LA-ABCF Harassed by Anaheim Police

LA-ABCF Harassed by Anaheim Police

(by Matthew Hart
from LA-ABCF)

The Los Angeles Anarchist Black Cross Federation
(LA-ABCF) has been the target of the police harassment
many times in the past, so it should never come as a
big surprise when it happens again. Regardless of this
fact, the police, especially the Anaheim Police
Department, always seem to find ways to amaze me when
it comes to being a**holes. The LA-ABCF, with the
assistance of youth organizations in Orange County,
put together a benefit show for political prisoners in
the United States. The event was suppose to take place
at the Unitarian Church of Orange County on January
25th, 2003.

The church is located in the city of Anaheim, which
is known for several things. The most well known of
course is Disneyland: “The Happiest Place on Earth,”
except for all the strong arm thugs and high-tech
security hidden in every crevice Outside these Pearly
gates of Disney is another story. Anaheim, which sits
in the heart of ultra-conservative Orange County, is
also known for its history of racism. Back in the
1920’s, a Reverend Leon Myers, was able to turn the
Klu Klux Klan into the powerful organization in town.
During this period, the Klan ran Anaheim’s leading
daily newspaper, controlled the city government, and
post signs on the outskirts of the city greeting
newcomers with the acronym “KIGY” (Klan I Greet You.)

Within the last few years, the Anaheim Police
Department has been known for the harassment and
brutal treatment of people of color in the community.

The police department and city goverment have come
under much criticism recently for allowing the
Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS)
enforcement to build a station inside the Anaheim
police station. People of color are routinely stopped
in order to check their immigration status. But don’t
worry folks, racism is long since gone in Anaheim!
Lastly, Anaheim city government and police has gone
through great lengths through the years in the
harassment and spying on progressive organization in
Orange County. In the early 1990’s, the police
routinely called animal rights hotlines to prepare for
any upcoming events. Within the last few years, they
have channeled their efforts towards radical and
youth-based organizations.

On January 24, 2003 at 9:00 pm, we received news that
both the City of Anaheim and the Anaheim Police
Department contacted the Unitarian Church of Orange
County regarding the benefit show for political
prisoners. They were told that the location has a
maximum occupancy of fifty people and that the show
had to be canceled. According to members of the
church, during the interview the police seemed to show
concern regarding the names of the bands, claiming the
bands names had “anti-government” implications.

The names of the bands are as follows:

Branchless Tree

Jupiterciples

Sorimodum

Los Plebes

Cuathemoc

Scott Keltic Knot / Yaoh

Over The Counter Intelligence

It is important to note that the church has had many
shows of equal or greater size than this event. In
addition, many of these bands have played shows at the
Unitarian Church in the past. Most of the people
attending this show have frequently attended the shows
that have taken place there. In all the events
organized at the church, which ironically sits across
the street from the police station, the police have
never even stepped across the street to see what all
the loud music and upside down American flags were
about.

The church, whose willingness to appease everyone
seemed endless, worked with organizers of the events
to come up with an idea. The board of the church voted
to allow the bands to play at the entrance of the
church with crowd outside in the parking lot. The
church contacted the police and informed them of our
intention. The police replied that they were not going
to be there to help them. This was taken as either a
threat or a notice that we were on our own.

Despite the fact that word had gone out that the show
had been canceled, causing speakers, supporters and
even members of the group not to show up, we were
determined to make this happen. About a half-hour
before the show was to start, we were approached by a
police officer and his partners in crime, who seemed
to be enraged that the show was still going on.
Communication in the department seems to be a big
problem. They informed us, that we could have a show
but we could not amplify it. They claimed that
amplification would be considered a code violation.

Only two of the groups playing were bands. Others
groups consisted of a Korean drum group and spoken
word groups.

After several warning about this code violation by
the head officer, an LA-ABCF member and key organizer
of the event, informed the officer that she had looked
up the code and he was full of sh*t. The officer,
aware his bluff was called, admitted he lied. So the
show went on, amplification and all (albeit on low,
due to the concerns of the church)!

The police next step was a show of force. The police
parked next to the show with nine cop cars, two
motorcycle cops and several police dogs, all ready to
bounce on our event. Then the police marched a small
little army, about a dozen or so, to stand on the
outskirts of the church property for all the
event-goers to see. They managed to wake up a code
enforcer from bed, whose opening remarks were “you
woke me out of bed for this?” Determined to not
allow the show to continue, the police informed the
church members helping us with the event, that the
show would be considered an unlawful assembly if it
did not end at 9:00 pm. We tried to extend it as long
as we could but the police were successful in shutting
the event down.

