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Indybay Feature
Take Back Santa Cruz Members Coordinate Internet Attack Against UCSC Students
Members of the organization Take Back Santa Cruz (TBSC) coordinated an internet attack against the UCSC student activists who are facing an upcoming court hearing to sentence them for blocking a local highway to protest tuition increases. The TBSC members left taunts as a group on the students' facebook event page into the early morning on June 25th. Many locals were angered when traffic became congested after the students blocked the highway during the protest on March 3 and TBSC members rabidly promoted a petition to have the students permanently expelled from UCSC.
Active TBSC members Johnny Font, Robin Jansen, Tom Abbott, Kim Gardner, Christopher Culligan, and Eric Rowland, all of whom are 40+ years old (several are 60+ years old), suddenly began to leave insulting, trolling comments on a facebook event for the HWY 6's next court apperences on June 29th & 30th.
The TBSC members apparently sought to taunt the students and intentionally increase the stress about their upcoming sentencing hearing. They left the comments over a short period of time in rapid succession as a group. The event post is at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1440602746248740/
Johnny Font left the simple comment: "Payback".
Tom Abbott said: "Good luck y'all. You are going to need it.....".
Robin Jansen said: "Hi. Just to let you know Santa Cruz community does not support you".
One supporter replied to her taunts: "You do not speak for everyone, Robin. Please, speak for yourself."
Robin Jansen replied: "Ummm. Pretty sure I do".
Later Robin Jansen attempted to humiliate a person by using an obviously incorrect gender term for them when their name was one very common to males. Jansen said: "Ms (name redacted) getting all editing/deleting up on herself.... you go girl".
The person responded to Jansen's taunt: "That's not my preferred gender pronoun. Please, stop harassing me, Robin".
Eric Rowland said the students should not pay and drop out of school if they wanted to protest tuition increases: "You say that the community doesn't get it and is somehow supporting the UC's actions, yet YOU are the ones giving them exorbitant amounts of money. If a business charges me more than their product is worth, I don't demand they charge me less. I choose not to purchase the product or buy it from someone else. What do you think would get the Regents attention more, stopping traffic hundreds of miles from where they are, or thousands of students choosing not to pay what they say are inflated fees?"
Kim Gardner criticized the students for protesting tuition increases: ".....the highest education I received was high school, and barely at that. I'm 44 years old and have no children, by choice. The way I look at this situation: if someone wants a higher education (more school..ick!) good for you. Higher education is not a right. It is not food. It is not shelter. It is not personal safety. It is a privilege. Someone signs on the dotted line that they are accepting moneys and will pay it back, then that's what they should follow through with. To sign on the dotted line and then back track and whine and complain that said contact is unfair makes no sense to me".
Robin Jansen later referred to the UCSC students as "guests", but only one person in this particular group of TBSC members was raised locally. Most TBSC members are "transplants" and arrived as adults when they first came to Santa Cruz.
Take Back Santa Cruz was founded in 2009 as a pro-police, anti-crime group and quickly became known for its anti-homeless political stance.
Preying on people's fear of crime, TBSC has become politically powerful, and one of its founding members, Pamela Comstock, was elected to the Santa Cruz City Council. Richelle Noroyan was also elected to the Santa Cruz City Council due in large part to her affiliation with TBSC and an articulated "public safety" stance.
TBSC, however, has had a negative affect on public safety in Santa Cruz and is known for its internet trolls who mob and attack political opponents with personal attacks. TBSC is comprised of a checkered membership.
TBSC has been accused of hypocrisy due to its own members improprieties and criminal behavior.
Co-founder of TBSC Emmanuel P. Cube, also known as Dexter Cube and the husband of Analicia Cube, was found to have ripped off his financial clients after he was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2002. Cube was found to have violated laws, he was fined over $50,000 and suspended for over 5 years from trading. This was his second punishment; he was fined $40,000 a few years earlier and also suspended then. ( Source: http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/33-8201.htm )
Other TBSC members have exhibited criminal and/or unethical behavior:
Former TBSC Hero Dylan Greiner Removed as SC Clean Team Admin After Arrest
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/08/29/18742330.php
Video of Take Back Santa Cruz-supported Clean Team Harassing and Assaulting Homeless Man
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/05/15/18736901.php?show_comments=1#18737139
Santa Cruz Clean Team Scandal Video with Faces Obscured (Ken Skindog Collins)
http://occupysantacruz.org/2013/05/22/santa-cruz-clean-team-scandal-video/
Mayor's Public Safety Task Force Member is "fine with junkies dying" (TBSC Member Steve Schlicht)
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/07/25/18740407.php
Inappropriate Comments by TBSC Members Left Unchecked on SCPD Social Media (Analicia Cube, Samantha Olden)
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/02/06/18750430.php
Are Public Safety "Activists" Planning to Shame Drug Addicts and Needle Users?
