top
Santa Cruz IMC
Santa Cruz IMC
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Anti-houseless stickers spread in Santa Cruz public areas

by William Machtes
Sticker carrying violence-encouraging stereotype image of houseless tweaker found on crosswalk button downtown.
sm_28238106_1907286376249085_2332446946604351358_o.jpg
A sticker carrying imagery encouraging violence against houseless people and drug addicted people was recently found on a crosswalk button at Front and Soquel. The sticker reads 'Street Cleaner: Santa Cruz Meth Head Cleansing Project – Santa Cruz' and is marked with the hashtag #131stickers. It depicts a silhouette of a skinny person wearing a backpack, with a cigarette in their mouth, an open hand stretched out, and a “Tweaker” flag hanging out of the backpack. Laid over the image of this person are the crosshairs of a telescopic rifle sight.

A quick search of twitter and instagram for the hashtag #131stickers shows a number of posts also tagged @broprintsscreenprinting, or with check-ins at Broprints Screen Printing. Broprints is a sticker, shirt, and banner printing company based at 131 Center Street, #3. It's founder, Aaron Clark, began printing with his brother Ian Clark at the turn of the century. According to a 2004 article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Aaron studied printing at Santa Barbara City College and Humboldt State. In an email exchange, Aaron Clark confirmed that Broprints did produce the sticker in question and that its design was not attributed to any one artist but was "a team effort."

The co-owner of Broprints, Steve Guisinger, also owns and operates Consolidated Skateboarding, out of the same address 131 Center Street. Guisinger began the Don't Do It movement in 1997 in an effort to convince skaters to oppose the entrance of large sporting goods companies – like Nike – into the skating industry.
§in regards to these stickers
by Aaron Clark
Hello, my name is Aaron Clark. Yes, I own Broprints. We print stickers for lots of people. All kinds of stickers. People from all walks of life come in with ideas and concepts of what they want their sticker to say or look like. While we don’t always agree with what it says we help the customer. Over the last 15 yrs or so the homeless and drug addict epidemic has grown in Santa Cruz and the surrounding area as we all can see and agree. And over this time people ask me to print their frustrations out on a sticker. Frustrations from walking out the front door of their house or business to find used needles, human feces and piles of trash scattered about. Not to mention their bike stolen or other property broken into. A call to police does not solve the problem. In fact we were broken into right next door to the Police station. They stole computers, inventory, and money. Even with the police cameras pointing straight at the point of entry. Government funding is not there to help the problem, programs that are set in place barely scratch the surface. I agree there needs to be something done and yes, angry hateful stickers do not solve the problem either. At what point do you yourself allow this to keep happening before reacting. I can’t say that all the #131stickers are ideas from Broprints. Many people ask to have some sticker made that reflects their situations regarding their experiences and encounters with drug addicts who do nothing to better themselves. I think the stickers are a way for some to express their anger instead of doing something extreme. Hardship falls on the best of people and it’s difficult to pick yourself up. A struggle I had to endure for 2 years without a home. Living in my automobile was no picnic but it did not inspire me to steal from someone or start using drugs to a point of leaving trash and human waste on their property. I don’t condone everyone who has an opinion on what to do with the epidemic at hand. I agree with some and disagree with others. I have helped drug addicts get back on their feet and homeless friends clean up and get them employment. What it boils down to is people wanting to help themselves. I’m sorry if a sticker we printed has offended anyone and will do my best to monitor what gets printed here. I welcome anyone to come in to the shop and see for yourself what we are all about. We are here to help people with printing/ art/ and ideas they have. We sponsor schools and events. We give discount printing to charitable causes and print without profit on every Never Forget sticker you see out there. But maybe those stories are something you can post another time, who knows. I know you don’t know me or have any knowledge of that we are about but I would be happy to meet with you so you can see what really goes on at Broprints. It’s not the homeless hating you are making it out to be. Again, sorry if a sticker has offended anyone. -Aaron
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by no way
Maybe it's time to renew the old Yuppie Eradication Project...
by John Cohen-Colby
Is this anti-homeless threats and intimidation by our local domestic hate group Take Back Santa Cruz (TBSC)?

