Two Arrested Near Farmer's Market, But the Beats Continued On

All of that is really weird. Retail is about to go int a downswing, so it doesn't make sense to make such a scene with fences and arrests. Indeed, if they were smart, they'd just let the behaviorally challenged go back into Pogonip where we don't see them.

Anyhow, I thought police vehicles were supposed to be American brands.

A few more pictures of the action pulled from video soon to come. ( Indbay showed a fatal error no disk space while uploading video of the arrest, although its well within the 120 meg guideline. ) Will try again.

Heavy police presence at a peaceful protest until the police decided to get rough for a legal protest.

Does anyone know if the two (?) arrested are still being held?
Can anyone give further information about the resources that may be needed for those arrested;
or have they already been released?
Oceans & Skies
**************

I just checked the inmate locator and Wes Modes is still being held.

http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/SHF/InmateLocator/Detailsview.aspx?sno=S-137767&lastname=Modes

And they are asking for a bail increase. He's not a wealthy guy.

Interesting that he was arrested at 3:46pm, but not booked until 10:28pm.

I called the jail between 8 and 10 PM last night in search of Wesley Modes. I was told they had no such person in custody. I wrongly assumed Wes had been cited and released (though that seemed unlikely given the amount of force police had to justify using).

In Santa Cruz it is highly unusual for a person to be held seven hours by police before being booked. Reminiscent of the old practice of transferring a prisoner from jail to jail to keep him one step ahead of friends and legal help.

Some drummers have understandably decided to move to the Town Clock in search of a police-free environment. This I believe is strategically unwise, since there they are more isolated from observing eyes and sympathetic support. They are also abandoning the only public space that was successfully restored to public use by public action.

I encourage others to carry on this important struggle to restore constitutional rights and public assembly in Santa Cruz, which can be won if people are patient, persistent, and determined.

Folks also need to flood the sheriff's office with calls demanding the whereabouts and status of Wes (454-2420, then dial 0). Mayor Coonerty's number: 423-8939.

It might also be appropriate to mount protests at the jail if Wes is not speedily released.

This orgasm of excessive force and follow-up legal persecution is designed to quell the effective protests that reopened Parking Lot #4 to Public Assembly and stripped the Friendly mask from local Fascist face.

Either you resist the police state in Santa Cruz or you succumb to it. People need to make their choices.

Wes, according to a report from a friend who spoke with him this morning, apparently spent four hours in police custody before he was taken to the jail.

He also was taken to the hospital and his injuries required stiches.

He faces $15,000 bail for felony "lynching", i.e. trying to take a prisoner away from the police.

FNBer Jack was released and faces resisting arrest charges according to the grossly biased Sentinel article at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_10496396 . The comments are even more disgusting, but remember we're dealing with a small subset of the Santa Cruz community, what amounts to a closet Klan mentality.

A fairer article can be found at http://www.santacruz.com/News/2008/09/17/Santa_Cruz_Police_Clamp_Down_on_Drummers

My request for verification of the alleged 3 PM protest supposedly supporting Wes has gone unanswered. It actually sounds like a satire and a hoax. Particularly since other members of
the Trash Orchestra reportedly know nothing about it.

If it's a real protest, my congratulations. If it's a hoax, it's in bad taste, particularly when repeated as though it were a real bike/ped bridge protest.

Wes is reportedly due to be arraigned tomorrow at 8:15 a.m.

I'll be playing Drum Circle footage on Free Radio tonight 6-8 PM on 101.1 FM and http://www.freakradio.org. Call in with your thoughts and accounts.

FREE RICO! He Stood up in a passive resistant manor. He never threw his Drum at an officer nor showed any sign of being violent. Is this how we want our tax dollars spent? Our right to protest and to use public space is being tested through massive police intimidation ( Ryan Connerty's Educational Campaign.) How much is this costing our county? How many rights are we willing to give up?
Regarding Fox,
Bradley he is very hard to deal with at times. I appreciate your work and know dealing with these situations let alone 30 armed officers can be daunting. When I fed for six months on the mall Fox would come, eat, and then tell me I was a cop... But I just figure he has larger issues to deal with, basically he is harmless although a nuisance at times. Thanks for the great work and keep it up.

Big Bass Drum player >I was across the street under a tree next to the church facing the farmers market and the parking lot. Suzanne and a great conga player and I,
Had set up a makeshift place to drum some tunes next to the sidewalk.
The Trash Orchestra assembled with us and jammed some great percussion licks and got warmed up to
make their appearance at the Partitioned off Drum Circle Tree Planters, I followed the Trash Orchestra into the drum circle parking lot, and was walking next to Wes Modes as a local police man was instructing him to move on , I saw that Mr. Modes was amused at the cops enunciation of Unruly Terms and Gleefully replied to the Cop "Well in that case I'll just keep walking" with a smile!
This form of Despotism in the States Hands is unconstitutional.
They followed him and in the long run when the doughnuts ran out....
The Cops Bagged him and Tagged him....
I hope He and the other Drummer is OK!
Posted by:David Derrick

I posted the following comment a few minutes ago at "Bike Bridge protest moved! Divert support to Wes" http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/18/18539526.php?show_comments=1#18539624


Confirmed Troll Alert
by Robert Norse
Thursday Sep 18th, 2008 1:53 PM
"Rally is on, ignore troll using Robert's name by Keep the River Weird" appears to be trolltalk.

No one e-mailed me about my post. As far as I know, no one has made any false posts recently under my name.

Call me at 423-HUFF if you want to speak to me personally.