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/09/29/18744023.php
Steve Pleich Sides with Racists In Online Forum
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/09/14/18761632.php
Open Leter to Steve Pleich of Citizens for a Better Santa Cruz
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/09/15/18743297.php
The TBSC members apparently sought to taunt the students and intentionally increase the stress about their upcoming sentencing hearing. They left the comments over a short period of time in rapid succession as a group. The event post is at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1440602746248740/
Johnny Font left the simple comment: "Payback".
Tom Abbott said: "Good luck y'all. You are going to need it.....".
Robin Jansen said: "Hi. Just to let you know Santa Cruz community does not support you".
One supporter replied to her taunts: "You do not speak for everyone, Robin. Please, speak for yourself."
Robin Jansen replied: "Ummm. Pretty sure I do".
Later Robin Jansen attempted to humiliate a person by using an obviously incorrect gender term for them when their name was one very common to males. Jansen said: "Ms (name redacted) getting all editing/deleting up on herself.... you go girl".
The person responded to Jansen's taunt: "That's not my preferred gender pronoun. Please, stop harassing me, Robin".
Eric Rowland said the students should not pay and drop out of school if they wanted to protest tuition increases: "You say that the community doesn't get it and is somehow supporting the UC's actions, yet YOU are the ones giving them exorbitant amounts of money. If a business charges me more than their product is worth, I don't demand they charge me less. I choose not to purchase the product or buy it from someone else. What do you think would get the Regents attention more, stopping traffic hundreds of miles from where they are, or thousands of students choosing not to pay what they say are inflated fees?"
Kim Gardner criticized the students for protesting tuition increases: ".....the highest education I received was high school, and barely at that. I'm 44 years old and have no children, by choice. The way I look at this situation: if someone wants a higher education (more school..ick!) good for you. Higher education is not a right. It is not food. It is not shelter. It is not personal safety. It is a privilege. Someone signs on the dotted line that they are accepting moneys and will pay it back, then that's what they should follow through with. To sign on the dotted line and then back track and whine and complain that said contact is unfair makes no sense to me".
Robin Jansen later referred to the UCSC students as "guests", but only one person in this particular group of TBSC members was raised locally. Most TBSC members are "transplants" and arrived as adults when they first came to Santa Cruz.
Take Back Santa Cruz was founded in 2009 as a pro-police, anti-crime group and quickly became known for its anti-homeless political stance.
Preying on people's fear of crime, TBSC has become politically powerful, and one of its founding members, Pamela Comstock, was elected to the Santa Cruz City Council. Richelle Noroyan was also elected to the Santa Cruz City Council due in large part to her affiliation with TBSC and an articulated "public safety" stance.
TBSC, however, has had a negative affect on public safety in Santa Cruz and is known for its internet trolls who mob and attack political opponents with personal attacks. TBSC is comprised of a checkered membership.
TBSC has been accused of hypocrisy due to its own members improprieties and criminal behavior.
Co-founder of TBSC Emmanuel P. Cube, also known as Dexter Cube and the husband of Analicia Cube, was found to have ripped off his financial clients after he was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2002. Cube was found to have violated laws, he was fined over $50,000 and suspended for over 5 years from trading. This was his second punishment; he was fined $40,000 a few years earlier and also suspended then. ( Source: http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/33-8201.htm )
Other TBSC members have exhibited criminal and/or unethical behavior:
Former TBSC Hero Dylan Greiner Removed as SC Clean Team Admin After Arrest
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/08/29/18742330.php
Video of Take Back Santa Cruz-supported Clean Team Harassing and Assaulting Homeless Man
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/05/15/18736901.php?show_comments=1#18737139
Santa Cruz Clean Team Scandal Video with Faces Obscured (Ken Skindog Collins)
http://occupysantacruz.org/2013/05/22/santa-cruz-clean-team-scandal-video/
Mayor's Public Safety Task Force Member is "fine with junkies dying" (TBSC Member Steve Schlicht)
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/07/25/18740407.php
Inappropriate Comments by TBSC Members Left Unchecked on SCPD Social Media (Analicia Cube, Samantha Olden)
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/02/06/18750430.php
Are Public Safety "Activists" Planning to Shame Drug Addicts and Needle Users?
