Explosive Article Reveals Training Manuals, Emails May Have Fueled Law Enforcement’s Aggressive Response to Cal Poly Humboldt Protest
Protesters stood toe to toe with law enforcement as dark fell on April’s Pro Palestinian protests/occupation of Seimens Hall at Cal Poly Humboldt. [Photo by Mark McKenna]
The article’s author, Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, asserts, “The emails, obtained by public records request, shed light on law enforcement’s use of hyperbolic rhetoric to depict protesters who oppose Israel’s ongoing slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza as dangerous…In one conversation, the interim chief for the Cal Poly Humboldt police department requested that they be connected to a state anti-terrorism center…housed in the California governor’s office, which responds to “the greatest human-made threats and major hazards in the Federal Northern District of California.”
The critical look at the week-long Cal Poly Pro-Palestine student-led protest between April 22 and April 30 published by The Appeal, a nonprofit news organization that focuses on social justice matters, is part of a series that has so far reviewed documents related to campus protests nation-wide. The series combs through more than 100 occupations looking at the larger picture of police responses to student activism across the nation.
This article calls attention to the actions of law enforcement in Humboldt County as they responded to the initial complaint from University Campus Police when they found students attempting to camp with tents inside Siemens Hall, in the late afternoon of Monday, April 22. The Appeal writes, “…local law enforcement officers developed an action plan to combat what they described as the “threat of domestic violent extremism and criminal behavior” supposedly presented by protesters.
“The law enforcement response at Cal Poly Humboldt began with a widely publicized incident on April 22, when police confronted students after they entered an administration building called Siemens Hall to stage a “peaceful sit-in,” said Rick Toledo, an organizer with the group Humboldt Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). As officers in riot gear attempted to enter the building to clear protesters, video shows students holding onto each other and chanting, “We are not afraid of you.” Desks and chairs are piled up between the officers and students. In a moment that has since gone viral, a protester strikes an officer’s helmet with an empty five-gallon water jug. The video shows several officers hitting demonstrators with batons, while another elbows at least one protester.”
The Appeal goes on to describe training materials obtained in the Public Records Request designed to advise officers on how to be aware of and deal with “Violent Opportunists” (called VO for short), in reference to the student protesters remaining on campus during the week-long occupation. The writer points out that the material describes protesters as “deploying distinct and increasingly violent” tactics “long utilized by anarchists and other violent left-wing actors.”
An image found in the “Offensive, Defensive and De-Arrest Tactics, Techniques and Procedures used by Violent Opportunists” manual shows a modified bicycle helmet with the word PRESS written on it, which law enforcement asserts has been used by protesters to confuse officers, and cause reluctance on the part of officers to interfere with who they recognize as media present at a protest.
The documents obtained by The Appeal through a public records request are minimally redacted, and provide specific and detailed insight into the operations and protocol undertaken by campus police in conjunction with HCSO and out of the area officers. The documents and information obtained also detail the stated objectives leading up to the all-night police raid, during which over 30 people were arrested. Teams of police wearing full riot gear descended on the campus quad where the protesters were seated peacefully with arms locked and prepared for arrest on the night of April 29th and into the early morning of Tuesday the 30th.
In response to request for comment, Cal Poly reportedly responded to The Appeal asserting that protesters had been engaged in “criminal activity” on campus, with the article further explains that CPH asserted that law enforcement “began a series of actions to reestablish control of the buildings and other property, protect the rights, safety, and health of all students and employees, and eliminate the threat of violence and criminal behavior.” CPH does not appear to have taken responsibility for the planning of the police response to what they have characterized as untold levels of property damage, despite having several personnel named as leaders involved in the overwhelming law enforcement response.
The Appeal’s investigation provides a peek into possible motivating factors behind law enforcement’s response to the Cal Poly Humboldt Pro-Palestine protest, highlighting the expectation of high levels of violence, which didn’t materialize.
Read the full report here: https://theappeal.org/cal-poly-humboldt-palestine-protest-police/
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Criminals get treated like criminals. Law enforcement should have cleared that building on the first day.
Is the involved professor still on his hunger strike?
You must not be from Humboldt! lol. Prior to cannabis legalization it was a county full of criminals and their accessories.
VO is exactly the description that applies and the only thing “explosive” about it is the unflattering spin when they prefer to think of themselves as noble fighters in a cause and find themselves labeled as petty criminals instead.
The usefulness that justifies the public expense of university campuses is that it provides education. It is not that it provides an easily roused basketful of unemployed hormone ridden youth to act on behalf of aggressive outside interests. Way too many arrested were not students and way too much direction came from sources not related to CalPoly for them to justify their bullying on campus. The pretext of divestment was way too thin to be real. The Israel and Palistinian interests both have conducted a proxy war in the US like airplane hijackers took whole planes full of non involved people hostage in the 70s and 80s in the attempt to bully whole countries into paying attention. Toddler tacits with adult human damage.
We prefer outlaws
Thank you
The biggest criminals are the clowns that run hsu. Overpaid, underperforming, reactionary, incompetent, “off with their heads!”
I thought the HCSO and CPH did a good job of dealing with these foolish protesters.
Yeah, but you also think a bunch of other bullshit, like that there are no white supremacist groups in the United States, so your opinion has no weight. You are not credible.
Certainly not a meaningful amount of white supremacist anymore… but if racism is your foundational argument for everything, I can see how embellishing their existence is important to you
“Bombshell” Whaaa ha ha ha
Yeah, there is no “bombshell” in the article.
The reporters hyperbolic language reveals her bias.
After the protesters violently resisted the initial police response the police pulled back and took the time to formulate a plan and assemble the resources needed to regain control without further violence.
The only protesters who were arrested insisted on being arrested and were only “peaceful” because the police came in force.
The cost of the police response was a legit part of the damages caused by the protesters because it was made necessary by the protesters initial violent response.
Oh I am sure law enforcement was dusting off their batons in anticipation of busting a few heads.
And of course let’s make the protester’s into “terrorists”
Yet no heads were busted. But Oh, the horror of what might have happened…
Perhaps you missed it – YES, in fact at least two people’s whose heads were “busted” and/or bloodied… there’s an article here somewhere form the April 22nd incident at Siemens Hall, and the images we received from the injured party are indicative of at least two wops to the head, requiring several staples to close the head wounds.
That’s just terrible.
Forcefully resisting arrest usually doesn’t end well.
The protesters should be jailed and the professors supporting them fired
Almost two million dollars of destruction to a publicly funded building is more than just an opinion.
That was a flat-out lie. They said Siemens would take months for employees to get back into. Yet they were back in shortly after the campus re-opened.
Yes! Expose the LIES! Just don’t expect people to remember, as the media and those in charge of the narrative know how to feed it in a way that people will not consider more than THEIR side of the propaganda…. I mean, story.
