
businesses because of the heavy police presence.
“The form of training the police underwent the weeks before the conference
was highly inappropriate,” said Walker. “It created a paramilitary
atmosphere of fear and confrontation.”
Bill Duran of the Grey Panthers said the police presence on the streets
amounted to “terrorism” against the populace.
“The Robo Guys arrested people even though they did everything they were
instructed to do by the police,” said Duran. “One guy was stopped because he
had a bandanna, while another was stopped for having goggles, although he
had no idea it was illegal.”
Local activist Cory Fulton said he was “saddened and frustrated by the
police conduct during the expo. It was reminiscent of a fascist state. The
people who were police liaisons were not told about the ordinance, creating
a breech of trust with the community. There were many programs that the
$1,000,000 could have been spent on - instead of pepper balls and tazers -
and it discouraged public attendance.”
George McAdow, a teacher in the Sacramento Unified School District who
attended the demonstration on June 23, said that “Sacramento looked like a
police state.”
“Some of my students participated in the rally and march,” he explained.
“The City of Sacramento taught them a message loud and clear - that it was
alright in Sacramento to end our civil liberties.”
Heidi McLean asked the council to put the group’s demands on the agenda for
the next meeting of the city Council. “We will present a detailed report of
police misconduct,” she said. “We on the police liason committee met with
the police chief prior to the passing of the ordinance. We never got a phone
call about the ordinance - this creates no trust in the process.”
Bob Thomas, city manager, responded to the activists’ comments by saying the
city would be release its report on the conference “4 to 6 weeks” after the
date of the council meeting.
“Our goal during the ministerial was to (1) protect first amendment rights
and (2) make sure that no violence, property damage or personal injuries
took place,” he stated. “There were activities of a violent nature and
material to promote violence during the protests.”
“We were pleased with the conduct of the police because they protected human
rights,” he added. “There was no property damage, in comparison to Seattle
where there was $3 million damage. The loss of revenue was minimal, whereas
in Seattle is was $17 million.”
He contended, “A few wrecked it for the 90 percent who were peaceful. We
will present to you the facts and how we need to plan for future events.”
However, many protesters thought the comparison to Seattle in 1999 and
Sacramento, a specific agricultural expo in contrast with a WTO meeting, was
absurd. Several thousand came to the demonstrations in Sacramento, in
comparison to the 50,000 people that went to the WTO meeting in Seattle.
Council Member Lauren Hammond asked the City Manager to give early notice
regarding the release of the staff report on the ministerial to the
coalition.
The bottom line? None of the city council members could successfully explain
why none of the organizers - nor the public - were informed about a
ridiculous, secretive ordinance that thwarted freedom of speech and
expression. At press time, this draconian ordinance remained on the books.
(Sacramento city residents are urged to call, email and write their City
Council representative and the Mayor to express their support of the three
demands made by SCSA. Go to http://www.sacto.org/council/map.htm to find
council members’ contact information).
—-
Daniel Bacher is an outdoor writer/alternative journalist/satirical
songwriter from Sacramento California. He is also a long-time peace, social
justice and environmental activist. Email: danielbacher@hotmail.