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/09/29/18744023.php
Steve Pleich Sides with Racists In Online Forum
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/09/14/18761632.php
Open Leter to Steve Pleich of Citizens for a Better Santa Cruz
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/09/15/18743297.php
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OK, so someone posting a link to TBSC of an OPEN post on Facebook, and people following it and commenting is a "coordinated internet attack"? I would simply call that "the Internet". Also, if you don't want just anyone posting to UCSC student organizing sites.... I don't know... how about LOCKING DOWN THE PAGE? It was wide open for anyone to post to, therefore some people who MIGHT not agree with you just MIGHT decide to post to it.
I would suggest learning how the Internet and Facebook works before blaming people for "coordinated Internet attacks". Don't leave your facebook posts wide open for any stranger to post to and maybe this problem won't happen again? You have every right to do so and should if you are sensitive about dissenting opinions being posted.
just a thought...
I would suggest learning how the Internet and Facebook works before blaming people for "coordinated Internet attacks". Don't leave your facebook posts wide open for any stranger to post to and maybe this problem won't happen again? You have every right to do so and should if you are sensitive about dissenting opinions being posted.
just a thought...
don't even sweat it kids.
the list of names above are the same old list of losers who've hounded various facebook groups for more than a year. they are no-life losers who hound people doing various work in community and have nothing better to do with they're time.
i urge you to accept them for who they are, and even take the an additional step and offer them empathy, acceptance, care, and even love.
the list of names above are the same old list of losers who've hounded various facebook groups for more than a year. they are no-life losers who hound people doing various work in community and have nothing better to do with they're time.
i urge you to accept them for who they are, and even take the an additional step and offer them empathy, acceptance, care, and even love.
If you make a post on Facebook and leave it open to the public, don't get butthurt if people who don't agree with you start posting comments on it. If all you want is your supporters blowing rainbow smoke up your ass, restrict the post to your supporters.
"If all you want is your supporters blowing rainbow smoke up your ass, restrict the post to your supporters."
Did Dylan Greiner take illicit pictures of rainbow smoke too?!
Did Dylan Greiner take illicit pictures of rainbow smoke too?!
For more information:
http://PeaceCamp2010insider.blogspot.com/
If you look how they do it they get a group of them (it's a familiar core who work all local FB and newsgroups and sometimes show up at city council meetings or trials of people they want convicted). They post in an organized fashion often showing up at the same time-work off the same old tired arguments they've used for years and of course claim to speak for all of Santa Cruz. You notice that the actual few people who really run TBSC never post in a flash mob they are careful to keep their distance so as to use plausible deniability.
Laughable except the electorate hasn't caught on it's a joke and so now is electing these folks to local office.
Thank you for starting this thread, the point of which isn't to notice that public forums get a diverse set of comments but rather to point out how this supposed community group is really just representative of a small portion of the community often drawing from conservative locals who have never really liked the University or all the strange (as in non-conservative) people that the University seems to attract.
Laughable except the electorate hasn't caught on it's a joke and so now is electing these folks to local office.
Thank you for starting this thread, the point of which isn't to notice that public forums get a diverse set of comments but rather to point out how this supposed community group is really just representative of a small portion of the community often drawing from conservative locals who have never really liked the University or all the strange (as in non-conservative) people that the University seems to attract.
"If you look how they do it they get a group of them (it's a familiar core who work all local FB and newsgroups and sometimes show up at city council meetings or trials of people they want convicted). They post in an organized fashion often showing up at the same time-work off the same old tired arguments they've used for years and of course claim to speak for all of Santa Cruz. You notice that the actual few people who really run TBSC never post in a flash mob they are careful to keep their distance so as to use plausible deniability."