The crowd, which was estimated at 90-100 people,
became angered by the constant harassment. A portion
of the group, in between 50 to 85 people, marched to
the police station to file charges of harassment on
all the police involved. The police handcuffed the
doors of the station shut, determined not to let us
in. To nones surprise, the police were never far
behind the crowd. After sometime the police began
handing out the forms. The crowd after receiving the
forms, lined up along the side walk, yelling chants
about police brutality and harassment. The crowd then
marched back to the church to fill out the forms and
then within an hour or so dispersed.

The police returned to their position near the
church, police dogs and all.

It is important to note, that the crowds actions
after the show was canceled were not organized by the
organizers of the event rather the action happened
spontaneously. It was the event-goers that took every
action and made ever decision at this point. One ABC
member, after the event was shut down, overheard
someone yell, “f*ck this, all the kids inside the
church, we are gonna march!” Organizers worked with
the legal observer to collect names and badge numbers
of the police and assisted in content of the reports.
But the idea of the march and the filing of the
complaints was all part of the crowds actions. I do
not know how effective complaints are, I have little
faith in such things, but I sure do admire the
determination of these kids from the Anaheim
community.

So the question must be asked, why was this show
canceled? The police had informed the church, that
when they looked up our name, “a flag was next to our
name.” This was the excuse of the police for the all
this harassment. But don’t worry the police informed
us this was not political harassment. I do not know
what “a flag” means exactly except maybe an
investigation is taking place of some sort. If someone
can help me out with an explanation I would appreciate
it. I just hope the flag is black.

Monday, January 27, 2003

ANAHEIM POLICE LOSE BATTLE TO SQUASH FREE SPEECH

People defend their rights while under seige by a
platoon of police

By Duane J. Roberts

ANAHEIM, CA -- Last Saturday night, the streets and
alleyways surrounding the venerable Unitarian Church
of Orange County suddenly came alive with huge armada
of Anaheim police cars and motorcycles passing by.
What happened a neighbor might ask?

Did an armed robbery occur? Was someone brutally
raped? Had a mass murder taken place?

No.

The Anaheim Police Department was waging a fierce
battle to shutdown a small event being held on church
grounds that was organized by the Los Angeles
Anarchist Black Cross Federation, a political prisoner
support group.

In a scene reminiscent of the kind of intense
repression that routinely occurs in "third world
countries", a platoon of Anaheim police officers spent
several hours spying and harrassing the crowd that
peaceably assembled.

The war against civil liberties began early Friday
afternoon when Anaheim Police and City Code
Enforcement left a flurry of frantic messages on the
Unitarian church's answering machine inquiring about
the event.

Several church members met later that night with a
very hostile Anaheim police sergeant who bullied and
intimidated them into pressuring organizers to cancel
the whole affair.

But this decision was reversed the next day as
everyone concluded that under no circumstances should
the church capitulate to unreasonable demands by
Anaheim Police to curb free speech.

It was a veritable war zone Saturday evening as a
untold numbers of Anaheim police cars and motorcycles
circled around the church much like hungry sharks
looking for an easy kill.

About a dozen police officers quickly seized control
of a nearby elementary school parking lot, bringing
along a K-9 unit whose German Shepherds could be heard
barking and yelping in the background.

As people arrived, six church members stood their
ground as the same police sergeant mentioned earlier
came over and tried to bully and intimidate them into
submission.

But this time the sergeant's tactics backfired and he
was forced to back off a bit as one church member
whipped out his cellphone and contacted an Anaheim
police captain he knew.

Despite the intense police harrassment, the event
proceeded without incident until a City Code
Enforcement officer arrived and ordered that all
amplified sound be shut off under threat of citation.

The crowd of mostly young people remained peaceful
even when the police sergeant called up about a dozen
of his men and lined them up along an alleyway in a
brazen show of force.

But instead of getting angry, all seventy of them
proceeded to walk across the street to Anaheim Police
headquarters to get what forms they needed to file a
complaint.

Upon arriving at the front entrance, they soon
discovered that Anaheim Police had locked all the
doors with handcuffs to prevent any of them from going
into the lobby.

After several minutes of negotiations, three police
officers opened the doors and handed out forms to
everybody who requested them, and they promptly
returned to the Unitarian Church to fill them out.

It was then that Anaheim Police realized they had
lost this battle, and they gradually withdrew all
their forces and faded away into the darkness of the
night.

The battle that occurred last Saturday showed that
civil liberties are won only when masses of people
organize with one another to vigorously assert and
defend their rights.

At grave personal risk to themselves, seventy people
openly defied efforts by a small platoon of police
officers to deny them of their rights to free speech
and assembly.