Facts and reason once again up against someone commenting in generalities. Thank you for providing clear reasoning that points to allegations specifically about “Months to reopen” being false.
“Research shows that this kind of tactic doesn’t work to change minds and hearts. … It’s working to get attention, but to what end?” — Dana Fisher, protest movement historian, to the Washington Post
One “Expert” does not a meta study make. “This kind of tactic” …tactics are clearly in dispute regarding what was actually done and to what extend – the “Expert” resorting to general vagaries makes he less credible.
That was a fully unsupported claim of damage that was plainly false with a simple look at the campus afterwards. It also included the cost of the police response.
Since this was a “peaceful” protest, there shouldn’t have been any damage at all !
EXACTLY!
EXACTLY!
Most people know that when a child throws a tantrum, you should never give into it or you will end up with a spoiled rotten child that never grows up and becomes a responsible person.
There were peaceful protesters there who’s message was lost to the chaos of a handful of destructive brats that should all be expelled.
I would agree with you if not for facts being laid out repeatedly. I felt the way you did at first when i saw some photos (though the overkill reaction by Israel i could never ignore as being an inciting factor among conscientious people who don’t just stand by and do nothing). I can and do adjust my opinions and viewpoints based on evidence; unfortunately blind loyalties and bloated egos block some others from doing so. Now it seems the “Spoiled” are those who want all their entitlements to go on as usual no matter facts of misdoings by LE and the University, what violence their universities are funding…”MTV and chicks for free” as the song goes.
There shouldn’t have been any cops either by your logic.
Both parties in that altercation made some bad choices. One party has infinitely more power, including the ability to waste our resources without recourse.
That’s a load of crap and you know it !
How so?
Trespass is a crime, so even without a component of violence a police response would have been warranted.
Self defense or rescuing others from violence is not a crime. The University using funds to support trespassing and murder vast numbers of civilians should be illegal.
If it was a thousand dollars, it still was a crime.
meanwhile, in Gaza…
Love it. Some levity never hurts…
sure, the people who actually engaged in vandalism should be charged.
The largest waste of public resources was in the police response though. And trying to insist that it was unquestionably necessary and then also attach those costs as the largest part of the “damage” caused by the protest (while also lying blatantly about the repair costs for the actual damage) only serves to undermine the university’s credibility.
self defense or rescuing others from violence is not a crime. Resisters to slave ownership and other atrocities must break the law in order for law to evolve, law which is to be followed in spirit vs by the letter of it.
All of it was avoidable, if the administration had not escalated what was a minor, extremely localized, student protest (to Siemens Hall) into a campus crisis by calling in the riot police who were, predictably, confronted by a mass of outraged students. Why they (who, really — because the president was not there, as usual) and his chief of staff (ex-military, prior employment supply chain manager for MOD pizza) threw the provost, a college dean, and a recently hired VP into the escalated fray to deal with the predictable blowback to cops assaulting the initial protesters.
Total ineptitude and inexperience with de-escalation as an approach plus the strange jump to concluding that outside “criminal terrorists” could be involved sparked this — which this article corroborates.. The riot police surrounded the building and predictably enraged masses of students confronted them. Within two hours of notifying campus stakeholders that there was a protest, we received notice that the whole campus was shut down for the next two days, when it could have been dealt with immediately by de-escalation. At that point I returned to campus and saw the provost and the dean attempting dialogue with students inside the building while hundreds of students confronted the cops. When that went nowhere, the dean asked present faculty to huddle with him and the VP, asking us what could be done to dissipate the crowd. We responded unanimously: send the cops home, these kids aren’t inherently violent. The FIRST response to this was, “but it’s about Palestine,” indicating that they were being fed a rather problematic anxiety about violent terrorists supporting Palestine. After a bit of back and forth, the meeting was adjourned. Within 10 minutes, the cops were sent home.
This turned the situation into a peaceful scene — a temporary autonomous zone with BBQ and general celebration. What happened after that was path-dependent on the initial confrontation and over-reaction. While the (same) college dean, the provost, and the ombudspeople stayed present and worked towards peaceful resolution, they were handcuffed every day by new nonsense from the president’s office about criminal terrorists. The complete shutdown of the campus was totally unnecessary and provoked further grafitti “violence” because no one was around to say maybe that’s not a great idea. This was compounded by escalating threats of police action against anyone being on campus “for their safety” — ie, a police state was necessary when we knew damn well it was perfectly safe to be on campus and we really could have gone on with business as usual everywhere but Siemens Hall while they figured it out. I spoke with Honsal the Friday when the building was opened up so everyone could tour it, he was his usual genial self strolling with exactly one sidekick totally safe from any kind of confrontation trying to see if maybe the protesters could move out of the building to somewhere else. He spoke of the need to address criminal behavior, and I reminded him that the county for 40-plus years governed criminal behavior by mostly leaving otherwise law-abiding community members to float the economy well above the post-industrial poverty line characteristic of every other rural place in America that didn’t have a criminal market buffer. He laughed and nodded but went back to the need for police to protect themselves (presumably from the imaginary violent criminal terrorists). The nonviolent arrest of about 30 students, alumni, and local community members was in fact the outcome of the hard work one professor did the whole time, organizing the students to not give Tom Jackson what he wanted (my opinion, not theirs): a violent confrontation that would confirm his narrative that the students were violent criminals.
Who “caused” the property damage and the price tag of paying so many outside law enforcement brigades to come that last day, then? What are the damages to this university in terms of enrollment and final breakdown of trust between faculty and administration (it’s been brewing for years, now with much of the student body mobilized as well)? All of it could have been avoided if admin leadership had any common sense, much less sense of history and familiarity with a student body (and curriculum) that remains as tuned into protests against state violence as it has been since the 1980s. It’s as much a legacy of the hippie era as the weed industry is.
Even within the administration, the admins on the ground (including ombudspeople) showed a far different attitude about what should be done than the admins calling the shots at what apparently they decided was a safe distance. The admins on the ground could see with their own eyes what the situation was (ie, not violent criminals) but their perspectives never made their way into the press releases.
Personally, I’m kind of shocked that so many of Kym’s Sohum readers are so eager to parrot the talking points of the police state and the administration about the situation. If you don’t want student protests, don’t give them more to protest. It’s as simple as that. If you don’t want property damage numbers inflated by the cost of far-flung, totally unnecessary LEO mobilization, try de-escalation. At least TRY it. don’t immediately call the riot cops.
Thank you for your honest assessment.
Ernie,
That assessment (by a member of the Marijuana Studies faculty) is anything but honest.
He ignores the initial violent resistance by the protesters.