-Wow, what a shocking conspiracy. People organizing on the Internet! Gee, what site are we discussing this on? A site used to organize people politically on the Internet! And sometimes I support the "indy" side of things, sometimes my politics are closer to TBSC, though I'm not a member. They are not hiding what they stand for, pretending to be one type of political activist (as some have done to get on the TBSC group, for example) or doing anything malicious like hacking FB accounts or threatening individuals. ONE poster in that thread (Robin Jansen) claimed to speak for the whole community, which she is wrong about. Would have been more accurate to say MOST of the community, which is exactly the case in the "let's block the freeway" incident.
"Laughable except the electorate hasn't caught on it's a joke and so now is electing these folks to local office."
-What is the joke? Crime? Needles? I'm unclear what is so funny here. And they are winning office because their message resonates with enough voters.
"Thank you for starting this thread, the point of which isn't to notice that public forums get a diverse set of comments but rather to point out how this supposed community group is really just representative of a small portion of the community often drawing from conservative locals who have never really liked the University or all the strange (as in non-conservative) people that the University seems to attract. "
-Well, then why did the OP start off by posing it as some great conspiracy that people posted on an OPEN facebook thread? Just call them out on the issues rather than posing it as a Koch Brothers-style conspiracy. Then we would be talking about the issues rather than how ridiculous this post came across. Also, there are thousands of people who have joined TBSC, many of them UCSC alums or otherwise related to the University. In fact, I know a number of people on the TBSC group who a few years back were part of Occupy SC, but have had enough of the crime. One of them had their house broken into by junkies in Lower Ocean while they and their kids were AT HOME. They had to fight them off to get them out of their house and save their family. I don't buy the "a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged" line. I still consider myself a liberal though I hate the criminals of Santa Cruz. However, "a TBSC member just well may be a POC, LGBT, Burning Man attendee, UCSC grad who has had their car rifled for identity theft and change, had their kid step on a needle at the beach, or found themselves racially or sexually assaulted by criminals". Don't paint with too bad a brush, if you go assuming that every TBSC member is a knuckle-dragging Tea Party Confederate flag waver, you are completely misunderstanding your "enemy" and your cause will never win.
-Wow, what a shocking conspiracy. People organizing on the Internet! Gee, what site are we discussing this on? A site used to organize people politically on the Internet! And sometimes I support the "indy" side of things, sometimes my politics are closer to TBSC, though I'm not a member. They are not hiding what they stand for, pretending to be one type of political activist (as some have done to get on the TBSC group, for example) or doing anything malicious like hacking FB accounts or threatening individuals. ONE poster in that thread (Robin Jansen) claimed to speak for the whole community, which she is wrong about. Would have been more accurate to say MOST of the community, which is exactly the case in the "let's block the freeway" incident.
"Laughable except the electorate hasn't caught on it's a joke and so now is electing these folks to local office."
-What is the joke? Crime? Needles? I'm unclear what is so funny here. And they are winning office because their message resonates with enough voters.
"Thank you for starting this thread, the point of which isn't to notice that public forums get a diverse set of comments but rather to point out how this supposed community group is really just representative of a small portion of the community often drawing from conservative locals who have never really liked the University or all the strange (as in non-conservative) people that the University seems to attract. "
-Well, then why did the OP start off by posing it as some great conspiracy that people posted on an OPEN facebook thread? Just call them out on the issues rather than posing it as a Koch Brothers-style conspiracy. Then we would be talking about the issues rather than how ridiculous this post came across. Also, there are thousands of people who have joined TBSC, many of them UCSC alums or otherwise related to the University. In fact, I know a number of people on the TBSC group who a few years back were part of Occupy SC, but have had enough of the crime. One of them had their house broken into by junkies in Lower Ocean while they and their kids were AT HOME. They had to fight them off to get them out of their house and save their family. I don't buy the "a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged" line. I still consider myself a liberal though I hate the criminals of Santa Cruz. However, "a TBSC member just well may be a POC, LGBT, Burning Man attendee, UCSC grad who has had their car rifled for identity theft and change, had their kid step on a needle at the beach, or found themselves racially or sexually assaulted by criminals". Don't paint with too bad a brush, if you go assuming that every TBSC member is a knuckle-dragging Tea Party Confederate flag waver, you are completely misunderstanding your "enemy" and your cause will never win.
Excellent flash mob point.
There are about 2 to 3 dozen active TBSC members who will participate is any given TBSC event in real life.
To make themselves appear more significant they troll a lot on the internet.
