DEFEND ANTIWAR ACTIVIST STEVE ARGUE!

[theorganizer at igc.org]

DEFEND ANTIWAR ACTIVIST STEVE ARGUE!

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[please re-post and distribute widely. excuse duplicate
postings.]

In this message:

(1) Letter of Introduction

(2) Open Letter to Santa Cruz Citizens Police Review Board

(3) Statement by Antiwar Activist Steve Argue

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(1) Letter of Introduction

[Add Your Name to the Open Letter to the Santa Cruz
Citizens Police Review Board Demanding an Independent
Inquiry of, and Public Hearing on, the Police Violence
at the May 22nd Anti-war Demonstration in Santa Cruz!]

Dear Supporters of Democratic Rights:

Last May 22, a peaceful and legal demonstration against 
the U.S./NATO war in the Balkans was violently attacked 
by the Santa Cruz (Calif.) Police Department. This violent 
police provocation escalated when the police targeted two 
protestors with small children for brutalization and arrest.

Antiwar activist Steve Argue was brutally beaten with 
night sticks by the rampaging Santa Cruz police after he
intervened to prevent the brutalization by Officer LaFaver
of a young woman and her four-year-old child. While on the 
ground, Officer LaFaver forced pepper spray into his throat 
and directly into his eyes. He was then arrested.

[See Steve Argue's statement below on the events of 
May 22.]

Steve was then taken to jail and held in a solitary cell 
for over 72 hours. He was charged with Felony battery of a 
custodial officer, Section 243C1, as well as Resisting 
and Obstructing, Section 148 A1.

Six days after his arrest, Steve was released from
jail after supporters posted the $2000 required to 
secure his bail. If convicted under these charges, Steve
could face up to four years in jail.

On June 14, a hearing of the Citizens Police Review Board
(CPRB) took place in downtown Santa Cruz. Scores of
concerned community members and activists crowded the
hall to provide testimony and to demand an immediate
inquiry into, and public hearing on, the police violence
and provocation of May 22.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of police brutality 
provided by more than a dozen eye-witnesses in the three 
hours of testimony, the Citizens Police Review Board 
voted to table any action on this matter until its next 
meeting on June 28.

The Steve Argue Defense Committee has issued the following 
Open Letter to the Citizens Police Review Board demanding
the independent inquiry and public hearing.

Please add your name (and that of your organization, if
possible) to this Open Letter. Make sure you include
your full name, organization and title (if any) and your
city and country.

It is our intention to assemble hundreds, if not thousands,
of signatures on this signature for submission to the next
meeting of the Citizens Police Review Board on June 28. We
also plan to announce the results of our signature campaign
at a rally and press conference immediately prior to the
June 28th hearing.

Please send in your endorsement of this Letter [see coupon
below] to <theorganizer at igc.org. with a copy to Tracie
DeAngelis in Santa Cruz at <tda65 at hotmail.com>.

If you would like to further assist us, please print out
this Open Letter and make copies for massive signature
gathering. You can fax the filled-out petitions to
Alan Benjamin at (415) 626-1217.

Last but not least, we urgently need to raise money to
repay the activists who advanced the bail money and to 
cover all legal costs and other expenses needed to 
publicize this case widely across the country and
internationally.

A Steve Argue Defense Fund has been established for this
purpose. Please send contributions to the Steve Argue 
Defense Campaign, c/o Tracie Deangelis, 234 High St. Apt #3, 
Santa Cruz, CA 95060. Make checks payable to the Steve 
Argue Defense Fund.

Thank you for your endorsement of the Open Letter
and your support to this important campaign. For more 
information about what you can do to help, call Tracie 
in Santa Cruz at (831) 421-9794, or Alan in San Francisco 
at (415) 626-1175.

In Solidarity,

Alan Benjamin
(for the Steve Argue Defense Committee)

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(2) Open Letter to the Santa Cruz Citizens Police Review Board:

On Monday, June 14, the Citizens Police Review Board of Santa
Cruz heard more than three hours of testimony from concerned
community members and activists who had participated in the May 
22nd antiwar demonstration at which Steve Argue and other antiwar 
activists were arrested. Today, Steve Argue faces up to four 
years in jail for allegedly hitting a police officer.

