Arrest for no ID at Occupy Santa Cruz

by Marie Meroke

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 3:17PM

Between 10 PM on Nov. 3, 2011 and 7 AM Nov. 4, 2011 sheriff's cited three and arrested one person for "lodging" on the Courthouse steps on Water St in Santa Cruz. The man arrested was cited for not having identification allegedly under the Patriot Act although intrinsically a violation of the Constitution. The aura of fascism impends upon the Occupy Wall Street movement which is partially supported by the City Council but evidently not by the County or Sheriff's Department. The "lodging" law is a nineteenth century Jim Crow law designed to keep transients from sleeping in public. The camp itself was not raided but only those sleeping on the courthouse steps. Four visits by the Sheriff's Department prevented sleep.

Last night, in four visits between 10 PM and 7 AM this morning,November 4, 2011. protesters sleeping on the Courthouse steps in Santa Cruz, California were wakened by Sheriffs who arrested one man and cited three others for "lodging," a nineteenth century Jim Crow law. The man arrested was charged with not having any identification, an apparent cause for arrest under the Patriot Act but also a precursor of fascism as in Nazi Germany when Jews and other undesirables were forced to constantly carry identification before they were deported to concentration camps.

The Sheriffs did not raid the campground itself as expected by protesters. Those sleeping in vehicles were not cited.

Protesters were told to sleep in the campground under the partial approval of the City Council. Evidently Santa Cruz County Supervisors do not support the Occupy Wall Street movement or Occupy Santa Cruz.

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