Many TBSC members use sockpuppet accounts to make their group look bigger, or to amplify their view.
One of the TBSC members listed in this article uses a very well known sockpuppet in addition to his own real name.
One of the problems with this group of TBSC trolls mentioned in the article is they were trying to get students to stop voicing their opinions. The quotes from Eric Rowland and Kim Gardner illustrate that.
These TBSC members also don't consider UCSC students to be real citizens of Santa Cruz, which they very much are.
TBSC doesn't have thousands of members.
At their recent fundraiser at Woodstock's Pizza for the cops they only raised $300.
If they really had thousands of members they would have raised a great deal of money.
One last point.
Another major problem with these roving TBSC troll flash mobs is they often focus on character assassination of their political opponents. Often they will repeat the same lies using anonymous accounts hundreds of times.
TBSC knows who these lying trolls are in their group, but they all put up with them to further their agenda.
There are about 2 to 3 dozen active TBSC members who will participate is any given TBSC event in real life.
To make themselves appear more significant they troll a lot on the internet.
Many TBSC members use sockpuppet accounts to make their group look bigger, or to amplify their view.
One of the TBSC members listed in this article uses a very well known sockpuppet in addition to his own real name.
One of the problems with this group of TBSC trolls mentioned in the article is they were trying to get students to stop voicing their opinions. The quotes from Eric Rowland and Kim Gardner illustrate that.
These TBSC members also don't consider UCSC students to be real citizens of Santa Cruz, which they very much are.
TBSC doesn't have thousands of members.
At their recent fundraiser at Woodstock's Pizza for the cops they only raised $300.
If they really had thousands of members they would have raised a great deal of money.
One last point.
Another major problem with these roving TBSC troll flash mobs is they often focus on character assassination of their political opponents. Often they will repeat the same lies using anonymous accounts hundreds of times.
TBSC knows who these lying trolls are in their group, but they all put up with them to further their agenda.
TBSC has a major Libertarian faction in it and one of their members is known for spreading Tea Party propaganda.
Many TBSC members (and Clean Team members) call themselves Democrats, but they are Richelle Noroyan/Zach Friend style Democrats who are in support of prison expansion and they are all big police state lovers. They are a very conservative lot of Democrats who have worked hard to criminalize homelessness in Santa Cruz.
Many TBSC members (and Clean Team members) call themselves Democrats, but they are Richelle Noroyan/Zach Friend style Democrats who are in support of prison expansion and they are all big police state lovers. They are a very conservative lot of Democrats who have worked hard to criminalize homelessness in Santa Cruz.
If that was a "coordinated internet attack" (Puhleeze!), then what is your post but a counter attack?
How is what you've posted any different than what they posted? Pot calling kettle champ.
How is what you've posted any different than what they posted? Pot calling kettle champ.
Constantly feeding the scandal jukebox quarter after quarter isn’t going to force us to enjoy your tunes, it only serves to accelerate the process of blocking them out as white noise. Especially when you’re shamelessly disregarding your own hypocrisy, or even worse, blatantly making things up and trying to pass them off as fact.
If there is "only two or three dozen" real TBSC members, then why would anyone waste so much time berating such a small,insignificant group?
The several dozen core Take Back Santa Cruz (TBSC) members own guns and some of them commit hate crimes against disabled homeless people and their disabled supporters in the community. It's a small domestic hate group.
What verifiable evidence do you have concerning gun ownership by any alleged TBSC members? Have any of them threatened to shoot you or anyone else? Have any of them brandished a firearm or broken any other gun laws?
What hate crime was committed against who, and what verifiable evidence do you have to connect it to TBSC?
From Good Times:
The idea that people may react to traumatic events with anger, fear and intolerance played out last month for a 57-year-old homeless man named Frank Smith. Smith says he has been repeatedly harassed and photographed by members of Take Back Santa Cruz. Photos of him and his motor home regularly appear on the group’s Facebook page. He says he was most alarmed by an incident that he says occurred the evening of Friday, March 15 while he was sleeping in his motor home, parked legally on River Street.