He describes deescalation tactics that were used (sending the cops home, senior admin dialoging with the protesters to no avail) but then says deescalation was never tried.
Admin responded in detail to the protesters on the issue of divestment, the supposed reason for the protest but the protesters kept issuing an ever changing list of demands.
After the initial violent response by the protesters the police had no choice but to come fully prepared and in force.
Anything less would have risked a repeat of the initial violent confrontation.
Relieved to read your perspective amidst the seemingly eager for police state type conditons at best and violence just cause at worst crowd I’ve notice here lately. I sometimes consider not going to the comment section anymore here as it seems over run but maybe those types the only ones with time on their hands to be here so regularly?
Though i hope to come back and read the rest of your comment oo busy today and nice to see some can manage more than a sound byte of info when it comes to such important topics . Your last paragraph is so spot on regarding LE around here in genera. l i hadn’t followed the situation at HSU though wasn’t thrilled about the destruction of “public” property and reading specifics makes it so much clearer. Thank you.
Looks like things are going to get worse before better at this rate. I’m concerned that even the Supreme Court Ruling in favor of government having more input about fake news is in anticipation of a trump win. They could afford a tank but say they are underfunded. There is a photo of Fortuna Police Chief demonstrating nunchucks on a woman in a mini-skirt…WTF?
New police station in fortuna looks like a military base compared to the police station in Arcata. The old fortuna station was certainly in need of a rebuilt or something and they went to the other extreme ; even the location is questionable and won’t go into that. Meanwhile no teen centers in most towns. Sherrif Honsai is excited about a new “Reality” show featuring him and others and says it will help with “Recruitment”. How about officers with integrity feeling safe among their coworkers? No it isn’t an f’n brotherhood dudes..anymore than ER staff and EMTs and Firefighters etc are..yes camradre needed and none of those risky and exhausting and stessfull jobs (add some Caltrans work and others to the list) seem to need to put on PR events with children and publicize their dogs as if to make them more cuddly when in fact police dog are responsible for some collateral damage even if one supports their use at all for things other than sniffing out explosives or poisons.
There may be more hope nationally than locally:
https://apnews.com/article/middle-finger-police-stop-vermont-379e539a054d04ab0c29511f58ee94c2
I didn’t see CPH put out a RFP or solicit bids to repair the damage. A few friends and I would have fixed up and painted that thing in a jiffy for $20,000. This whole thing was quite pitiful. The disorganized childish protestors and the bootlicking cops dancing around the whole PC nature of it all. Block Hwy 101 with a nonviolent sit in, or occupy the plaza for weeks. It was extremely selfish for them to take away the graduation from so many students who were genuinely trying to learn and make a better future for themselves, their community, and country.
Sounds reasonable to me except lets remember children (no they are not all that matter and still…) are being starved and blown up so I’m not sure i disagree with protesters protesting where money is being invested in overkill. Was a time when graduations were not such a big ole deal …one got their degree and moved on to get to work. Selfish is caring more about a short walk in a gown and lots of parties when people are getting annilated with the money invested by the university.
She didn’t say she didn’t care. Selfish to want to graduate? Giving up a graduation or a million graduations ain’t gonna change Gaza. This protest was stupid. Face it. Like CPH could make a difference in Gaza. Lol.
Not selfish to want to graduate, duh. I didn’t say it was. I said the pomp and stance around it has changed; less of a public spectacle and more focused on its purpose, work, than graduation events used to be and it wouldn’t matter except for holding the parties etc of more importance than genocide directly linked to the University funding. Also, according to reasoning in many comments here It sounds like it was the university that in over reaction vs response caused far more disruption to business as usual than the protesters did. WHere are the actual bids and contracts etc for repair? Where is that transparency? Even those can be misleading and at least it would be something closer to facts and transparency to begin to base some opinions on. Why not provide those unless hiding something?
In the interests of transparency please cite your source for “genocide directly linked to the University funding.”
Your callous disregard for the importance of formal graduation ceremonies to students and families is also off base.
I’m 100% against the genocide taking place in Palestine. I have been for the last 20 years or so since I learned about what was going on there. It’s abhorrent, disgraceful, and shameful that our government is complicit at worst and turning a blind eye to it at best. Boeing is manufacturing the GBU-39 missiles at facility here in CALIFORNIA that are killing women and children in Palestine. What’s gruesome Newsom gonna do about that? Not a damn thing. So how can we trust our government when they say that they support a cease-fire but yet continue to send weapons of war to kill children? Democrats or Republicans, doesn’t matter who’s in charge. War is about money and power.
I also support people protesting the status quo in an attempt to create change for the better. But destruction of university property By a disorganized group of kids isn’t going to accomplish shit. As a proud American who loves all people, the increased amount of racism, bigotry and xenophobia surrounding this issue is so disgusting and sad to watch.
Ernie. Don’t believe all you read online. I was in that building after the students vacated. I walked around and saw the graffiti (at least half of which was done in chalk). There was NO WAY it was even close to $1M in damages. Some scrubbing, painting, cleaning, fixing the Siemens Hall sign, moving items back to where they were found on campus, etc. The most damaging thing was spray paint of a wall of wood inside Siemen’s Hall. That could cost $10K if local wood workers repair it. (Their estimate of getting rid of the few slogans painted on an upper wall of the JVD theater building probably included painting the whole building!).
You know well enough, Ernie, that government will exaggerate expenses, etc., to their favor whenever needed. This is another of those times, Sir.
Im not Ernie and so good to know . Thank you for speaking up here…more direct experiences needed even just for potential info to follow up on and as an every day citizen who is busy just trying to survive not even sure when/if follow up gonna happen but at least your communicating direct experience plants a seedling of hope for balanced perspectives. I was not in favor of the damage to public property AND i also realize vast numbers of people are being annilated with use of public funding and overkill tantrums do happen even by those historically abused and traumatized themselves, including Jewish folk like any other group who has been targeted (also happens due to more simplistic ambition and entitlement though).
Thanks Radio Head
Sorry for the late reply, I was busy with my other life. (digging out a stump)
I am well aware that government estimates are exaggerations. However, If you have ever worked on a government project you would know that your expenses will be at least double what a reasonable bid would be. I would bid three times what I thought the job would be worth and amazingly I landed a few bids. And, sometimes regretted it.
So, you were ‘stumped’ by the logic in my response??? Hehe.
Yes. A BIG part of the problem is that government is a great place to make BIG bucks! And yes, that is not always understood by ‘we the people’ when we hear the (damages) cost$$$. Government intentionally uses these BLOATED number$$$$ to get people all riled up! You can find that in spades often with comments here.
bring back the water cannon.
