Not content with persecuting Occupy Oaklanders on trumped up charges, the Alameda County District Attorney, Nancy O'Malley, is now turning her wrath on UC Berkeley community members. You all remember the beatings UC Berkeley police administered on November 9th, 2011, after students committed the unspeakably horrible act of putting up tents. Now, according to the Daily Californian
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has issued criminal charges to four Nov. 9 protesters, documents show.
UC Berkeley students Ricardo Gomez, Zakary Habash and Ramon Quintero and associate English professor Celeste Langan face several charges, including resisting arrest and remaining at the scene of a riot, according to county criminal dockets.
Check the video out and decide for yourself who the violent provocateurs are.
One of the woman who is yanked by her hair and thrown to the ground near the start of the video -- I'm not sure which one -- is professor Langan, according to this very recent tweet by Aaron Bady, a UC graduate student.
Aaron Bady @zunguzungu
The woman being thrown to the ground in this video, by her hair, is being charged with resisting arrest, huh?:
And that's not all:
In addition to the two charges the protesters have in common, they individually face other charges -- including a charge against Habash for battery of a peace officer...
BAMN Attorney Ronald Cruz said that Yvette Felarca, a national organizer for BAMN, was also charged for "obstructing an officer and malicious blocking of a sidewalk or public thoroughfare."
Ah yes, maliciously blocking a sidewalk. As Aaron Bady goes on to tweet
Aaron Bady @zunguzungu
A different professor told the cops instead of beating students, they should beat a professor. Cop replied, "you want some?" and beat him.
Aaron Bady @zunguzungu
MOTHERFUCKERS FUCKING FUCK FUCK.
You'd think the Alameda District Attorney's Office would have better things to do than to charge people with maliciously blocking sidewalks. You might think they would be devoting their resources to investigating the hundred-plus murders that take place in Oakland every year, or, dare we dream, the
plethora of crimes that the Oakland Police commit against the citizens they are sworn to protect and serve.
But you would think wrong.
Given that these ridiculous charges are being levied against Cal Occupiers, not Occupy Oaklanders, it is now clear that the District Attorney either has a personal vendetta against all things Occupy, or is receiving orders from some very powerful people to do everything in her power to crush the Occupy movement in all of Alameda County, not just Oakland.
As another tweeter put it
reclaim UC @reclaimuc
it's hard to imagine the DA doing anything stupider than charging an english prof who got the shit beaten out of her with resisting arrest.
Retweeted by Aaron Bady
The waste of County resources in this absurd pursuit of peaceful protesters is disgusting. What is even more appalling is that an elected official such as O'Malley in a position of such responsibility would be acting like a vampire in desperate need of more and more Occupier blood.
Someone needs to figure out how to get near her with a cross and some garlic.
8:19 AM PT: Recent tweets: Susie Cagle is an independent journalist.
Susie Cagle @susie_c
@zunguzungu My theory: Cal protesters are emboldened, and still trying with the tents. DA wants to strike fear into the pure of heart.
Aaron Bady @zunguzungu Close
@susie_c But still, it's so weird; many of the people being charged weren't even arrested Nov9. And charging Celeste is just BIZARRE.
8:59 AM PT: Tweets:
4m Aaron Bady @zunguzungu Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Important to know that those four being charged are far from the only ones; I know of two more, and I'm sure that's not all.
Aaron Bady @zunguzungu Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Plus, Alameda County has been accustomed to politicizing its policing fro a long time now; just more of the same, in that respect.
9:38 AM PT: And one more:
Aaron Bady @zunguzungu
The logic for the UC having its own police force is that it allows it to control what police do on campus. ("police who share our values")
11:45 AM PT: Essay from Aaron Bady on his tumbler:
1. Chancellor Birgeneau declared — under heavy pressure and criticism — that Nov 9 protesters would not face student conduct charges. He even apologized and took personal responsibility for what happened. Now that the Alameda County DA is laying criminal charges on them, his silence is deafening and infuriating.
Birgeneau’s phone #: 510-642-7464 email: chancellor@berkeley.edu
2. The entire logic of having UC cops on campus — a rationale we’ve heard over and over again — is that they “share our values,” that if we don’t have “our” cops on campus, we’ll have to deal with outside cops policing us. Whether or not you agree with that, that’s the party line: Dean Edley said this at the police review meeting, and the general counsel, Charles Robinson, said exactly the same thing, in exactly the same words. What we are seeing here, however, is a total breakdown of that logic: the UC chooses not to charge its students and faculty, but says nothing as “outsiders” lay charges.
Charles Robinson’s phone #: (510) 987-9938 email: charles.robinson@ucop.edu
3. Even more directly we should note that the DA’s actions are VERY convenient for the UC admins, who will be facing lawsuits for what their police did on Nov 9th. Having the Alameda county DA charge the plaintiffs — ostensibly an “independent” actor — serves to retroactively legitimize what the police did and insulate them from these lawsuits; putting criminal charges on people who are or could be suing for infringements on their civil liberties, or police brutality, makes police actions seem more legitimate.
4. Our beloved president loves to proclaim himself a first amendment scholar, and that “free speech” is in the UCB’s DNA. I think he needs to go back to school: this is (not only but also) a first amendment issue, and if the admins do not actively support their students’ right to assemble, they are actively abandoning their responsibility. Not that we expect anything less from them, of course. But we need to say that we see it, and as loudly as possible.
11:51 AM PT:
reclaim UC @reclaimuc Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
at least 11 people have received charge letters from the DA re 11/9. #occupycal