TBSC member James Burtnett made up anti-homeless stickers a few years ago and plastered them all over town, even on my sister's car and former City Council member Micah Posner's bicycle.
sm_broprints-screenprinting-1.jpg
For several years, Broprints Screenprinting of Santa Cruz has been designing, printing, and distributing anti-houseless and anti-tweaker stickers. Misogynistic stickers which they have designed can also be found throughout their collection.

In an August 31, 2015 post to Instagram, @broprintsscreenprinting posted:

"This is the #131stickers batch we are sending out. Getting together the next batch for all you who are in the sticker club. Updating the stickers daily for each monthly batch that goes out. Go to broprints.com and sign up. You will get a steady flow of awesomeness!!!!!"

In response, Jameson Lucero (@theberzerker), a self-described "Salinas boy by default, squeegee slave by choice" who runs Berzerker, a screen printing shop located in Nipomo, CA (San Luis Obispo county) commented:

"I need 1000 tweaker stickers to cover up some bum huts I'm my area"

The "tweaker stickers," which have already been spread throughout the Santa Cruz area, state "Please don't feed our fuckin' TWEAKERS!"
by Stop the Hate
sm_broprints-screenprinting-2.jpg
October 7, 2015 post to Instagram by @broprintsscreenprinting

Remember the "Will Work for Food" signs?
2014 Version: "Will Do Drugs With Your Money, Then Steal Your Bike"

A related sticker in the photo says, "Will Work For Food [with Food covered by Beer]"
by Stop the Hate
sm_broprints-screenprinting-3.jpg
The sticker featured on this article, with imagery encouraging violence against houseless people and methamphetamine users, was posted to Instagram by Broprints Screenprinting on February 2, 2016.

The sticker reads "Street Cleaner: Santa Cruz Meth Head Cleansing Project – Santa Cruz" and is marked with the hashtag #131stickers.
by Stop the Hate
sm_broprints-screenprinting-4.jpg
More anti-homeless stickers from Broprints:

"Feed The Homeless To The Hungry #131stickers"

From IG: June 21, 2016
by Stop the Hate
sm_broprints-screenprinting-5.jpg
A July 28, 2016 post to IG by @broprintsscreenprinting feature stickers which state:

"Santa Cruz: Free to Homeless Junkies. Expensive to Everyone Else. #131stickers"

"The Homeless Are Just Tourists That Stayed #131stickers"

"The Best Thing About Dating The Homeless... Wherever You Drop Them Off They Are Home #131stickers"
sm_broprints-screenprinting-6.jpg
On March 1, 2017 the @broprintsscreenprinting IG features a photo of stickers which Broprints printed for SCPD. Along with the photo, Broprints includes a heartfelt message expressing admiration for their neighbors, the Santa Cruz Police Department:

"25,000 of these chrome bad boys. Whacha gonna do? #santacruzpolice are our next door neighbors and they support us. Thanks guys."
by Stop the Hate
sm_broprints-screenprinting-7.jpg
On January 16, 2018 the @broprintsscreenprinting IG features sticker designs which state, "That's Methed Up!" and "That Person Looks Methy"
Aaron:

I left a message on your e-mail today inviting you to give a full account of your response to this situation on Free Radio.

I encourage you to get back to me at 831-423-4833 or e-mail me at rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com.
by Aaron Clark
To Robert Morse, (and anyone else who cares to know the whole story)
I appreciate your invitation to speak on the radio but since the Article was published on Indy bay I prefer to let the readers see it first hand. Many may not get a chance to hear you broadcast this discussion..
I hope you can take this for what it is, and if you choose to address it on your show, that you please tell all sides to the story.


First of all, you need to know I do try to monitor what is printed here at Broprints and you can bet I will be more diligent here on out.
We have had anywhere from 8-12 people working here at any one time and combined people up to 15 hours a day at certain times depending on the season.
All of which have access to the printing equipment. This spans back 15 years. I cannot keep track of everything people have printed, as much as I wish I could.
I know exactly what I personally have created and put on a sticker. It is not the Hate Speech or anything like the Nazi Germany rhetoric, which people like John Cohen-Colby refer to, or that Broprints is associated to a person he called out (Someone by the name of James Burtnett) having affiliations with Take Back Santa Cruz. I do not know him or have anything to do with them. Seems John has a personal vendetta with him which does not concern me. Articles like this open it up to people like him to spin things out of control.
Having my name attached to this article and being shared with reference to Neo Nazi’s is a defamation of character and slander which I prefer not to be associated.
When William Machtes emailed me and offered to purchase said sticker and asked who did the design, I did not know and still do not know so I put “group” effort not “team”.
Only because it was printed here. By him writing TEAM he insinuated that everyone here at Broprints is part of the “anti-homeless” campaign article.
One of our employees donates his time at the homeless shelter and tent shelter at the end of River St. By insinuating everyone here is part of this anti homeless campaign hurts his reputation too. Had Will asked questions rather than try to purchase the sticker he might have understood that this place is not the hateful place he and Mr. Cohen make it out to be.

