“You can’t take care of the crops if the gates are closed…”

Activists have been farming UC Berkeley’s Gill Tract Farm since April, and were arrested, without charges in May. For the latest updates, see:

www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_21028179/occupy-farm-activists-re-occupy-uc-berkeley-farm

Jeremy Miller/Education Not Incarceration

Posted January 27, 2012 Poor Magazine

THE STORIES (as reported in corporate media and “po”lice reports)

On January 29, 2011, at about 8:55AM, Oakland Police Officers responded to the 5500 block of Taft Street to a report of an individual armed with weapons harassing a resident on the block. Responding Officers saw a man later identified as Matthew Cicelski in front of the residence and Cicelski fled on foot. Officers surrounded the block to contain Cicelski.Cicelski forced entry into the home of the individual that called the police armed with what they thought was an Assault Rifle. The residents ran out of the house and advised Officers Cicelski was inside armed. Cicelski appeared on the front porch armed with a replica Assault Weapon pointing it at the Officers. The Officers opened fire on Cicelskiand he was fatally wounded.[1]

A man who was shot and killed by Oakland police officers after he allegedly pointed a replica assault rifle at them in the Rockridge neighborhood was identified Sunday as 39-year-old Matthew Cicelski, an unemployed father of a young son.

Cicelski was shot Saturday after 9:35 a.m. by three officers outside a home at 5552 Taft Ave. between College Avenue and Broadway, police officials said.

They said Cicelski, clad in camouflage clothing, had been acting erratically outside the home, where his ex-girlfriend lives. Two residents of the home called police to report that he was armed with a knife and gun while walking up and down Taft Avenue as if he were “patrolling” the street, said Assistant Police Chief Howard Jordan.[2]

Arriving officers reported that the suspect, later identified as Oakland resident Matthew Cicelski, appeared to be armed with an assault rifle when he ran from police and forced his way into a home, Joshi said.

Occupants of the home managed to get out and told police that Cicelski was carrying a gun, Joshi said.

Cicelski subsequently came out of the home and stood on the front porch with what was later determined to be a replica assault rifle aimed at officers outside.

Police opened fire and Cicelski was killed, Joshi said.[3]

Seems pretty basic right?  Crazy man allegedly armed and patrolling the streets gunned down by police.  Pretty good PR piece for a police department that is under fire for the shooting deaths of Raheim Brown Jr., and Martin “Marty” Flenaugh a week and three days earlier respectively.  The phrase ‘too good to be true’ comes to mind.  Further investigation (actual investigative journalism) paints a much more disturbing picture.

To begin with, according to witnesses, there was never any fleeing on foot.  Cicelski was killed after walking through the front door of 5552 Taft Ave.  Secondly no occupant ever reported that he was armed with a knife or that he was a threat to anyone other than himself.  Though it is possible that Mr. Cicelski was briefly wandering through the neighborhood prior to entering the residence at 5552 Taft Ave., once there he never left the residence until stepping through the front door which resulted in his death.  This is important because it shows a blatant police fabrication.  Police were notified originally by neighbors who were concerned about Mathew’s antics outside of the house but arrived after Mathew was already in the house.  By then his ex-girlfriend was already on the phone with a 9-11 dispatcher accurately describing the actual state of affairs.  No information that they were given corroborates the ‘patrolling’ the street account.  The only tie-in there was that part of said 9-11 call was to provide context for neighbors’ anxieties.  Likewise no-one ran out of the house.  Cicelski’s ex-girlfriend’s housemate walked out of a house that police had staked out, had a gun pulled on her by police, and was ‘escorted outside.  Later Cicelski’s ex-girlfriend emerged and upon seeing the tacteam ran inside!

THE TRUTH (as told by the witness and victims):

Mathew Cicelski was formerly a successful businessman  and Gulf War veteran.  Returning from the marines he had exhibited signs of PTSD but by and large was able to effectively manage his mental health and social interactions.  All that changed  a few years before his assassination.  It began with the death of his best friend.  This had a severe emotional impact on Mathew.  A short while later the car accident occurred.