He says he awoke to voices shouting profanities, banging on the outside walls of the motor home, and hands rocking the vehicle back and forth. Opening his door, Smith was confronted by a man and woman telling him belligerently how much they paid to live in their house and that he needed to get out of their town.
http://www.gtweekly.com/index.php/santa-cruz-news/good-times-cover-stories/4701-the-reality-of-crime.html
The idea that people may react to traumatic events with anger, fear and intolerance played out last month for a 57-year-old homeless man named Frank Smith. Smith says he has been repeatedly harassed and photographed by members of Take Back Santa Cruz. Photos of him and his motor home regularly appear on the group’s Facebook page. He says he was most alarmed by an incident that he says occurred the evening of Friday, March 15 while he was sleeping in his motor home, parked legally on River Street.
He says he awoke to voices shouting profanities, banging on the outside walls of the motor home, and hands rocking the vehicle back and forth. Opening his door, Smith was confronted by a man and woman telling him belligerently how much they paid to live in their house and that he needed to get out of their town.
http://www.gtweekly.com/index.php/santa-cruz-news/good-times-cover-stories/4701-the-reality-of-crime.html
A man in Citizens for a Better Santa Cruz told a story of how young people attacked him downtown and said they were sent by TBSC and the Clean Team to clean the streets up because they thought he looked homeless (and he was homeless.)
"Members of Santa Cruz Clean Team and Take Back Santa Cruz have both attacked me verbally and physically, after I got my life together. They care about the appearances of the people, not the truth."
"Members of Santa Cruz Clean Team and Take Back Santa Cruz have both attacked me verbally and physically, after I got my life together. They care about the appearances of the people, not the truth."
How is any of that related to any alleged Gun threat? Or "proof" of any involvement by TBSC? Sounds an awful lot like selective hearsay to bolster a prefabricated prejudice.
You are confusing me with the previous poster, I didn't allege systematic hate crimes in TBSC, though their treatment of the homeless might as well be considered a hate crime.
In the past SCCCOR has said TBSC distributed racist leaflets in the Beach Flats neighborhood, but SCCCOR's website is down now.
I do think TBSC is full of gun nuts, tho.
TBSC member Brannon Schell poses with assault rifles on his Facebook page and talks about guns non-stop, but then in Citizens for A Better Santa Cruz he will call a woman a "shit-person" and totally talk down to her many other times.
I believe Samantha Olden is also a gun lover and she will go on the SCPD Facebook page and demand "an eye for an eye" when they post a photo of a criminal.
The Take Back Santa Cruz name riles people up.
Here is an excerpt from another Good Times article:
But few people outside of the group really talk about that aspect of its Facebook presence, thanks to a contingent of Take Back Santa Cruz members who write unabashedly hateful and downright disturbing things. A brief scan of Take Back’s Facebook page on an otherwise uneventful Wednesday yielded this comment from a group member: “If you go downtown be prepared to use some ultra violence or don't go downtown. I’m not trying to be some vigilante asshole but get real people…A super tough stance needs to be taken by the powers that be—that will be. The ones in office now need to go and be replaced by community members that will get it done. If you feel uneasy and threatened when you’re downtown then it's because you have entered an uneasy and threatening environment. Take charge, defend yourself, however you see fit, but whatever you do, don’t be the victim.”
http://www.santacruz.com/news/take_back_santa_cruz_leader_pulls_no_punches.html
Also from that article:
The most popular complaint about Take Back Santa Cruz is also the most obvious: “Take back from what?” Even Cube herself says she wishes she had thought to call it something different, more positive-sounding.
“If I had known that it was going to be this big, I would have called it, ‘I Like Rainbows and Unicorns’ [or] ‘Lets Fly Together on a Rainbow.’ I don’t know what I would have called it,” Cube says.
In the past SCCCOR has said TBSC distributed racist leaflets in the Beach Flats neighborhood, but SCCCOR's website is down now.
I do think TBSC is full of gun nuts, tho.
TBSC member Brannon Schell poses with assault rifles on his Facebook page and talks about guns non-stop, but then in Citizens for A Better Santa Cruz he will call a woman a "shit-person" and totally talk down to her many other times.
I believe Samantha Olden is also a gun lover and she will go on the SCPD Facebook page and demand "an eye for an eye" when they post a photo of a criminal.
The Take Back Santa Cruz name riles people up.
