Santa Cruz Sentinel photographer Dan Coyro has called members and supporters of the Santa Cruz Eleven "roaches" and "street vermin" in recent public statements, in addition to making comments disparaging the local needle exchange program, and calling the homeless "bums" while blasting their photo on social media. The Santa Cruz Sentinel is considered by many to be the newspaper of record in Santa Cruz County, which has some questioning the ability of Coyro to function objectively at his position.

When one community member asked in response to the online name calling "what are they putting in the water over there at the Sentinel?" Coyro replied, "get a job, make some money, pay your rent and pay your own damn way." It is not clear from the statement to whose employment status he was referring.

Coyro has expressed hostility towards political activists in the past, including smiling while he took photos of students at UC Santa Cruz trying to wash the pepper-spray out of their eyes after being attacked by the police in 2006. Coyro was one of the photographers assigned by the Sentinel to cover Occupy Santa Cruz in 2011, and community members are now asking the questions, "did he do a fair and accurate job?" and, "is he objective when he takes photographs for homeless-related articles?"

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