On July 20^th of 2008 Mathew was the victim of an as yet unsolved felony hit-and-run accident.  He was admitted to Sutter Hospital but due to their inability to verify his medical insurance he was released without treatment to the same ex-girlfriend whose house he would be killed at just two and a half year later.  She was given a bottle of morphine, instructions, told he might die, and advised to call if he began vomiting up blood but otherwise to make an appointment at Highland for the following Monday (three days later).   Mathew did miraculously survive this abject violation of the Hippocratic oath and was eventually admitted into surgery.  The injuries were so severe that, among other procedures, a titanium plate was put over his eyebrow to keep his face from falling off his skull.  It was immediately obvious that due to the accident Mathew had sustained severe neurological damage.  Yet after successful facial reconstruction surgery, of the sort that movie stars receive, Mathew appeared better than ever.  Those who were intimate with him got a different picture.  Mathew began experiencing temporary spells of extreme mental crisis with sharp mood swings, disassociative thought, and wild behavior.  He began to feel profoundly lonely with his condition and relied heavily on his ex-girlfriend for support during these spells.  This support was rendered and for awhile Mathew was able to maintain relations and a job.  Eventually Mathew’s mental health condition began to deteriorate.  He was unable to keep his job which put him in conditions of severe financial strain and the public options for mental health treatment (in particular medication) were of the sort that seemed untenable.  They were either too expensive or required documentation that boded to make it very difficult for Mathew ever to resume his career.  Mathew did self-medicate a bit but was unable to achieve a regiment that kept him balanced.  The spells would occur with increasing severity to the point where his ex-girlfriend had to establish new boundaries.  She never, however, stopped helping Mathew or felt that he was an immediate threat to her.  Mathew continued to rely on her for comfort to the point of seeming to want to be around her while he was going through a spell for purposes of validation.  He was very insecure of his mental health condition and among other things had severe yet apparently prophetic anxiety that police would kill him during an episode.  The 29^th of January, 2011 was no different.

THE MURDEROUS OPD

While it is true that Mathew Cicelski entered the house at 5552 Taft Ave. without permission from the residents there was no malice in his approach.  He did not break in to hurt any of the residents.  There was no intended robbery or assault and none in fact ever occurred.  This is not to say that Mathew was OK at the time.  Mathew was in severe mental crisis when he arrived that morning at the house.  He went to his ex-girlfriend who was alarmed at his presence and extremely erratic behavior.  He was speaking irrationally but was clearly suicidal.  The clarity of this presented itself in the bottles of pills that Mathew had lined up on the front porch and begun consuming.  This was what instigated her 9-11 call which joined in the chorus of neighborhood emergency calls that would eventually result in Mathew’s death.  Her call was intended as a 51-50.  Mathew’s ex-girlfriend clearly perceived his suicidal plans and did not feel capable of addressing his situation without assistance.  This was no 2 minute 9-11 call.  Cicelski’s ex-girlfriend was on the telephone with the 9-11 dispatcher for roughly 45 minutes.  During this call a few very important messages were relayed.  For one it was made incredibly clear to the dispatcher that Mathew needed mental health assistance.  It was also clearly established that the gun he was carrying was a toy and not to shoot.  This was reiterated multiple times!  It was established that he was present at the house despite a statement relayed to the caller approximately half an hour into the conversation that police were in the neighborhood looking for Mathew!

