Protests growing at Farm, activists call for more support
Farmers call for immediate actions:
4:00 p.m. The Farm plots are being Bulldozed. Farmers and supporters are crying as their gardens are turned into rubble. There will be two candle light vigils at 7pm tonight. One at the farm (41st and Alameda or Long Beach blvd.) where organizers are calling on people to respect the police barriers. The other at the "Mayor's Mansion" 605 S. Irving St. in Hancock Park. Bring candles and food to share.
1:30 p.m. Daryl Hannah and John Quigley are among the estimated 45 arrests so far. Sheriffs will allow the farmers to return within 15 days to claim property they left on the farm. Tezozomoc from the SCF reports that Horowitz will immediately proceed with bulldozing the farm though this could not be confirmed. Mayor Villaraigosa will be staging a press conference at 3 pm in front of city hall. Update: link to audio interview with Leslie Morava by Free Radio Santa Cruz
12:10 p.m. Farmers and supporters stopped traffic at 41st and Alameda. Police declared unlawful assembly and cleared the streets. Reports of a dozen arrests at this incident. Supporters are asked to come to 41st and Long Beach.
10:30 a.m. Bulldozers are on the farm. Cherry pickers coming in to farm now. Daryl & John still in tree. People still locked down around tree.
About 300 supporters protesting outside now.
10:15 a.m. Bulldozers are breaking down the fences, and the tree is being cut. Traffic is bottlenecked around Alameda.
9:00 a.m. Jake writes:
1) The sheriffs had already broken open the lockboxes that people were using to lock themselves down to prevent their removal from the farm.
2) About 10 people had been dragged out, and two people were sent away in ambulances. We don't know what happened to them or how they are doing.
3) Bulldozers were lined up outside the fences, ready to come in.
5:20 a.m. The sherrifs are at the farm. The eviction process is starting now. Farmers are calling all activists to converge to the farm for a massive protest (Alameda & 41st Street). The eviction might take up to 3 to 4 hours or longer.
This year’s Christopher Street West Parade will take place this Sunday, June 11th at 11:00 a.m. along Santa Monica Blvd. from Crescent Heights Blvd. to Robertson Blvd.
The gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gendered community of Los Angeles will come together this weekend for two days of love, equality and pride. This event was started 1970 to mark the anniversary the Stonewall Rebellion on New York's Christopher Street in June, 1969. The parade is free and open to all.
From the Newswire: Christopher Street West Parade This Sunday
Christopher $treet Worst
South Central Farmers Say:
We've Raised the Money to Buy the Land
Annenberg Foundation Offers To Purchase Property for Farmers
LOS ANGELES, June 7, 2006 – The Annenberg Foundation made a surprise announcement today that they have delivered a proposal to developer Ralph Horowitz to buy the land on behalf of the farmers. From the Newswire South Central Farmers Have Secured Financing To Purchase Land From Developer &
SOUTH CENTRAL FARM: Annenberg Foundation Makes Offer to Developer to Buy Land
| SOUTH CENTRAL FARMERS: Media Advisory
When the bomb threat came that morning it targeted 250 Chicano children and their families in a deliberate act of political terror.
For a month, KABC in Los Angeles had focused an unrelenting attack against their school - Academia Semillas del Pueblo. KABC is an ultra-right talk radio station that carries Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, one that specializes in xenophobia and a thinly disguised hate-talk format aimed at the paranoids who think George Bush is a sell out liberal and who accuse Sen. James Sensenbrenner of not going far enough to rid the nation of Mexicans and other descendants of the indigenous peoples of North and Central America. Let’s make it plain: these are minutemen with microphones, and with the billion-dollar backing of Disney.
Minutemen Target Children: The Attack on Academia Semillas del Pueblo by Juan Santos.
(Mar Vista, CA) Anti-war Activist Cindy Sheehan and Reverend Lennox Yearwood of Louisiana join 36th District Progressive Candidate Marcy Winograd for an Out of Iraq Rally and Winograd for Congress launch party in Mar Vista Park just east of Venice.
One of several stops made by Sheehan and Yearwood on this day in April, the trio delivered an effective message that resonated with their audience - that it is time to elect truly progressive candidates to public office. Reasonable points included 1) the fact that U.S. citizens elect their leaders and are thereby accountable to people around the world who are affected by disasterous foreign policies ... Full report:
Cindy Sheehan and Marcy Winograd Rally for Progressive Candidates Against War by G Livi
Taking time out from organizing today's visits to the South Central Farm by Ralph Nadar, Peter Camejo, and Donna Warren, Dele Aileman, co-coordinator of the South Central Farmers, issued a statement in response to concerns that African-Americans are not among the Farmers working the land. First, he noted the appearance at the Farm of Danny Glover, Evelyn Knight, and Maxine Waters, the highest ranking government official to walk on the farmland. Then he continued: Only those who don't know the history of the Farm would be asking about the absence of African-American farmers. It is a statement in ignorance of the history of the Farm and a perspective that has been deliberately foisted to divert us from the issue at stake. ... Report:
A vicious campaign of calumny by Leslie Radford
LOS ANGELES, June 3, 2006 -- Making multiple false claims to the public about his past and committing perjury in 2001 about his qualification on an application for his present job may just be the tip of a huge iceberg for the LAPD-endorsed Delgadillo.
