Our City (Santa Barbara) Is Watching Festival Rallies Against Police
Brutality and Harassment
Demonstrators will be returning to De La Guerra Plaza on
Saturday, April 7th, this time to protest brutality, harassment, and selective
enforcement by local law enforcement.
The event, called Our City Is Watching Festival, will
take place from noon until 9 PM and is, of course, open to the public. It will
open and close with music from Haggard, SoulDarity and Relapse Party, all local
bands., It will also feature workshops on filming and documenting police
misconduct, self-defense, and other topics, as well as talks from AIM (American
Indian Movement) and UCSB’s Congresso. There will also be free literature and
art, and booths set up for people to make their own t-shirts and patches. The
intent is to bring awareness to how law enforcement targets local populations
that they see as vulnerable, such as immigrants, the homeless, and people who
are viewed as mentally ill.
The festival was organized in part to respond to recent
harassment by the homeless. This February, Andrew Holmberg was beaten and
arrested after a questionable stop by the Santa Barbara Police Department. When
his friend Melissa Kane filmed the beating, she was also beaten and arrested.
Holmberg served 49 days in the Santa Barbara County Jail; he was found not
guilty of Battery of a Peace Officer by a jury, but received probation for 2
other misdemeanors. He was released this Wednesday. This harassment of homeless
and seemingly-homeless young adults is common in downtown Santa Barbara. “They
do it because it’s easy, they have quotas to make, so they ticket and harass us
when they should be working to help the community,” said Kane, who has been
working on the festival with other local organizers.
One of the workshops at the festival is by Comunidades
Unidas, a local organization working to strengthen the whole community of Santa
Barbara County by maximizing opportunities for immigrants to participate and
advocate for their needs. Comunidades Unidas will be showing a “Know Your
Rights” video produced by CHIRLA. There will be training on civil rights,
including the 4th and 5th Amendments of the US Constitution. People will also
learn about the collaboration between local law enforcement and Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE), mainly at the Santa Barbara County Jail. “It is very
important that people be aware of current ICE programs within Santa Barbara
County and what other Counties and States have done to not participate in
them,” said Laura Ronchietto, a member of CU. The workshop will be in both
Spanish and English.
Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal
hearings into the police problem in America.
Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a
permanent DOJ office on Police
Misconduct.