Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Occupy San Diego to Take Legal Action Against City and Police

Yesterday, attorneys representing Occupy San Diego held a press conference at the Civic Center Plaza to announce their intention to file a request on Friday for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the City of San Diego and the San Diego Police Department for violating the First Amendment rights of protestors.

The spokespersons called the city ordinance — San Diego Municipal Code Section 54.0110 (Encroachment), which allows police to selectively cite persons placing any item on public property — unconstitutional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTt0naTChbI

Spokesperson Ray Lutz likened the ordinance to forbidding beach-goers to leave a towel on the sand while going for a swim.

“Free speech can be subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions,” said attorney Bryan Pease, “but you can’t have an ordinance that’s so overbroad, that puts so much unlimited discretion in the police department that they can tell anybody they want that they can’t put a sign down and in effect create a basically free speech free zone where there’s no free speech in the Civic Center Plaza and push everybody out into the street.”

Spokesperson John Kenney presented a citation he was given by police last Wednesday for “illegal use of the horn” after honking for “three seconds” while driving past the protest.

“The very moment this was happening, I was surrounded by three police on CHiPs motorcycles,” said Kenney. “[City council president] Tony Young was on NPR saying he supported our right to free speech. But nobody will give us a permit or letter of understanding or any way whatsoever to occupy this space.”

Kenney posited that being allowed to have structures on the plaza (which was the case for the first week of the occupation, until the first police raid on October 14) makes the occupation safer, more sanitary, and more organized.

“The police have said…that when we have tables, when we have tents, it was neater, it was cleaner,” Kenney said.

“The nurses wanted to stay here, women want to stay here. There’s no privacy. There’s no security here. We’re much cleaner, organized, and more secure when we have those tents here than what you see right now. In fact, we’ve even been told that’s part of the strategy. They’re trying to make us look like ‘dirty hippies’ and homeless. We’ve even heard that the police have been inviting the homeless to come down and join our effort because they know it’ll drain our resources. We have provided them with food, we’ve given them blankets, we’ve given them tarps. We’ve done everything we can to make sure our brothers and sisters who are homeless are taken care of here. We have not seen the same light coming from the police at all.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cqK69T1DQ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqrvJQitnJI

Occupy San Diego has drafted a resolution similar to those approved in Irvine, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, which would deem an occupation with structures such as tents and tables protected by First Amendment freedom of speech rights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UrfQdnNzME

And while yesterday protesters attended the city council meeting for the fourth consecutive week, the resolution has yet to even make it on the agenda.

Meanwhile, the Sheriff is shopping around for riot control munitions including chemical projectiles and chemical, smoke, and stinger grenades (see full list here).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I0pX9LeE-g8

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"

Yesterday, attorneys representing Occupy San Diego held a press conference at the Civic Center Plaza to announce their intention to file a request on Friday for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the City of San Diego and the San Diego Police Department for violating the First Amendment rights of protestors.

The spokespersons called the city ordinance — San Diego Municipal Code Section 54.0110 (Encroachment), which allows police to selectively cite persons placing any item on public property — unconstitutional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTt0naTChbI

Spokesperson Ray Lutz likened the ordinance to forbidding beach-goers to leave a towel on the sand while going for a swim.

“Free speech can be subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions,” said attorney Bryan Pease, “but you can’t have an ordinance that’s so overbroad, that puts so much unlimited discretion in the police department that they can tell anybody they want that they can’t put a sign down and in effect create a basically free speech free zone where there’s no free speech in the Civic Center Plaza and push everybody out into the street.”

Spokesperson John Kenney presented a citation he was given by police last Wednesday for “illegal use of the horn” after honking for “three seconds” while driving past the protest.

“The very moment this was happening, I was surrounded by three police on CHiPs motorcycles,” said Kenney. “[City council president] Tony Young was on NPR saying he supported our right to free speech. But nobody will give us a permit or letter of understanding or any way whatsoever to occupy this space.”

Kenney posited that being allowed to have structures on the plaza (which was the case for the first week of the occupation, until the first police raid on October 14) makes the occupation safer, more sanitary, and more organized.

“The police have said…that when we have tables, when we have tents, it was neater, it was cleaner,” Kenney said.

“The nurses wanted to stay here, women want to stay here. There’s no privacy. There’s no security here. We’re much cleaner, organized, and more secure when we have those tents here than what you see right now. In fact, we’ve even been told that’s part of the strategy. They’re trying to make us look like ‘dirty hippies’ and homeless. We’ve even heard that the police have been inviting the homeless to come down and join our effort because they know it’ll drain our resources. We have provided them with food, we’ve given them blankets, we’ve given them tarps. We’ve done everything we can to make sure our brothers and sisters who are homeless are taken care of here. We have not seen the same light coming from the police at all.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cqK69T1DQ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqrvJQitnJI

Occupy San Diego has drafted a resolution similar to those approved in Irvine, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, which would deem an occupation with structures such as tents and tables protected by First Amendment freedom of speech rights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UrfQdnNzME

And while yesterday protesters attended the city council meeting for the fourth consecutive week, the resolution has yet to even make it on the agenda.

Meanwhile, the Sheriff is shopping around for riot control munitions including chemical projectiles and chemical, smoke, and stinger grenades (see full list here).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I0pX9LeE-g8

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Allegations of Police Brutality at Occupy San Diego

Next Article

Occupy San Diego Responds to Raid, Inaugurates Occupy Mission Bay

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader