Open Mic

On November 19th the BART Board of Directors was once again paid a visit by members and supporters of the Black Friday 14 – a group who stopped BART for hours at the West Oakland station on Black Friday of last year in protest against police executions and in support of #BlackLivesMatter. After their previous visits, the Board had agreed not to seek monetary restitution, but had balked at asking the District Attorney to drop charges against the protesters. As the one year deadline for filing misdemeanor charges approached without … Continued

Alameda County Board Of Supervisors Passes Most Comprehensive Cell Phone Interceptor Privacy Policy In the Country In an example of collaboration with privacy advocates, on November 17th the Alameda County Board of Supervisors passed a comprehensive privacy policy regulating the county’s use of cell phone interceptor equipment (often referred to in the press by “Stingray” or “Hailstorm”) before approving the purchase of an equipment upgrade.  The policy requires a warrant before any deployment of the device and periodic audits of use. Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 741 (Hill, S-13-D) into … Continued

This essay was originally published by “Will S” on IndyBay. —– It began, as it usually does, with stupidity. Official stupidity. Instead of behaving like a civilized human being, Alameda City Official Bob Haun took it upon himself to shove with both hands a 68 year old Alameda Rental Coalition member protesting rent hikes, causing the protester to fall to the ground. This led to a chain of events in which Haun himself then fell in an undetermined manner (and reportedly suffered a hip injury), a protest organizer was arrested, … Continued

A joint press release from ARC and Tenants Together regarding the events of last night’s Alameda City Council proceedings. Alameda Arrests Tenant Protestors and Passes Rent Moratorium Last evening, an estimated 200 Alameda renters went to their city council to demand an end to unfair rent hikes and displacement. After a hearing that lasted past 1am, the Alameda City Council voted unanimously for a temporary 8% rent increase moratorium and a ban on no cause evictions. This is a big step forward for a city in which rent increases have … Continued

An unidentified man, part of a group of rent control advocates that had not been allowed into the 11/4 Alameda City Council meeting due to the room being at capacity and had crowded into the hall outside, was thrown to the ground by two Alameda Police officers before being arrested. He apparently had his face smashed into the floor because after he is removed the video shows a signficant amount of blood on the surface. Below are a few tweets from the meeting and a video of the takedown. The … Continued

Pirate Mike, an active participant in Occupy San Francisco, was killed by a semi trailer truck in Texas on October 30th, 2015 during his March Across America. Stephen Michael Clift, Pirate Mike to his comrades, @occupirate on Twitter, was also one of the original participants in the first Occupation of the Berkeley Post Office in July of 2013. That event, and the second Occupation by First They Came for the Homeless in November, 2014, in which he also participated, ultimately played a significant role in preventing the Allston Way building from … Continued

– A lawsuit against the Alameda County Sheriff, Harman v Ahern, over forced pregnancy testing of women taken to Santa Rita jail ended Wednesday, October 28th, with the announcement of a settlement forbidding the practice. Activist Susan Harman, a member of the Oakland Privacy Working Group and Strike Debt Bay Area, was one of three plaintiffs in the lawsuit, having been arrested in 2010 during the Oscar Grant protests, taken to jail and forced to submit to a pregnancy test despite her age: Ms. Harman told the officer that she … Continued

Gino Pepi was a member of the Occupy Oakland Labor Solidarity Committee, 2011 – 2013. Tribute to Gino Pepi by Jack Heyman and Richard Chen of the Transport Workers Solidarity Committee, October 11, 2015, Oakland, California Gino was born and raised in San Francisco. As a young man he became convinced of the need of an equal and just society, and dedicated his life to socialism and to the struggles of the working class internationally. He worked hard to enhance the living conditions of all Bay Area workers especially B.A.R.T … Continued