Whoa, are we moving too slow? Have you seen us, Uncle Remus? We look pretty sharp in these clothes, yes, we do. Unless we get sprayed with a hose -F Zappa
Back 60-70 years ago the kids dragged the Vets Hall cannon up to the top of the campus. Kids getting wild ain’t the crime it’s the grandstanding admin, clutching their pearls, and fraudulently ordering up a huge dump of public money. Most of the total bill will be for the visiting Law Enforcement slumber parties.
kids. lol. actually, adults.
Poly is supposed to be a place for higher learning, not a place for parents to get rid of their problem kids. The world won’t be a better place because of anyone who attends.
Maybe a graduate could help that last sentence make sense.
Well, normally based on the 70’s experiences you would have seen an illegal war protest met with National Guard killing students with live rounds, deploying CS gas, or giving a dozen or so of them a bit of a bayonet sticking.
After this those protestors should be going to Chicago to the majority genocide supporting zionist avowing DNC. GIVE BIDEN HELL.
What about the articles is supposed to be explosive?
Maybe it only seems that way to those of us who are following the Cal Poly protests closely–where law enforcement arrested 30 seated demonstrators and a news reporter after pushing out other reporters legitimately covering a news story. I like Billy Honsal but I asked repeatedly for an interview for weeks for him to explain why officers under his command pushed my reporters away from covering the arrests of protesters that were almost entirely peaceful. Seeing the training manual where there is no plan to protect the 1st Amendment and instead conflate VO with press makes me very concerned.
You being so important and having a history of unbiased reporting about Marijuana issues, it is truly shocking he would not leap at the opportunity to apologize for the freedom of the press issues as you framed it in your request. Hello. It takes weeks for the country legal office to get back to him on what he is permitted to say.
Well could be. I do know that I do have a great reputation for unbiased reporting–covering everything from environmental crimes by marijuana cultivators to cops robbing growers. Thank you for acknowledging that. Usually you can be quite adversarial and look for ways to nitpick but look at you being all supportive. I’m proud of your growth as a person and a commenter.
Now not so long ago in terms of this website I received a HCSO Challenge Coin and a very nice note from Sheriff Honsal. But you are mistaken in one thing about the request for an interview, I didn’t ask for an apology. I asked for an explanation–which is my job. And he responded and agreed to the interview. But then hasn’t followed through.
Thank you Kim for your reporting and true passion for pursuing the truth!
I think the commenter was being sarcastic in lauding your unbiased reporting but you may have been equally sarcastic in return.
Either way, we all have our biases which are obvious to see in others but somehow difficult to see in ourselves.
“O wad some pow’r the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us!”
Robert Burns
Your reporter has pulled back the veil on her own slanted reporting by use of such terms as “explosive article” and “bombshell investigative reporting.”
Objective reporting would recognize that the overwhelming police response was necessary to deter the violent resistance that the police were met with initially.
The police were able to make arrests and clear the campus without violence ONLY because they came in force and fully prepared.
Why ever would you think I was sarcastic, she says batting her eyes.
The title was mine. And objective reporting would not come to a conclusion either way but offer the facts for readers to make their own conclusion. BUT the article provided information that are “exploding” the narrative we were given.
LOL! Thot I saw you batting your eyes!
But in tone and content the headline, the article and the report are clearly taking sides.
And here we are again talking about a building occupation and the police response instead of the original point of the protest which quickly became lost in the shuffle.
The “student led protesters” may actually have been “misled student protesters” – at least some of whom are scratching their heads and wondering what happened.
The title makes this an opinion piece. The article being “explosive” and the response being “aggressive” are not objective facts.
A majority seem to think that the response was less aggressive than it should have been.
I do enjoy investigative reporting, it is true. I am biased towards clearly present factual information and transparency in government, I suppose that is also true!
True about the language. AND then you use an outcome as “Proof” that concurrent events were causal; that is bias far more extreme than a title followed by an article that lists facts. Had other tactics been used to deal with the protests would be the only way to know if they work; our history and other countries experiences (Denmark LE and other Countries don’t use the stick so much as carrots and get better results overall than we do..we pay so much money to incarcerate more people per capita than all other Countries except one or two.
Fortunately I was able to obtain an English translation of your remarks.
The building occupation and initial violent resistance absolutely caused the point of the original protest to be lost.
But as you said earlier you didn’t closely follow events as they occurred.
Good to know you value unbiased reporting cause that takes some real bravery which often isn’t tested until it becomes for more heated and a reporter threatened. Until/unless LE goes for you you’ll likely never understand. LE will cater to you far more than ordinary vulnerable civilians who cannot publicize our experiences to loyal “Followers” who “Know us” . Ordinary folk, many of whom too ignorant to sue (not much luck unless in a bigger city and a more dramatic event like being killed or badly physically injured anyway) or afford a lawyer on top of not being a known, connected public figure with a platform.
I’m not a reporter and sure didn’t realize EPD was so horrendous until it became terribly damaging life altering experience with them. Again, a cop saved my life as a kid and i had never met one i didn’t like until old age and in Eureka …I’m not of much color so yes some privledge was the reason i was so ignorant so long though low income and wrong place, wrong time (not hanging out with any criminals or even close) i had to face the reality.
Not sure about assessing a commenters “Growth of a person” and being proud like a parent and wondering if Yabut even sees it that way or cares or just low on caffeine today….but whatever.
‘Almost entirely peaceful’
That is some CNN- level gobbledygook! Your reporters were removed for their own safety during a violent insurrection. Jan 6th, the worst day in US history, ring a bell? It would be no surprise if your reporters were caught with intent to support and resupply the student terrorists and their accomplices. If that were the case federal charges should be appropriate. It would be interesting to know what these so called reporters carried on their persons during this violent antisemitic episode
FFS… Quite the accusation to make. I do hope you are trolling. During the only violence on the part of the students, my reporter safely sent live video from inside the Hall.
We weren’t able to witness any violence on the part of students on the last day, when officers, who outnumbered the students at that point over nine to one, peeled seated students off the ground and arrested them as best we can tell from footage that did make it out. If that’s your idea of violence comparable to Jan 6…we have very different perceptions of violence.
Would you rather the officers showed up to fight the criminal student occupiers one-on-one? The officers were sent en masse to ensure the safety of everyone involved during the arrests. By your own tacit admission the student terrorists showed their will to use violence, warranting a heavy law enforcement response.
You are showing your usual bias. I have no reason not to believe that your reporter, in lockstep with leftist political agenda, simply ignored much of the vandalism and violence perpetrated by students as well as other agitators.
It sure seems as though you want to downplay both this violent uprising, and, curiously, the Jan 6th attack as well. The federal government must be amused by your stance
I specifically told my reporters to document the vandalism. Have you seen other reporters or Cal Poly issue images that significantly differed from what we reported on? You didn’t.
I did. But go ahead and push your narrative. It is your website, afterall.