As mentioned before ("Updates" at "Two Arrested Near Farmer's Market, But the Beats Continued On" http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/17/18539334.php?show_comments=1#18539559), this demo is likely a hoax.

However if trolls want to lead a protest in support of Wes...right on! I guess...

He'll be in court tomorrow morning reportedly at 8;15 AM. And will probably be looking for bail support (currently at $15,000) with furious cops apparently seeking more.

Hopefully folks will call in with more info at 6 PM on my show (101.1 FM, http://www.freakradio.org): 427-3772.



Unless I hear from the Riverweirder's, I'll assume this demo is not what it pretends to be. If I do hear from them, I'll post and confirm. Otherwise you may be wasting your time heading for this protest.

But, folks could still march to the D.A., the jail, the Mayor, etc. if enough folks show up. If someone does go and it turns out to be a real demo, please contact me at Free Radio tonight and report on it.

My apologies if this is actually a real demo, but it doesn 't smell like it. Particularly since false claims are being made (no one has e-mailed me as alleged). The "Ha, Ha" post was mine.

Again, if anyone doubts the authenticity of this post, feel free to call me at 423-4833.

I just spoke to Robert and he confirmed that he had not confirmed that there is a protest to support Wes Modes. Also, the e-mail address keeptheriverweird [at] yahoo.com is not a valid e-mail address.

I fully support Wes Modes and I will see what I can do to make it to Santa Cruz next Wednesday. Hopefully the bail gets reduced from $15,000 to a more manageable amount so that Wes can be released. Or better yet, drop the charges.

this made KTVU headlines. They're saying there's a planter in the parking lot, when really there isn't. http://www.ktvu.com/news/17508887/detail.html Luckily all those photos just show a group of people standing near the arrest, and he never drops a drumstick to touch an officer, or touches the drum to an officer.

According to Tim Rumford, speaking on Free Radio Santa Cruz, Wes was just released from jail. Tim believes that the bail was considerably reduced or possibly dropped entirely. "The charges that were printed in the paper were not the charges. They had trouble figuring out what to charge Wes with." said Tim.

I just now heard on Free Radio Santa Cruz that Wes Modes is out of jail, with no bail required. Apparently the cops could not figure out what to officially charge him with. A google search and other searches of Indybay turns up nothing that would suggest that Wes was violent in any way. According to the person who called Free Radio, a review of the video tape of the arrest of Wes Modes reveals no violent behaviour on the part of Wes.

Some hours afterward, I picked up a phone message from Wes confirming his release from jail and adding some details. This e-mail arrived around 10:30 last night from trash [at] riseup.net:


Here's word from Wes and others about what happened:

Wes Modes was jumped by three officers while playing a drum in protest of a fellow drummer, Jack, being arrested. As he was choked and forced to the ground, his leg was hit with a baton after he was already restrained. He was placed in the same car as Jack. By the time the car arrived at the Country Jail, Wes' leg was tender and his sock was full of blood.

At the jail, the arresting officer presented Wes with charges stemming from last week's protest -- five infractions prepared by City Attorney Barrisone, all dealing with standing in a public area not customarily used for this purpose, violation of the 15 minute law, trampling grass or plants, and destroying city property. The paperwork was already waiting in the police car when they arrested him.

At county jail, medical personnel saw his leg and would not accept him until he'd been cleared at the hospital. He spent 4 uncomfortable hours at the hospital, most of it with his hands handcuffed behind his back. His leg was photographed, x-rayed, sutured, and bandaged. He spent much of the evening at Dominican.

He was told he was being charged with battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, and lynching. The first two are misdemeanors, the last is a felony. Normally the bail would be $5000, but the city and SCPD had used Barrisone's charges to argue that if released he was likely to commit these infractions again, and that his bail should be $50,000. The judge rejected this, and still set it at $15,000.

Jack was released, and Wes spent the night in the jail's housing unit.

At about 3:30pm today, Wes was released with very little explanation. It seems the charges are now "pending investigation," meaning the DA is deciding whether to file, and if so, which charges.

Police usually recommend battery charges when someone they are arresting is injured, so it is likely Wes will still be facing serious charges. Jack's similar charges, minus the felony, are also in limbo.

Wes is resting now, and thankful for the support of the community.

This week, police have shown a willingness to escalte the amount of force they will use to squash people's freedom of expression in the form of drumming. Additionally, they have shown a willingness to use violence against those who resist the efforts to remove public space and limit freedom of assembly.

this really angers me!!
the violence against Wes is completely out of bounds of what we should expect from our city's police force.
Totally inexcusable!

As for the charges waiting for Wes from the previous week: that area has been used for drumming for over 6 years, I know because I've
been there for the entire time. Also, there are no plants or landscaping to trample in that area because it is just dirt.

I'll be back to drum there next wednesday... just like I've done for years.

I encourage you to join me. We must demonstrate a show of community solidarity.

Wanna read complete garbage with the biggest mouthpiece? KSBW: http://www.ksbw.com/news/17502921/detail.html

This might be a friendly touch placed on the windshield of all the tourist cars parked down at the boardwalk and at the ever-increasing number of hotels in this town, ala, the Santa Cruz Travel Advisory: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/07/07/18286213.php

Especially as we are coming up on a few holiday weekends.

I suggested a topic to KSBW about Police wanting footage taken that day. See if they even glance..

More recent comments including the police report, a list of the infractions the SCPD was compiling to get a bail raise on Wes Modes, and plans for protest on Tuesday and Wednesday can be found at

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/17/18539316.php?show_comments=1#18540760

and

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/21/18540575.php