Eventually the police took position with roughly a dozen officers, guns drawn, outside the front of the residence.  Mathew was at the time in the backyard playing with the dog.  Around 9:30 in the morning one of the residents of the house (Cicelski’s ex-girlfriend’s housemate) went outside and was immediately and violently detained by the police. Cicelski’s ex was the next to attempt to go through the front door. Mathew was behind her.  She opened the door saw the police and immediately ran inside screaming “Don’t Shoot!”  She tried to keep Mathew from going outside but fell while she was running from police. Mathew went outside with his toy gun and was immediately shot by two or three officers.  Cicelski’s ex-girlfriend was also in the line of fire. Despite the fact that the police claim Mathew was approaching in a threatening manner there is as yet no explanation of the bullets in his back.  Upon discerning that they had just shot and killed an unarmed man, police proceeded into the home, injuring Cicelski’s ex-girlfriend in the process, and searched the place top to bottom.  Obviously they were looking for anything that could provide them an excuse for their murderous behavior.  Apparently their search was fruitless.  That day when confronted with the fact that they had previously been informed that the gun was a toy they claimed they did not believe this account. Later their story changed to say that dispatch had not informed them about the toy gun.  Only cut and altered versions of the 9-11 tapes have been made available for review thus complicating the process of exposing this police cover-up.

The struggle continues.  Though Cicelski’s family is pursuing litigation, they have yet to receive any justice for his death.  Beyond this, Cicelski’sex-girlfriend has had her life completely transformed by his assassination.  Her childhood home was riddled with bullets and left covered with Mathew’s blood and brains which the police and the city of Oakland neglected to clean up.   She has endured retaliatory abuse and threats.  Hurled by circumstance into the nightmare world of having to maintain her own mental and physical health while at the same time dealing with Oakland politricks, she has spent the last year trying to piece together her life with very little support.

As the one year anniversary of this police assassination approaches we must resist the heavily media fortified urge to write Mathew Cicelski’s death off as just another Officer-Involved-Shooting.  We must call this what it is…a crime against humanity perpetrated by a state sanctioned murderous group known as the OPD.  Above all we must demand  justice for the victims deceased and living.  Justice for Mathew Cicelski!  End Po’Lice Terror Now!

[1] Fugitive Watch (www.fugitive.com/2011/01/30/matthew-cicelski-shot-by-oakland-police-after-pointing-replica-assault-rifle/)

[2] SFGATE (http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-01-31/bay-area/27092221_1_officer-shot-police-id-man-man-with-fake-gun)

[3] NBC (www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Fatally-Shot-Man-Had-Fake-Gun-114903794.html)

www.poormagazine.org/node/4289

A police attack is expected sometime during the night. A labor picket line around Oscar Grant Plaza will start at 10pm and continue to 6am.

*Please come and wear your union shirts, jackets, hats, and buttons. Bring union signs of support, i.e. “An injury to one is an injury to all”.

*Come for part of the time, even if you can’t stay for all.

Stand together with Occupy Oakland! Last week’s general strike was just the beginning. Let’s enable the struggle to move forward by keeping this important organizing center alive and intact.

Other coming activities:

• Strike at Berkeley Occupy on Tuesday, 11/15

• Meeting at ILWU Local 10, to support the Longview, Washington struggle,on Wednesday, 11/16 at 7pm in SF

• March & rally to demand support for People’s Needs, Saturday, 11/19, at 2pm, from Oscar Grant Plaza

October 26, 2011

From OccupyOakland.org

On Tuesday evening at 5pm Occupy Oakland gathered at the foot of the Oakland Library on 14th Avenue before setting off on a march past the jail and onward to Frank Ogawa Plaza. The peaceful gathering swelled as it marched through downtown, growing upwards of 1,000 people strong. Along their route were police from 17 jurisdictions in California, decked out in riot gear and weaponry.

Just before 8pm the police began throwing concussion grenades and tear gas directly into the crowd, injuring several nonviolent protesters. Weapons were aimed and fired at people as they attempted to help the injured and bring them to safety. The crowd reconvened a block away and continued to peacefully occupy the streets outside the plaza. For several hours this scenario was repeated as citizens tried to gain entrance to the plaza while the police held their line using “non-lethal” rifles, tear gas, and barricades.

The city has spent several million dollars in this campaign to shut down free speech in Oakland. Meanwhile today the Oakland Unified School District will vote on closing down 5 schools: Lakeview, Lazear, Marshall, Maxwell Park and Santa Fe. They will meet at 5pm at Oakland Technical High, where they will be met with protestors from Occupy Oakland and other groups demanding a more sane and just allocation of the city’s resources.