Recent revelations about Rockard Delgadillo’s public claims to a non-existent past professional football career and making false written application to election officials in 2001 (perjury) in which he falsely claimed he qualified for his present job as Los Angeles City Attorney may be just the tip of a huge iceberg of secret illegal dealings and under-the-table and backroom contract ... Full report:
Delgadillo’s Problems May be Much Bigger Than Deceiving the Public by Cynthia Norris
SOUTH CENTRAL FARM, 3 June 2006--Living on the Farm, dirty fingernails, eating just-plucked food, daily meetings, outdoor showers, and good conversation would be an easy routine to fall into. But at the South Central Farm, the pastoral life is interrupted by a steady stream of media and celebrities, and conviviality and community is built as much from the tension of impending arrest as it is by common work and values.
Farm supporters today began their twelfth day of occupation of the South Central Farm today and await the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department's execution of an eviction order. Bulldozers are expected to follow the sheriffs within forty-eight hours. Vigils at the Farm continue, daily at 7:00 p.m., and yesterday Global Women's Strike recruited volunteers to help out, hang out, or stay at the Farm. Community presence at the Farm is a critical component of the strategy to save the Farm.
... Full report with photos:
El Campo Continúa: Visitors and Visitations by Leslie
In the CA 36th Congressional race, challenger Marcy Winograd wins the endorsement of the influential West Los Angeles Democratic Club over six-term inc umbent, Jane Harman, by a nearly 3-1 margin!!!
The grassroots will be taking back the soul of the Democratic Party in California's 36th Congressional District if anti-war activist, Marcy Winograd, has anything to say about it.
... Report:
Grassroots on Fire in 36th Congressional Race by Linda Sutton
A total of 29 events are planned worldwide for the International Weekend of Resistance Against the Green Scare June 9 - 11, 2006
Last December marked the beginning of the largest roundup of
environmental and animal rights activists in U.S. history. There have now
been nearly 20 arrests and many Grand Jury subpoenas have been issued.
The call for a decentralized mobilization of actions to resist government oppression of environmental and animal rights activists has been made. There is no central organizing body or group to check in with but the Jeff Luers Support Network is providing support to those local groups who plan to self-organize in their own region.
From the Newswire: International Weekend of Resistance Against The Green Scare by Friends of Free
... Last night, Dr. Gottlieb, Dr. Mark Katz and others gathered to commemorate this horrible anniversary.
Mark Katz organized the event, with LA Shanti. He spoke about his practice over the past 25 years, and the lives that changed him – and the lives he changed.
...
The most intense (from a political perspective) presenter was Archbishop Carl Bean. He spoke about the numbers of new infections in South Central, and said that most of them are in young boys ages 15 to 21. He talked about the social stigma in that neighborhood, and the fear and shame. Basically, he said that what West Hollywood was going through 25 years ago is exactly what it’s like in South Central now.
... Full report:
HIV/AIDS - 25 Years and Counting by Susan Forrest
Kurt Isobe is Free, Jury DeadlocksA mixed race, predominantly female
jury deadlocked 10-2 and 9-3 in favor of an
anti-Minuteman protester who was violently arrested by
Garden Grove police on the night of Wednesday, May 25,
2005.
Kurt Isobe, 19, of Laguna Niguel, was one of three
hundred people who attended a protest against
Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist, who was
speaking at a meeting of the California Coalition for
Immigration Reform in Garden Grove. Full Report:
“HUNG JURY” FOR ANTI-MINUTEMAN PROTESTER
by DUANE J. ROBERTS
Tuesday, May 30th, marks the first full week of the encampment at the farm. News of the fight to save the farm went international this week. Tree sitters: Julia Butterfly Hill, John Quigley, Daryl Hannah and Joan Baez still occupy the large old walnut tree on the farm. It has been learned that in addition to her tree sit, Julia has been fasting for the past 14 days. She reportedly is only drinking an infusion of herbs grown on the farm. The farm has been surveyed by botanists who believe it has the largest collection of Mezo-American medicinal herbs outside of Central America.
In this last week the encampment has tripled in size. The tent city surrounding the farm has grown to 32 tents at last count, each with 2 to 3 campers, while others sleep in the open air. The full time population of the farm is now estimated to be over 100, with numbers approaching 300 to 400 at nightly vigils and concerts. More continue to arrive has word spreads.
... Full report:
Encampment at the Farm – Day 8 by LA-IMC
|| VIDEO from the farm - May30 by A
|| FRSC: Interview with John Quigley at the South Central Farm by from Free Radio Santa Cruz
SOUTH CENTRAL FARM, 27 May 2006--What does it mean to be camping under three people living in a tree? It's not exactly inspiration--the Farm takes care of that. It's more than symbolic--Julia, John, Joan, and now Daryl are really risking life and limb, especially if the sheriffs try to shake them loose. It's kind of like having odd but utterly charming neighbors, people who live their unusual lives with such self-assurance that what should be idiosyncratic makes utter sense. It's an admiration and proud friendship that you know you couldn't possibly explain to your uptight parents. But even if you can't explain them, you would defend them against all comers.
... Full report:
Until the Farm Is Secure by Leslie Radford
| VIDEO: South Central Farm Tree Sit - Day Six by A
| PHOTOS: Community support getting stronger at the farm by Marcus
Sunday, May 28, reports: Sunday at the Farm
by Hugh Stegman
|| PHOTOS: More from the Farm by Leslie Radford
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