Send me a link to significantly different coverage. If my reporter missed something, I want to know.
Still waiting.
One-on-one OR en masse =False menu and false “choices” offered. There is a middle ground between simplistic extremes; a place some people here might do well to visit once and a while.
At some point you guys have to realize that when you choose to cast any criticism of Israel as antisemitism then the only thing you accomplish is to render the word antisemitism meaningless to most people.
True antisemites aren’t going to be offended by your use of the term and people who have good faith criticisms the government of israel just learn to ignore the word as a matter of course once they realize that it is flung at them as a way to defray genuine discussion about an aspect of our military and foreign policy regime.
The sort of carpet bombing approach to that word that is being trotted out is a terrible tactic unless your goal is to decrease the impact of the accusation.
If it was done in a way that recognized that the Palastinians are also heavily invested in cruel and inhumane politics, then complaining about Israel’s poltics would not be antisemitic. But that is not what is going on in the US. Way too many pro Palestinian protesters are conducting a proxy war based on race when in reality very little about race is pertinent in Palestine.
Muslim factions in the US have latched onto hot button issues here to manipulate what is essence a war for land based on religious colonialism on both sides, with their same demands of absolute exclusion on both sides, into a fiction of the Israelis being white colonialist as if Arab Palestinians were not just as white and just as colonialist. They trot out such false ideas that immigrating from Arab countries while taking land from the indigenous Palestinians was not colonialism under the Ottomans while Jews doing it when the Ottomans lost power after WWI is. This fiction has sanctioned attacking American Jews as individuals and excused rise again of barely hidden native antisemitism.
Israel condoning the anti Arab violence of their right wingers is a valid issue but it is no worst than the almost universal support Palestinians give to violence against Jews. Any Jew anywhere. One constant in Arab Palestine is that Arab Palestinians attack Israeli civilians in terroristic attacks but then, when faced with Israeli unity, failed to stand together in resistance. Instead they turn on each other with equal violence in order to be the big fish in their ever shrinking pond. No amount of American pro Palestinian rhetoric changes that and ignoring it is what is in fact thinly veiled American antisemitism.
There you go again with your false assertions of equivalence between the oppressors and the oppressed as justification for Israel’s genocidal destruction of Gaza.
And of course you toss in your generalized and semi-coherent view of history while ignoring that the modern State of Israel was born out of a calculated campaign of terror and ethnic cleansing that continues to this day.
Criticism of Israel’s oppressive policies and genocidal attacks on Gaza are not antisemitic whether or not they’re accompanied by a denunciation of jihadist atrocities.
To pretend any criticism of Israel is antisemitic renders the term meaningless, just as thatguyinarcata says.
More disgusting pro-terrorist antisemitic blather. Thanks for showing your true colors
I would guess it’s because it’s difficult to differentiate between press and protesters, especially of the press is placing themselves in an area that law enforcement is attempting to control.
Well if you knew what i do about EPD i don’t see how one could like Honsal..in another context sure and as chief of police? He was concerned about ANTIFA or whatever and what about those leaked texts …don’t know how you can “Like” someone in charge letting all that happen. Oh and the tank they purchased? I get it though until they affect you it is hard to believe what they are capable of; was for me…i was quite old before i was woke to how out of control, insular, not transparent and brutalizing they are and a cop saved my life as a kid so it was a long fall no matter i wasn’t a boot licker like so many here. i was lucky till nearly 60 years old to have never met a cop i didn’t like. Yeah I’m not of much color..LOL?
Honsal is the humboldt county sheriff not the chief of the eureka police.
Whatever.
EPD has a significantly worse reputation than the sherif.
Ok, that’s fair. Thanks for the delineation…i only recall Honsal in article preparing for ANTIFA or some such thing. I tend to think one can’t be Sherrif without knowing what EPD is doing and having means to expose it and help support accountability and other changes but i know i don’t know enough to say that for sure. Sheriffs are “highest law enforcement authority within that governance” . Sherif is an elected position vs the Chief of Police; which if Honsal is actually not part of the bulling over militarization and really has no influence over EPD and others in County, gives me a tad of hope in the electorate at least.
Why does it matter if they’re seated or standing? If their trespassing they have to be arrested.
We were discussing violent protest. It’s pretty hard (though not impossible) to be violent from a seated position. It certainly isn’t the position most people pick to get violent from.
“We”? I thought we were discussing this protest, which was “mostly peaceful”.
I’m not understanding your point
The point is in the op,
“Why does it matter if they’re seated or standing? If their trespassing they have to be arrested.”
So should all the J6 crew been arrested?
Many were, and those most culpable went to jail. Just like all the students and agitators at the cal poly insurrection should be.
Would I have arrested the students? no. Do I understand why law enforcement and the campus might feel breaking the law is enough reason to do so? Sure. Just like I understand but don’t approve of arresting Rosa Parks for not giving up her seat on the bus. Sometimes enforcing the rules is important. I’m just pretty sure that history is going to look on these arrests like we look at Rosa Parks’.
I also absolutely approve of arresting individual protesters anywhere that engage in violence or even defacing public spaces. (Boy, that’s going to make me popular with some of my progressive friends.)
But I absolutely do not approve of breaking the law by removing reporters from the area while they are attempting to cover some of the most non violent arrests we see on a regular basis.
Here’s the law: “If peace officers, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2, close the immediate area surrounding any emergency field command post or any other command post, or establish a police line, or rolling closure at a demonstration, march, protest, or rally where individuals are engaged in activity that is protected pursuant to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Article I of the California Constitution, the following requirements shall apply:
(1) A duly authorized representative of any news service, online news service, newspaper, or radio or television station or network may enter the closed areas described in this section.” https://law.justia.com/codes/california/2021/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-7/
A recent Department of Justice report on the Minneapolis Police Department’s response to Black Lives Matter protests says the following:
You don’t like the law then work to change it. But right now the law says that we have the right and the public has the need for what we do.
People who don’t approve of those arrests (say those progressive friends I just spoke about) and people who heartily approve of them (apparently you) deserve to know exactly what is happening in their name. Were officers rough? Were protesters actively being violent? History was being made across the nation as students erupted into protests and government institutions made choices on how to respond. Journalists need to be there to document what occurred for posterity so neither side can exaggerate what happened.
If you think that law enforcement didn’t act aggressively or conversely, if someone else thinks they did, then in either case it is best if they are basing that information on facts which is obtained by journalists who are on site and gathering facts.
Well said and Thank You! An independent press is our safeguard against tyranny from either side…
Thank you for being transparent about those occurances.
Did you expect honesty from Billy “Antifa buses” Honsal?
I’ve actually always found him to be honest. We differ sometimes on policy but I have always felt he was doing his best in a hard job. I wouldn’t want his job.
