Feature Archives

Bradley Allen went to the Santa Cruz County Courthouse steps with his camera on Wednesday, November 30, 2011, to cover a demonstration for Santa Cruz Indymedia, part of Indybay, at a time the Occupy movement was at its height. He assumed it would be similar to others he had recently been to, where people had rallied, marched, and picketed banks.

A forum on the UC Berkeley campus called “We Witness: A Panel on Digital Video, Social Media, & Political Protest,” was held on Monday, December 10, and presented by the CITRIS Data and Democracy Initiative. It featured Witness, an NGO documenting human rights violations, The New Media Advocacy Project, and Ustream, a commercial service for live video streaming.

Attorney David E. Mastagni of the Sacramento law firm Mastagni, Holstedt, Amick, Miller & Johnsen has demanded that the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center (Indybay) remove a post by Vallejo Copwatch. It is unclear on whose behalf the overly broad demand was made as it requests that Indybay "remove any and all information pertaining to public safety officers employed by the City of Vallejo." The specific Vallejo Copwatch post listed in the demand letter, though, identifies Vallejo police officer Dustin B. Joseph as the killer of Mario Romero on September 2nd of this year. The Indybay Collective has no intention of removing the post.

David Morse, a long-time member of the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center has settled his lawsuit over the University of California - Berkeley Police Department’s improper arrest, imprisonment, and seizure of journalistic materials during a student demonstration he was covering as a journalist. In exchange for Mr. Morse’s agreement to dismiss the lawsuit, UC Regents have paid $162,500 and have agreed to modify UCBPD policies and procedures and to conduct extensive training sessions for UCBPD officers regarding protections for journalists under federal and state law.

Community Media with Indybay will be an introduction to contributing to the all-volunteer website, Santa Cruz Indymedia (aka Indybay). Beginning July 11th, people who are passionate about local independent media will meet every other Wednesday as part of Free Skool Santa Cruz for workshops and discussions on how anyone can publish text, photos, audio and video, either as news articles or event announcements directly to the website.

Around 500 people from 15 cities in Mexico and 11 countries in the world came together in the National Encounter of Autonomous Anti-Capitialist Resistance at the end of May 2012 to share experiences of autonomy and support the uprising and current process of self-government in Cherán, Michoacán. The Cherán K’eri uprising on April 15, 2011 and the process of self-government now underway in that community is, for many, a source of inspiration, a strong show of resistance to be defended, and an experience to learn from.

On September 8th, 2011, BART police mass arrested close to thirty people, including Indybay reporter Dave Id, inside the Powell Street BART station during a protest against BART police. Protesters and journalists alike were handcuffed for hours and charged with violating California Penal Code Section 369i. On June 4th, the case was heard in open court and charges were dismissed against fourteen defendants represented by the NLG. It is unknown if other arrestees sought independent counsel, paid a fine for the infraction, had their charges dismissed, or if their charges remain pending.