The #131stickers are quotes, ideas, jokes and images from hundreds of different sources. Lines from satire TV shows, Comedians or just local frustrated people who have come through Broprints at any given time. Some of the stickers are in poor taste,
I will agree with you or anyone on that. I have stopped hateful and even anti semitic stickers or shirts that people were hoping to have us print, I’ve even had to physically remove someone from the building because of that. But unfortunately I cannot be there for all of them. #131stickers were/are/and will be printed on the off cut extra material that otherwise gets thrown in the trash. The idea is to use that material rather than it end up in land fills. We decided to
use the medium to put funny sayings and art out there at reduced cost. And yes, this is where the anti drug addict (NOT NEO NAZI) sticker came from. Apparently one or more people had a number of run-ins with the type of people they focused on in the sticker. There
is no way for me to know who did the exact art or the layout for the sticker. Believe me I have asked every current employee and it must have been done by a previous one. Within the last 5 years we have had a dozen or so people come and go and it must have been done within that time. One way the public got stickers was to sign up and receive a monthly batch of stickers we collected over time. We did not sell them, we only had people pay for shipping cost. Some, at times, were tagged with the #131stickers hashtag and it was unfortunate that the more offending ones were a part of that. Not every 131sticker reflects the views of myself or Broprints, and I personally never condone or encourage violence.
Listen, I am by no means denying that the sticker was printed here but the article written is a very skewed misrepresentation of both me and the people here at Broprints.
Now Will/John or you have every right to write stories about anything you all view as wrong, or that oppose your personal beliefs. I get that. We live in an age where everyone has a voice. It can be a good and bad thing.
Freedom of Speech is a double edge sword and at any give time someone may get offended.
My responsibility in this whole situation is that I own Broprints and that sticker was printed here, I will take ownership on that and yes, I will be very careful as to what get’s printed from here going forward.
We have had a customer email after reading the article and say she does not want to do business and will no longer refer people to us. I responded back an let her know I understood and could respect any decision she chose but also explained to her the details the article left out.
I can only ask you all either take the article down and stop sharing the posts or at least publish the details of what I have written.

I know that people like yourself, Will Machtes, Mr. Cohen, Indy Media, Free Radio/ huffsantacruz.org and other advocacy groups are diligently looking to blame people for the injustices that are out there, especially when it comes to the homeless and drug problem all the citizens in Santa Cruz are experiencing, but the only thing I can ask at this point is to maybe do a little bit more research before you start accusing people or businesses without getting the full background story.
I respect what all of you are doing and I can agree with you on a majority of topics that are discussed, on either indy media, huffsantacruz, Free Radio or facebook groups for that matter. From what has been reported, at times, does not show the bigger picture at hand
and it doesn’t seem to emphasize the local residents' growing concern of the crimes, the pollution, and the harassment received from those addicted to drugs. Having empathy for those less fortunate is very noble and I commend you, but to have sympathy for the other half that is affected as well may go a long way in trying to find a common ground on the matter.
Although this comment has to do with the article written on indy bay it is not the overall topic at hand. I would be happy to exchange conversation via email regarding my thoughts and ideas on that another time. You might be able to present an article that opens up a discussion which could inform both parties' views and benefit a lot more of the people out there. Who knows?

You know, I'll have to check the records but I believe we have even printed Free Radio Stickers in the past (if so thank you your support) and would like to continue providing you with the quality printing you deserve.



Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,
Aaron Clark
by Pat Colby
Open response to Aaron Spencer:

My brother John received a message from you through his other box in Facebook. We don't understand the reason for you to contacted him. Both John and I shared a copy of the above that was here in Indybay. I am going to address some incorrect assumptions that you included in comments here and in your message.