Here is an excerpt from another Good Times article:
But few people outside of the group really talk about that aspect of its Facebook presence, thanks to a contingent of Take Back Santa Cruz members who write unabashedly hateful and downright disturbing things. A brief scan of Take Back’s Facebook page on an otherwise uneventful Wednesday yielded this comment from a group member: “If you go downtown be prepared to use some ultra violence or don't go downtown. I’m not trying to be some vigilante asshole but get real people…A super tough stance needs to be taken by the powers that be—that will be. The ones in office now need to go and be replaced by community members that will get it done. If you feel uneasy and threatened when you’re downtown then it's because you have entered an uneasy and threatening environment. Take charge, defend yourself, however you see fit, but whatever you do, don’t be the victim.”
http://www.santacruz.com/news/take_back_santa_cruz_leader_pulls_no_punches.html
Also from that article:
The most popular complaint about Take Back Santa Cruz is also the most obvious: “Take back from what?” Even Cube herself says she wishes she had thought to call it something different, more positive-sounding.
“If I had known that it was going to be this big, I would have called it, ‘I Like Rainbows and Unicorns’ [or] ‘Lets Fly Together on a Rainbow.’ I don’t know what I would have called it,” Cube says.
Female members of the CFAB SC Facebook group complained publicly that Johnny Font harassed and stalked them with private messages when they disagreed with him: he's inappropriate and dangerous.
Chrissy Brown, the "leader" of the Santa Cruz Clean Team, has started attacking the UCSC students.
For context, Chrissy Brown was the person who could be heard on the Clean Team scandal video calling the homeless guy a "parasite" as Ken Skindog Collins assaulted him:
https://youtu.be/NMTYSZocv4k
Background on the Clean Team:
Video of Take Back Santa Cruz-supported Clean Team Harassing and Assaulting Homeless Man
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/05/15/18736901.php
Brown essentially egged on the assault and did nothing to stop it. Since the scandal video was published, Collins has stopped volunteering with the Clean Team, but Brown continues to be their leader.
On the UCSC students' event page Brown left a post intending to scare and intimidate the students by saying people stuck in traffic are going to file civil lawsuits.
Here is what Chrissy Brown posted:
"4 truck loads of cement were dumped by Las Animas, all their workers lost pay and the loads were worth around $10,000, there was also a woman in labor and countless other emergencies, let alone all the carbon footprint made by all those cars stuck in traffic.This is 21st century and this kind of action is nothing but ignorant. Protesting something that the state has control of not the county is about as stupid as it gets. If anyone had died, these charges would have been over the top. The civil lawsuits will be coming shortly and I bet you are using a public defender paid for by the very community you hurt. Another word comes to mind arrogance!"
TBSC members have been spreading rumors like this since the day the students blocked the highway.
Brown says there were "countless other emergencies" which is another lie disgruntled TBSC members have been using. They say there were emergencies the day of the highway protest, but never specifically say what they were.
In general, it is very common for TBSC to harass people who have been accused of crimes or who are waiting for court dates. Unless it is one of their own members, of course.
For context, Chrissy Brown was the person who could be heard on the Clean Team scandal video calling the homeless guy a "parasite" as Ken Skindog Collins assaulted him:
https://youtu.be/NMTYSZocv4k
Background on the Clean Team:
Video of Take Back Santa Cruz-supported Clean Team Harassing and Assaulting Homeless Man
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/05/15/18736901.php
Brown essentially egged on the assault and did nothing to stop it. Since the scandal video was published, Collins has stopped volunteering with the Clean Team, but Brown continues to be their leader.
On the UCSC students' event page Brown left a post intending to scare and intimidate the students by saying people stuck in traffic are going to file civil lawsuits.
Here is what Chrissy Brown posted:
"4 truck loads of cement were dumped by Las Animas, all their workers lost pay and the loads were worth around $10,000, there was also a woman in labor and countless other emergencies, let alone all the carbon footprint made by all those cars stuck in traffic.This is 21st century and this kind of action is nothing but ignorant. Protesting something that the state has control of not the county is about as stupid as it gets. If anyone had died, these charges would have been over the top. The civil lawsuits will be coming shortly and I bet you are using a public defender paid for by the very community you hurt. Another word comes to mind arrogance!"
TBSC members have been spreading rumors like this since the day the students blocked the highway.
Brown says there were "countless other emergencies" which is another lie disgruntled TBSC members have been using. They say there were emergencies the day of the highway protest, but never specifically say what they were.