Should seated trespassers not be subject to arrest?
Were the police wrong for restricting journalists access to an active crime scene?
Did the news reporter refuse to obey lawful orders from police?
The people have the right to record LEO’s in the process of their duties, but the distance that is permitted has been determined in court. Did law enforcement violate the 1st amendment as it has been interrupted on this matter? If so, was this documented and will evidence be released to the public? Do you plan to file a civil rights lawsuit?
Just the nature of hysterical rhetoric. And journalism.
To which you attach your basic attention and simple opinions. Which of course only makes it so great again.
And there it goes into personal attacks that the RHBB commenters use so constantly. By this time that seems to be the only level of debate.
“Oh boy” didn’t call yous a name. They suggested you have basic attentions and simple opinions. They weren’t calling you a snowflake, or suggesting you were gonna take it so personal.
EVERYBODY! Just agree with this one so she isn’t sad. Thankyou
Labeling peaceful protesters as violent extremists is a time honored tactic.
Remember when tree-sitters were referred to as ecoterrorists?
Pretending violent trespassers are peaceful protesters is simply dishonest.
Pretending they were violent is dishonest.
As someone who works on campus and witnessed protestors follow people, document their vehicle license plates, intimidate by blocking walking paths, make death threats to the on campus phone operators, assault a local conservative news blogger I can 100% say that there was a violent aspect the occupation.
Really? I had zero issues with protestors but had several run-ins with police stalking, harassing and otherwise documenting my presence while on campus and I had nothing to do with the protest. Simply trying to use campus services – like the dining hall – while in possession of my student card resulted in multiple instances of having my personal space occupied, with the ever impending threat of the criminal charge of trespassing.
All CSU campuses are considered open to the public. The only major concerns I’ve ever had to my personal safety has been from police and WASP non-students. Students should feel safe and be empowered to embrace freedom of expression, instead of being being burdened by a military state.
I was there on campus, during the protests, with them many times. They were NOT violent! They were/are passionate, smart young people who know of a group of people, half way around the world who are being KILLED and their communities DESTROYED. An action so heinous it has been widely described as GENOCIDE! So yeah, maybe they felt it was reasonable to use some chalk or spray paint to emphasize their points!! I can’t blame them.
Tree-spiking, monkey-wrenching, and even car-bombing occurred, among other terroristic actions associated with the tree sitters and their accomplices. Those tree-sits were filthy, by the way: garbage and open sewage strewn in the forest beneath the ‘sacred’ tree. Occupants of said tree only interested in fresh deliveries of assorted hallucinogens and meth. Great ambassadors for the movement! Do not forget the north coast brand of the ecoterrorism was funded by illegal tax-free drug sales. The ecoterrorists sold-out on their children’s future just as much, or more, than some gyppo
North Coast Earth First! renounced tree spiking and Judi Bari was the victim (not the perpetrator) of a car bombing.
Your comments are delusional but at least you’re consistent.
Funny that the tree-spiking didn’t stop after that denouncement. Neither did the death threat phone calls to timber company offices. I guess a few of the earth first people didn’t get the memo.
And nobody said Bari was the bomber, but maybe you can tell us which ecoterrorist had knowledge and access to put it in her car?
Odd, you didn’t even address my comments on the tree-sit trash/sewage, drug use, or funding from illegal drug sales…
The only claim of tree-spiking I’m aware of anywhere near this area was in Mendocino in the 1980s.
So, yes. Tree-spiking absolutely did stop.
Oh well since you have no proof of that I’ll just have to take your word for it…NOT! Hah
You want me to prove a negative?
Life doesn’t work like that.
Do you have evidence of tree-spiking since the incident in Cloverdale?
Cite your sources or be disbelieved.
That’s what I’m saying! Thanks, brother!
It’s been suggested by Bruce Anderson in the Anderson Valley Advertiser that her former husband may have been the the one who planted the bomb. This doesn’t quite fit the martyr narrative, nor does it justify the FBI arresting the victims.
Also first hand account. I passed the blown up car at Park Blvd and MacArthur as a kid that morning before the Law showed up.
Good point. Nobody involved in the timber industry made trash, used sewers, drugs, or made money from illegal drugs…and nobody caught the gay.
My memory is that the FBI named Judi Bari as the victim of her own bomb. That was their cover story for the more likely explanation that they themselves planted the bomb under the seat of that car.
The protesters response to law enforcement’s initial attempt to clear Siemens Hall was anything but peaceful.
“shed light on law enforcement’s use of hyperbolic rhetoric to depict protesters who oppose Israel’s ongoing slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza”
Seriously, using hyperbolic rhetoric to accuse someone else of using hyperbolic rhetoric?
Ummm. It is a slaughter, and is ongoing.. Can you point out the hyperbole?
How else do you think Israel should have responded to the October 7 terrorist attacks? Asking for a friend.
According to their own internal documents they probably should have actually been paying attention to the border of the open air prison they maintain.
That’s not an answer, it’s a deflection.
Are all wars “slaughters”? The use of the word is by definition hyperbole.
Let’s be frank. This was an insurrection, and attempted coup by a small faction of terrorist student ‘activist’ and their transient supporters. I’d say worse than Jan 6, but I put it on the same tier. So I will simply point out that this violent and destructive antisemitic occupation of cal poly was a flagrant attack on our democracy. The student-terrorist perpetrators of this violent insurrection and their accomplices should be held fully accountable- expelled, documented, sanctioned and then thrown in the same federal penitentiary as the MAGA shaman for 20 years. Hope your violent occupation was worth the prison time. Mess with Uncle Sam or daddy Israel and get the horns!
Worse than J6? Delusional much? Or deliberately dishonest?
Are you sure AlpacCa isn’t a typo for AIPAC CA?
are you a new satire account?
It’s pretty disgusting to see these assholes constantly attacking Kym.
My guess is they will be gone in a couple weeks or commenting under a different name.
Seems like they just want to waste her time, probly hoping she’ll fold and hang it up.
All in the name of free speech of course
Much more disgusting to see your ilk attacking free speech. Kym does it for chump change and fake kudos. Some do it for free.
Once again you’re just reveling in the depths of your delusions.
You have no understanding of the parameters of free speech.
You can say anything you want but a private person, business or internet site is not obligated to give you a platform.
“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech….”
You see anything there that requires Kym Kemp or RHBB or any private entity to provide you with the means to disseminate your disjointed and increasingly abusive diatribes?
Instead of attacking Kym you should be grateful that in return for following a few simple rules she’s willing to accommodate a wide range of views, most of which she probably doesn’t agree with.
Your antisemitism is showing, again.
Repeatedly accusing fellow commenters of being anti-Semitic especially in response to comments that have nothing to do with religion is a likely path to getting put on moderation. Try to cool your jets, AC.