In their testimony, the activists described how the Santa 
Cruz Police Department, without any provocation by the 
demonstrators, unleashed numerous acts of violence against those 
who had peacefully assembled to protest the war policies of the 
U.S. government. The accounts of unprovoked police brutality and 
torture were both detailed and stirring.

The antiwar demonstrators, as well as the dozens of concerned
community members and civil rights activists attending the 
June 14 meeting, urged the Review Board to initiate an 
independent inquiry -- together with an open and public hearing 
-- of the events surrounding the May 22nd antiwar demonstration. 
Under the City Ordinance, the Review Board has the authority to 
initiate these actions.

Unfortunately, despite the overwhelming evidence provided by 
those who testified on June 14, the Review Board refused to
take action in favor of an independent inquiry and public 
hearing.Rather, the Review Board voted to table any final 
decision on this matter till its next Board meeting on June 28.

We, the undersigned, call on the Citizens Police Review Board of 
Santa Cruz to fulfill its mandate by voting at its June 28 
meeting to initiate a prompt independent inquiry -- together 
with an open and public hearing -- into the events of the May 
22nd antiwar demonstration.

Evidence over the past four years since the Citizens Police 
Review Board was formed has demonstrated that the Santa Cruz 
Police Department is unwilling to police itself and to stamp 
out the repeated acts of police brutality perpetrated against 
citizens in Santa Cruz.

It is time for the Citizens Police Review Board to take
action under the powers entrusted to it under the Santa Cruz
City Ordinance.

For an independent inquiry and a public hearing into the
events surrounding the May 22nd antiwar demonstration!

signed/

Initial Signatories:

Steve Argue Defense Committee

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ˆ ADD MAY NAME TO THE OPEN LETTER TO THE SANTA CRUZ CPRB

NAME:

ORGANIZATION (AND TITLE, IF ANY):

CITY:

COUNTRY:

EMAIL ADDRESS:

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(3) STATEMENT BY STEVE ARGUE

On May 22, 1999 a peaceful legal protest against 
the war was attacked violently by the police in 
Santa Cruz. This violent police provocation 
escalated when the police targeted two 
protestors with small children for brutalization 
and arrest. 

Officer LaFaver attacked a woman who was 
holding a terrified a  four-year-old child. He 
twisted her hand so severely that her fingers 
were touching her forearm, her hand turned 
completely purple and her wrist was in danger 
of snapping. She was crying out in extreme pain 
as her child screamed rhythmically, "Mommy! 
Mommy! Mommy!" 

Together with other protestors I called 
repeatedly on LaFaver to stop. I acted then as 
anyone with a sense of dignity and humanity 
would do to stop the torment and terror which 
Officer LaFaver was inflicting on a helpless 
woman and her child. 

This woman was in transit in Santa Cruz without 
a fixed local address. There was an imminent 
danger that the police would attempt to remove 
her child from her custody and care. My 
intervention enabled her, fortunately, to go free 
without further consequences.

Although I then offered no resistance, the police 
assaulted me ferociously. LaFaver wrenched my 
head up and stuffed a pepper spray canister in 
my mouth and sprayed its contents down my 
throat, an illegal act that has killed in the past. 
Had I suffered from asthma or any respiratory 
ailment, this could have had the fatal 
consequences which have been documented in 
even less severe applications at close range.

I was pepper sprayed, as well, directly in my 
eyes at a distance of two to three inches with 
serious potential jeopardy to my vision. I was 
then kicked and beaten severely while in a fetal 
position on the ground, brutalization in which 
LaFaver participated while hitting me with his 
baton.

I was then thrown in jail for six days under 23-
hour lockdown. I was denied visitors illegally. 

A campaign was organized to free me, and I am 
now out on $20,000 bail. I face a potential 
sentence of four years in prison. Financial and 
political support are needed urgently. Mine is a 
case for the defense of the right to speak out 
against the government without police terror 
and repression. It is a battle for our political 
freedoms. 

Please help!