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Mobilization
Activists Blast Sacramento City Council For Suppressing Free Speech
With
Unconstitutional Ordinances
by
Dan Bacher
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.com