Two more arrests at Community Sleepout event in front of Santa Cruz city hall

Tonight was the latest in an ongoing series of protests against the Santa Cruz laws preventing people from sleeping outdoors after dark or in their cars at any time. A group of protesters calling themselves the Freedom Sleepers have been sleeping out weekly in front of Santa Cruz city hall in order to protest the ordinances, which they point out unfairly target and affect un-housed people in the community. The protest group has so far received at least one visit from the SC police department at each event, but this night saw two officers watching for most of the event.

Just before midnight, a group of four police officers arrived and made a beeline for the Food Not Bombs food table, where Keith McHenry (prominent local activist and one of the co-founders of Food Not Bombs itself) had just started a pot of coffee. They immediately grabbed and arrested him under the glare of video-camera lights and the strobing flashes of digital cameras. In the confusion, it was announced that Keith was being arrested for felony vandalism, which set off speculation at the protest site. Nobody here seems to know exactly what vandalism occurred to prompt this sudden arrest.

Keith was not the only arrest made tonight (so far, this article being written a little after midnight on August 26) as Abbi Samuels, another prominent local FNBer was grabbed by another 6 or so police within the hour after Keith. Protesters with cell phones and other cameras again gathered around the police as they cuffed Abbi. This writer did not hear the reason for the arrest.

These are the second and third arrests so far made at Community Sleepout events. The first was of a videographer, Israel Dawson, who has been working on a documentary film about the protests and the local movement to end the sleeping bans. The Community Sleepouts are ongoing and will continue to happen every Tuesday at City Hall, starting at 5pm and continuing until the following morning, with breakfast and coffee served.