Graffiti and Broken Windows on Pacific Avenue

These articles, listed for reference, discuss the situation further.

Dance Party Ends in Window-Breaking and Police Clearing Pacific Avenue 20 Minutes Later
by Robert Norse
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/05/02/18646441.php

video-Santa Cruz Riot of May 2010
by Prescott
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/05/02/18646532.php#18646541

Street Party Turns Violent – Santa Cruz Riot of May 2010
http://presky.wordpress.com/2010/05/02/santacruzriotmay1/

** For background information, the following article is being reposted from Occupy California:

May Day party gets underway in Santa Cruz
http://occupyca.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/may-day-party-gets-underway-in-santa-cruz/

SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – A dance party to celebrate International Workers’ Day in Santa Cruz morphed into a black bloc as it traveled through different parts of downtown with hundreds of participants and observers. As the crowd swelled to over 350, torches and flares were lit. The crowd zig-zagged through different side streets, eventually ending back on the main street downtown (Pacific Ave). As the crowd marched back to the clock tower, windows of corporate chains and bourgeois shops were smashed. Police presence was scarce; early on, one police car drove into the crowd to disperse it. Instead of leaving, the dancers stepped around the police car and threw paint on it. Only after the crowd voluntarily dispersed did any police appear.

10:35pm: A torch mob of about 300 people is headed down Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz, with hundreds of observers following. More info to come.

11:00pm: Graffiti: “Brick by brick we will bring it down”; “Destruction is the New Pink”; “Destroy the Destroyers” and others.

11:15pm: Several expensive “hipster” stores, corporate chain stores, and bourgeois shops that cater to tourists had their windows smashed.

11:20pm: It’s scattering, with only 2 cop cars nearby.