Glad you left it up.
I’ve been called worse by better people!
And I think it says way more about the person making the comment than it does about me.
The unfortunate aspect, as pointed out by others, is that frivolous claims of antisemitism tend to render the word meaningless so that real claims are more likely to be ignored.
Ha, Ha!
I’m antisemitic because I attempted to explain free speech to you?
Would you please explain your logic?
As I said a bit ago:
“Once again you’re just reveling in the depths of your delusions.”
I dont attack free speech. But free speech isn’t coming here with the sole intent to belittle the host with personal insults.
Attack me, attack the ideas from the other commenters, I could personally care less. But I dont make the rules.
As I’ve said before, I think the best way to deal with commenters like you is not engage. Likely you’ll go someplace else to seek attention
Cal Polyp Humboldt is a cancerous, abnormal growth.
20 repetitions of the exact same phrase over the last month without the leavening of a simple sentence about anything else is too much. We’re here to have discussions not tattoo negativity onto the minds of RHBB’s readers. Retire the phrase. You are on moderation.
Did you not just post about protecting the first amendment? There’s censorship, and then there’s silly censorship. I think your moderation falls under ‘silly censorship’. Defending violent and destructive antisemitic criminal behavior, while censoring arbitrary posts based on your personal feelings. What does that mean for your website? How much of your community do you really represent? Are you just another feel-good, corporate-funded echo chamber? Because you certainly seem to tow the line at the expense of your ‘community’. I hope southern humboldt can survive on pennies from passing tourists, because folks like you’ve helped overhype and destroy the last golden goose here.
‘Cal Polyp Humboldt’s posts are easily ignored, but your selective censorship is not.
Let’s be honest…You’re fine with certain posters “tattooing negativity onto the minds” of your readers, just as long as they follow your preferred narrative or boost advertising revenue metrics.
I am tired of both the passive and aggressive antisemitism in this county.
I think I was patient enough with Cal Polyp. Don’t mind you disagreeing though. Certainly, I’m experiencing one of my infrequent housecleaning bouts where commenters that are clearly serving no purpose towards having rational dialogue will get a warning. Yet commenters like you that clearly have an opinion that they are willing to try and articulate are welcome and met with robust discussion even if you are rather unkind in your expression of your opinions.
Just a reminder though, my comment section while it roughly follows First Amendment guidelines is not the government. The 1st Amendment is clearly about the government shutting down diverse opinions not about a website owner choosing what commenters will improve her business model and which commenters are not helping.
You completely missed my point, your reminder is not needed. It is obvious that you support the first amendment only so long as it helps improve your business model. You are beholden to your advertisers and subsidiaries. Not the community that you claim to care about, yet helped destroy with your ‘reporting’. I remember when you used to write for high times advertising the humboldt brand. Kym slangin the humboldt dream to unemployable dirtbags around the country. You’ve made a lot of money off this community, and despite the claims of your best sycophants you’re not all that great of a community asset. We used to do just fine when it was just kmud, before you showed up 20 years ago
I’ve made a lot of money off RHBB? Would you like to see my tax returns? Dude, you clearly missed my comment this weekend in which I said that last year I made roughly $30,000 while working 50 to 70 hour weeks. Frankly, its gotten so bad, that coupled with the jerks in the comment section, my personal life being a bit rough, that I’m getting close to saying fuck it. You might have noticed that attitude in my comments lately.
Please don’t fuck it!!!
RHBB Readers, Here’s your call for donations! Show Kym and her team how much we value her service!
Do I want to see your rhbb tax returns? Are you joking? Maybe I’d like to see how much income tax you’ve paid over the last several decades and compare it against your assets. That might be interesting, especially those years before prop 64.
Guess you don’t really need the 30 grand chump change since you apparently have more lucrative eggs in your basket. And what constitutes a 50-70 hour work week? Reading comments on your smartphone and copy/pasting press releases, psa, and a few puff pieces? Doesn’t seem like very hard work for the compensation. Sounds more like an attention-seeking hobby. Afterall, you choose to be here for some reason. If your personal life is so tumultuous then maybe you ought to say ‘fuck it’ and devote your time and effort there instead of some tired old weed blog.
Here’s a suggestion…leave the site if it offends you so much. At this point you are just ragging on Kym in a very personal way. It’s not a good look…at all.
Super rude. Stop hiding as an anonymous troll @AlpacCa.
Oh, Frank. I remember when Hawkeye slapped him.
Frank: “Did you get it”?
That’s just plain mean.
no one had to sell the humboldt dream back when you and your friends were reaping the benefits of violent state sanctioned prohibition. The 6 figure incomes (in the early 90s no less) off of a hobby garden were sales pitch enough for anyone interested.
It does make sense that you support state violence though. Sounds like it’s been a major economic driver in your life.
You’re still here?
If Kym cared as much for her personal well being as she does for her community you would’ve been gone long before now.
It’s a mark of her overly indulgent approach to moderating that you have been allowed to spew the way you do.
It’s one thing to be wrong on almost every statement you make, but it’s quite another to make such nasty and demeaning comments to a woman who is working her ass off on a labor of love.
Oh, and maybe you should start your own site since Kym is doing such a poor job according to your highly refined standards.
Kym is a community treasure. Period.
Police bad protesters good, got it. Classic nothingburger.
Is the war between Israel and Palestine over yet?
Give em a week, or a month with no cops…reap what you soe…how did the CHOP zone work out? How is Oakland doing since they defunded? How many businesses left? Shoot even a secrete service agent was robbed in so cal while Biden visited…all the complaining from those either too old or too scared to do anything to change. At least those who are too old can say they have experience and perspective.
Well duh! The people inside the building when protesters locked it down, were terrorized!!!!!! They thought violence was upon them, so they called campus security, duh! No victims here except students and professors who thought a school shooting was about to happen. This was not ever a peaceful protest, especially when you frightened fellow students & professors. What a joke, I have lost all hope in adequate reporting by national news and especially local.
I find it a bit odd that my non inflammatory yet critical/questioning comments about local LE were not approved. Gonna hope they show up at some point here else I’ll not be trusting this site as a unbiased news source.
Again…I do other things than work on the comment section. If your comments don’t show up, they broke the rules. Feel free to ask me about them but give me more than a few hours before you worry.
They showed up. I’m not accustomed to being outspoken in this way…rather nerve wracking this topic. Thank you.