1. Neither John Colby-Cohen nor I wrote the above article. We saw it on indybay and shared it from there. For future reference if it doesn't have either of our names on it—we didn't write it. We always take responsibility for what we post by using our names.

2. The twitter sticker was concern to me because someone violated my property and stuck one to my car without my permission. A police report was taken because it is a crime to vandalize or touch other people's property. I was also put in danger of having a crazy "tweaker" vandalize my car because it was visually put on my car's rear body. "Tweakers" are dangerous because they can become violent. "Tweakers" are meth users who engage in the drug daily or at a high volume; they can be housed and unhoused. Though bothersome and annoying the casual meth user is different.

3. I do not like people who use meth or other drugs irresponsibly both housed and unhoused. I have more of an understanding of why people who are unhoused use living on the hard street and getting abused by police and anti-homeless haters. I have no problem with homeless people in general they are refugees of failed economics. Their numbers will be growing even more with over-priced housing market crisis nationwide. Middle class people are now falling into homelessness. Not everyone has your opinion of the homeless. That was an assumption on your part from the get go. We all aren't frustrated or disgusted with them. Many of us have compassion for their situation.

4. James Burnett bragged on a thread in #TakeBackSantaCruz Facebook group about getting a huge stack of "Don't feed the tweakers" stickers from a friend at a print shop and putting them on cars that is how I found out he was the culprit behind the stickers. James Burnett also plastered Micah Posner's bicycle with about a dozen of the stickers as well. I am sure Micah had a hard time removing the sticker as I did. I know you didn't intend them to be used to vandalize people's property but it happened. Something you should consider in the future!

5. Majority of the community does not believe as you seem to express in the message to my brother all "homeless" are drug addicts. Also "homeless" responsible for all the crime in Santa Cruz. This is not true. These are standard TBSC talking points to rally people to hate homeless people. A lot of Santa Cruz's stems from home grown surf and other gangs activities in Santa Cruz. I have seen the videos of a lot of car break-ins at night and bike thefts, those ones are proof of professional non-homeless perpetrators.

6. Our major problems in "public safety" in Santa Cruz is not homeless population! It is the unaddressed drug culture and organized gang activity of both white, Latino and now Blacks from Oakland. They are fighting over Santa Cruz as a territory because it is easy pickings with city leaders and law enforcement's denial of their existence. They are the main crime problem.

7. The stickers you publish let people vent so they don't do extreme measures. Entirely incorrect. Homeless people being demonized though not drug addicts or thieves. They are being targeted for assaults and beatings. Some are almost beaten to death. The assailants happily brag by saying "Take Back Santa Cruz" when they first approach a lone homeless target. I have heard so many accounts from homeless people it makes my heart sad. The stickers you've publish do harm though you believe the opposite. They provocative hateful extreme acts which you choose not to take responsibility for. Violent hate speech and depictions induce people to violence!

I know a lot about the drug and surf gang situation here in Santa Cruz because I saw it with my own eyes living in a Section 8 apartment complex on the Westside. Take it from my experience the police do not take them as the priority they should be. Until they do Santa Cruz will never be safe! I also had to live with meth "tweakers", dealers and cookers. I know more about meth and have been impacted by these "tweakers" than the average person.

Pat Colby
by B. Meyering
Hi. I just wanted to say that yes I personally have had to deal with the dehumanizing actions of people who feel that"All homeless. People are thieves and drug addicts". I've had glass bottles thrown at me while asleep. I've had urine thrown on me as I was reading a book in the Downtown area. I've had some scary threats to my safety and to my life. I've been scared and quiet for too long. I'm honestly not a bad person. I believe in God. I believe in helping others no matter what the look like or what social class they might belong to. I also find the "needles, garbage and outright disrespect" that some of the fellow homeless people are accociated. IT makes me angry, and embarrassed. I personally try very hard at flying under the radar from most of the"housed" community. I don't want to deal with the real possibility of even more backlash. Also I personally don't blame Bro-prints. They have been around Santa Cruz for a long time. The owners seems like a good person to me. God bless
I sincerely hope people read the entire comment section to get perspective on this gaslighting article. it in no way represents the work we do or the people who work at Broprints. I would be more than happy to discuss the truth behind this article. Thank you for listening. -Aaron
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$35.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network