In general, it is very common for TBSC to harass people who have been accused of crimes or who are waiting for court dates. Unless it is one of their own members, of course.
Last October I was at Food Not Bombs on a weekend next to the post office while speaking to a client on my cell phone. Chrissy Brown walked up to me and began snapping photos of me using her cell phone. When I asked her who she was, she walked away. I would have snapped a photo of her for the police but I was finishing my call with my client. Later I identified this woman as Chrissy Brown from her Linkedin profile.
Tale Back Santa Cruz members do this to those who oppose them, trying to intimidate them. When that doesn't work, they ramp up to death threats on the Internet.
Tale Back Santa Cruz members do this to those who oppose them, trying to intimidate them. When that doesn't work, they ramp up to death threats on the Internet.
TBSC member Tom Cunniff left the stalking comment above.
His girlfriend is Santa Cruz County Probation Officer Julia Feldman.
He is a well known TBSC member who has trolled and stalked with anonymous sockpuppets for years.
His most common troll post is to tell homeless advocate Robert Norse to "please die soon". Cunniff has left this comment hundreds of times.
He has decreased his stalking since people figured out his real name, but he still trolls every day anonymously on Topix.
His girlfriend is Santa Cruz County Probation Officer Julia Feldman.
He is a well known TBSC member who has trolled and stalked with anonymous sockpuppets for years.
His most common troll post is to tell homeless advocate Robert Norse to "please die soon". Cunniff has left this comment hundreds of times.
He has decreased his stalking since people figured out his real name, but he still trolls every day anonymously on Topix.
Chrissy Brown is still attacking, fear mongering and posting on the students' event page when someone called her out on her "facts". A woman who went to court today said the Los Animas owner was the only one to testify at today's hearing for the students. The woman said no one else came in to court to say they had suffered losses from the protest. Chrissy Brown replied to her and said to expect "civil cases", even though no one claimed damages today.
Chrissy Brown said this:
"I have a friend who is friends with the woman whose cat died, and a check with the ambulance company that had the woman in labor is on record. It is there right to come forward or not, I guess we will see in the civil cases."
It's unlikely there is any truth to this statement at all.
Chrissy Brown said this:
"I have a friend who is friends with the woman whose cat died, and a check with the ambulance company that had the woman in labor is on record. It is there right to come forward or not, I guess we will see in the civil cases."
It's unlikely there is any truth to this statement at all.
Blackshirts? Try Busenhart's Redshirts from a quarter of a century ago. They were called Take Back Our Town, sound familiar? Circles, rinse wash repeat when the status quo might as well be Give Up Santa Cruz.
The hive is buzzing that this article shows they are effective and the community supports them.
Yes, TBSC has been effective at inciting people and making them more angry. Violence is being committed in the name of Take Back Santa Cruz. Unfortunately history in Santa Cruz shows us this type of hateful rhetoric and violence can trigger change in governmental institutions.
Take the trollbusters period in Santa Cruz in the 1980s when people started printing up trollbusters shirts and selling them downtown. In a 1984 article about Santa Cruz trollbusters the SCPD says there were "at least 19 attacks on drifters" so they "stepped up enforcement of anti-camping laws to discourage transients from staying" under spots like the bridges downtown.
So after homeless people were violently attacked by these people very similar to the TBSC members of today the police reacted by running homeless people out of town.
So yes, modern day abusive TBSC members will think they are being effective just like the trollbusters must have thought they were being effective.
Archived Associated Press article from 1984:
Troll Busters Waging War On Transients In Santa Cruz
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1891&dat=19841027&id=o6MfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_tUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1427,4707674&hl=en
Take the trollbusters period in Santa Cruz in the 1980s when people started printing up trollbusters shirts and selling them downtown. In a 1984 article about Santa Cruz trollbusters the SCPD says there were "at least 19 attacks on drifters" so they "stepped up enforcement of anti-camping laws to discourage transients from staying" under spots like the bridges downtown.
So after homeless people were violently attacked by these people very similar to the TBSC members of today the police reacted by running homeless people out of town.
So yes, modern day abusive TBSC members will think they are being effective just like the trollbusters must have thought they were being effective.
Archived Associated Press article from 1984:
Troll Busters Waging War On Transients In Santa Cruz
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1891&dat=19841027&id=o6MfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_tUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1427,4707674&hl=en
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