Occupy Oakland will reconvene every day at 6pm at 14th & Broadway until the camp is reestablished. Join us!

This morning at 5am over 500 police in riot gear from cities all over central California brutally attacked the Occupy Oakland encampment at 14th & Broadway. The police attacked the peaceful protest with flash grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets after moving in with armored vehicles. Apparently the media was not allowed in to document this repression, and the police established barricades as far apart as 11th and 17th. Over 70 people were arrested and the camp gear was destroyed and/or stolen by the riot police.

Contact the mayor and tell her what you think of her actions.

Reconvene today at 4pm at the Oakland Library on 14th & Madison. Occupy Oakland is not finished, it has only begun.

As the number of OWS arrests nears 1,000, instances of police brutality continue to pile up. Now all of America is seeing the result of police militarization.

by Rania Khalek for Alternet

October 20, 2011

Excerpt:

Protesters at Occupy San Francisco are familiar with the routine. They have endured multiple late-night police raids on their encampment in Justin Herman Plaza, the most brutal of which took place Sunday, Oct. 16. Minutes before midnight and with the approval of Mayor Ed Lee (who is currently running for reelection and claims to be supportive of the movement’s overall message), 70 police officers decked out in full riot gear marched into the encampment to enforce a 10pm curfew. They dismantled tents, tarps, the medical station and the kitchen, along with some personal belongings, all of which were loaded onto Department of Public Works trucks.

Some 200 protesters resisted peacefully, locking arms to prevent the police invasion, which was met with a frighteningly violent response. According to theSan Francisco Bay Guardian, one protester received a lengthy beat-down for duct-taping his body to a pole inside the camp. The police allegedly “ripped him off the pole, threw him to the ground and struck him in the head and ribs. When he left by ambulance a few hours later, he appeared to be convulsing or seizing,” reported the Bay Guardian.

Protesters using their bodies to block the DPW trucks from leaving were dragged out of the street, some by their fingers and thumbs. Those who locked arms to form a human chain were pulled apart and thrown onto the sidewalk.

Ryan Hadar, 19, described his experience to the Guardian: “They bent back my thumbs, trying to pry me away from the people I was locking arms with. When I asked if they were trying to break my thumbs [one officer] replied, ‘Only if I have to.’ Then they dragged me to the sidewalk by my index finger. I asked if they were trying to break my finger, and this time they replied, ‘Yes.’”

After destroying the campsite, sending one activist to the hospital and arresting at least five protesters, the police departed from the scene around 1:40am.

From Consortium News:

“The Baro family of Mexican immigrants was celebrating the 22nd birthday of Walter Baro on July 17 when the incident began. Two LAPD officers arrived shortly after midnight claiming they had received noise complaints from a neighbor.

According to Walter Baro’s 26-year-old sister, Elida, there was a brief exchange at the front door and the police ordered them to end the party and send their 70 guests packing.”
*****
Video of the beatings and harsh treatment the family received follows.

From the Tribune:

“The Oakland City Council voted Tuesday night to pay $6.5 million in two search warrant cases from 2008 that claimed several Oakland police officers falsified sworn affidavits resulting in illegal raids on homes in East and West Oakland.

The two federal civil rights lawsuits, representing 104 people, stemmed from allegations that a number of officers had misstated facts in sworn affidavits over a period of several years to Alameda County judges, indicating they had tested substances bought on the street to determine if they were drugs even though no test was ever conducted on the substances.”
*****
When considering all this it’s good to keep in mind what happened in Detroit to Aiyana Jones and to think about the prevalence of SWAT raids. This is terror on the order of what is unleashed on Iraqis by US house raids.

From Alternet:

“In 1980, 2,884 SWAT deployments were recorded nationwide; the number today is estimated by experts at 50,000 annually or more.”
*****
This is a really important piece and it has a lot of important information. After the murder of Aiyana Jones, I don’t think we can afford not to be pressing the cops about these issues.