Super violent protesters!! Did you hear that “Bonk!” It could have killed many I tell ya! So glad they brought in a few hundred cops at the cost of a million dollars…it was so totally necessary…NOT! When do we run this overpaid President out of town? He was not there. He hid like a coward and made inflammatory statements that made it all worse and cost us all tons of money. He shut down the entire campus in his hysteria and then ruined graduation…hoping to smear it on the small group of non-violent fools in Siemans. Graffiti was a foolish move…mostly because it gave him an opening for saying “TWO MILLION DOLLARS”…
CPH admin claims over $1M in damages, but how about the financial damages incurred by students who were robbed by CPH admin actions? There was absolutely no reason to suspend classes for the rest of the semester, force graduation ceremonies off site and also seize untold amount of money from student flex cards (preloaded with funds during the Fall and Spring semester for essential items like food). I am so disappointed in how this was handled and am deeply embarrassed to call myself a CPH alumni. Was on track to finish a masters degree program by next Spring, but simply refuse to spend my money or time on campus until admin can show they actually care about student welfare.
The only power the “protesters” have is media supported drama
Yes, non violent protest functions by leveraging media coverage to sway public opinion.
That’s why violent police responses to non violent protest are such a bad idea. They only feed the protest. Better to starve the protest, assuming it’s genuinely unpopular with the community
Kim, I’m surprised you posted this article. It’s just so obviously propaganda.
I’m glad they had a detailed plan before they went in, and it paid off. No so-called protesters were seriously hurt, no officers were seriously hurt, and no damage to the infrastructure occurred. As an actual tax payer, I’m very satisfied with how the police departments worked collectively together to return the university back to the community (of which I am a part of, alumni (like myself, twice), and the students who came to CPH to earn a degree. Thank you.
Still no mention of releasing the hostages, which started this current round of war, so the protesters are without credibility or honor, fuck them and those that support them
Well move out crikey we dont need people like you here in humboldt
Thanks for the 1984-frenchtard Revolution-Oscar the Grouch/Jim Jones fake man caused global cooling perspective and opinion! Vote accordingly!
Your headline stinks.
The cops weren’t aggressive enough. Nor was Cal Poly.
What should they have done?
Do you generally suggest state violence as a solution to protest or only when you disagree with the protestors?
Gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelette. Violence is violence whether perpetrated by a trumper or a Palestine jockey, Nblack lives matter, antifa, or whoever else. I’m sure you will disagree somehow, rofl! What you call ‘State violence’ is a god send in these times. Someone has to have that monopoly, or else! Kym should agree. Unless she maintains some adversarial stance against both state and federal government. Maybe they give her family and friends tax free subsidy for her ‘work’, it’s likely we’ll never know.
Give me a break. No bombshell in the article. Completely slanted view. The student and other protestors were taking over public property, destroying it, making Jewish students feel unwelcome and generally doing nothing to end the war. Such cushy “social justice warriors!” CPH was the first campus to have a building completely taken over. Cops did the best they could and de-escalated shortly after the big show of force.
Students have protested the war against Vietnam, for a NukeFreeze, against apartheid in SouthAfrica, for the civil rights of women, Latinos, & AfricanAmericans, and against ameriKan material support for genocide in Gaza, amongst other important causes…
History has&will show that they were on the just side in each and every case.
Antifa Billy strikes again. Can’t wait for him to retire and move to shasta
GOD FORBID THE POLICE TRAIN FOR THIS TYPE OF SITUATION
The fuck kind of clown show article is this
Perhaps it’s the type of “clown show” that looks at other perspectives instead of just pushing a one sided narrative.
I feel sad for anyone unwilling to hear viewpoints which oppose their own
Great investigating, Ryan Hutson. I was at the protest throughout the week and found it quite peaceful and educational for the most part. Of course there are a few agitated protesters, whether naive or planted, that decide to be destructive or violent, but if Cal Poly President Tom Jackson had been there and had he and others in the administration chosen a non-violent communication approach, many of us would have been supportive. I do not appreciate the militaristic approach that was implemented and the cost to the university and the community of this tactic of strong armed law enforcement has served none of us well.
Joanne, your comment is a good example of how to admit the truth while denying it.
You say the protest was “peaceful for the most part” but admit “of course there are a few agitated protesters…that decide to be destructive or violent” which means the protest was destructive and violent.
Attempts by Admin to resolve the building occupation via communication went nowhere as the demands of the protesters kept shifting.
Finally, it was the threat of a repeat of the initial violent resistance that necessitated a strong law enforcement presence.
Group punishment is against the Geneva Convention, TBT.
Let me give a personal anecdote. I was at a protest in my student days. Some folks opted to tip over mail boxes etc. I participated in none of that. I did trespass by walking down the middle of a public street. I would have accepted arrest for jaywalking or obstruction (not thought it was the right response but accepted it) but I would not have accepted responsibility for being violent or destructive. (Imagine how any protest then could be branded violent by someone who had opposing political views–say an Pro Life adherent could walk with a group of Pro Choice demonstrators and tip over mailboxes and even start physical confrontation with law enforcement, and then the protest could be shutdown and branded as violent by the actions of one person.)
Saying that the arrest of 30 CP Humboldt protesters was valid because there was a relatively mild but still characterizable as violent pushback against law enforcement days earlier…No, I don’t buy that.
I think you’ve had too much coffee this morning or not enough!
There was no collective punishment and no one has been charged for crimes committed by others.
AFAIK the only arrests were for resisting arrest (included delaying or obstructing) and trespass.
I’ve never said arrest of the stubborn 30 was justified by the violent resistance of days earlier – their arrests were justified by their ongoing trespass and refusal to leave.
What I’ve said (over and over) is the police were justified in responding in overwhelming numbers – both in response to the initial violent resistance – and in an effort to prevent a reoccurrence.
It seems pretty obvious the police were intent on arresting as few people as possible – and with as little force as possible.
If they wanted to make arrests they would have been grabbing or encircling what looked like dozens of other trespassers who were present – but instead the police methodically herded them off campus.
Even the 30 who stayed behind were given the option to walk away but chose to be arrested instead.
Again, no one was arrested based on the violent resistance of days earlier – they were arrested for trespass and resisting – arrests that could have been avoided by walking away.
Ryan’s article would have been a great expose if the cops had come in swinging batons and unleashing dogs but that’s not what happened.
What I haven’t seen is any follow up on those who were arrested.
Unless this was covered and I missed it answers to the following questions might prove interesting.
Was anyone arrested for vandalism or assault?
Or anything besides trespass and resisting?
Has the DA filed charges against anyone who was arrested?
If so, what charges were filed and what’s the current status of the cases?
Alternately, did the DA decline to file and if so why?
Explosive article? Apparently Kym is out of town or this 4th grade level narrative of several goofballs would never had been published, It’s not news, it’s an opinion.
Kym edited it.
Children of the Cement/Windmill People? By King? The Stand was his best but sadly doesn’t apply here. .Perhaps Cujo combined with Carrie applies? Rabid dogs burning things down because….they can?