Beau Hodai: ALEC's persona non grata

The Indigenous call-out in Arizona to resist ALEC

(November 2011)

Inside ALEC: Naked Contempt for the Press and Public in Scottsdale

TRUTHOUT.org

Wednesday 11 January 2012

 

by: Beau Hodai, PRWatch | Report 

 

"Mr. Hodai had a history at the conference--not a very pleasant history. He was considered to be a persona non grata..."

-- Westin Kierland General Manager Bruce Lange to Olivia Ward of the Toronto Star.

Evicting the Press, Part 1: Meet Mr. Black

Scottsdale, Arizona--A suburb awash in money and golf courses, set against the backdrop of the jagged mountains surrounding Phoenix.

I was sitting in a sports bar of the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa, swapping journalism stories with Olivia Ward of the Toronto Star on one of the bar's overstuffed leather couches. Over the course of an hour, the bar filled with conventioneers from the American Legislative Exchange Council's 2011 States and Nation Policy Summit (SNPS). (A new story on Westin's connections to other ALEC corporations is available here.)

My assignment was to cover the 2011 SNPS, taking place at the resort from November 29 through December 2. ALEC had refused to grant me media credentials. Nevertheless, I was a paid guest at the resort.

Most of the ALEC members trickling into the bar were fresh from the ALEC "Holiday Gala." As drinks were consumed and new rounds were ordered by guys with ALEC badges, the place began to take on a distinct "Animal House" vibe.

Ward and I were just about to head to our rooms for the night when I saw Phil Black, director of Kierland's security team, approach two uniformed police officers just outside the entrance to the bar. The cops had arrived an hour earlier, glanced at Ward and me, then stationed themselves by the door.

Black entered the bar and headed straight towards me. "Would you mind coming with me, sir?"

Once outside the bar, we were joined by the cops and I was shuffled up the stairs.

"What's this all about?" I asked with Black facing me; a cop to either side, just behind me.

"We understand that you've attempted to enter ALEC events and been asked to leave numerous times," said Black.

This was not true. I had been on my best behavior. And, I had known, since my first meeting with Black the night before, that I was being watched.

Police with a Photo Array of Personas Non Grata

The previous night, I had passed by some cops. When I glanced back I caught one of the cops staring, a look of intense and painful concentration on his face, at a sheet of paper. The paper displayed an array of photos. As was later explained to me by a cop working the resort, it was a photo array of personas non grata provided to the cops via ALEC.

Moments later, after passing the cluster of cops, I was flagged down by a man who asked me who I was, why I was in Scottsdale, where I was from, what line of business I was in.

I gave vague answers and asked who he was.

"Oh, I'm with the hotel," said Black. "Have a nice stay."

Uniformed Police as Bouncers

The next night, I had wandered back into the ballroom where a swirling galaxy of well-dressed lawmakers and lobbyists were hobnobbing, some with neat single malts in hand. There was no indication posted anywhere that this party was limited to ALEC members. Nevertheless, I had been tailed through the ballroom by a cop. As I stepped outside for a smoke, I heard a voice behind me.

"Sir, are you part of the delegation?" It was a uniformed police officer later identified as Phoenix Police Department (PPD) Sergeant Lowe. I explained that I was not a member of ALEC, but that I was a guest at the resort. Lowe explained that the party was private and asked me to return to resort common areas.

Making my way to the door, Lowe in tow, I was approached by two women with resort security.

"Hi ... you're the one on the motorcycle, right? You're with ALEC? You're a guest at the resort? Just so you know, this is a private function, so we just ask that all our regular guests stay in the main area... Okay?"

No problem. I left.

"The ALEC People Don't Want You Here ..."

So, when Black accosted me at the bar the following night and claimed I had been asked to leave numerous ALEC events at the hotel, I explained that this was the extent of my one and only 'incident' and nodded to Sgt. Lowe over my left shoulder. "Ask him," I said.

"Nevertheless," said Black. "The ALEC people don't want you here ... and we understand that your reservations were made under false pretenses."

I asked Black why--given the fact that I had not been accused of any crime--I was surrounded by armed, uniformed cops. Were Phoenix police usually engaged in evicting hotel guests who were suspected of having made hotel reservations under supposedly "false pretenses?" Must be a slow night....

And, how could a person even make a hotel reservation under false pretenses, I asked. I had given the front desk my valid photo driver's license and my credit card for incidental expenses. I was planning to stay in the resort for two days and those two days had been paid for by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).... "False pretenses?"

Black would not elaborate further, limiting his conversation only to statements emphasizing the resort's urgent need for me to vacate the premises immediately.

Black said that he would--with the help of these nice police officers--escort me up to my room and help me pack.

I was, as Sgt. Lowe explained, being "trespassed"--which meant that I was being formally advised that I was not welcome on Kierland property. If I returned, or refused to leave following this advisory, I would be arrested and charged with criminal trespassing.

ALEC's Corporate Connections 

ALEC bills itself as being the nation's largest bipartisan legislative membership organization, dedicated to the advancement of "federalism" and "Jeffersonian ideals."

The simple reality of ALEC is that the organization serves as an intermediary, a conduit through which roughly 2,000 state legislators (the vast majority of which are Republicans) are connected with legions of lobbyists representing more than 300 global and national corporations.

Corporations pony up enough cash to help pay the travel, room, and dining expenses of hundreds of state lawmakers at luxury resorts through "scholarships" facilitated by ALEC. After closed-door meetings between lobbyists and politicians voting as equals on "model legislation," politicians often return to their home state to introduce those bills covering almost every area of law.

For ALEC’s winter meeting in sunny Arizona, corporate sponsors included dozens of global corporations, such as AT&T, Time Warner Cable, State Farm Insurance, Johnson and Johnson, the American Bail Coalition, Diageo, UPS, Exxon Mobil, American Petroleum Institute, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and AstraZeneca-- to name a few. ALEC’s operations are also underwritten by billionaires Charles and David Koch (who control Koch Industries, including "Koch Companies Public Sector").

ALEC has come under increased scrutiny in recent years in the media due to its tremendous influence over dramatic changes to the law being pushed in states across the country. Public awareness of ALEC jumped dramatically this past summer after the In These Times investigation of ALEC’s "Publicopoly" and the Center for Media and Democracy's detailed exposé of ALEC model bills, legislators, and lobbyists through ALECexposed.org, after a whistleblower came forward.

And, as a result of growing public malcontent with lawmaker malleability in the face of corporate greed, lawmakers attending ALEC events have been met ever more frequently by members of the public voicing their displeasure with the organization’s role in facilitating the cozy relationship between politicians and corporations.

The 2011 States and Nation Policy Summit was no exception to this trend.

Outside: Public Dissent Met with Pepper Spray

On November 30, the first full-fledged day of the conference, rows of police in full riot gear stood along along Kierland's eastern gate, providing a living buffer between the public and the guests at the posh hotel. Helicopters swarmed above the resort. Flanking both entrances were assembled a couple hundred protesters decrying undue corporate influence over elected lawmakers. These protesters were from several activist groups loosely united under the banner of "Occupy ALEC"--in most part an offshoot of "Occupy Phoenix" and a group known as "AZ-Resist."

Inside the resort ALEC conventioneers gathered for lunch and a speech by ALEC alum and Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer.

Brewer welcomed the conventioneers to Arizona, “the state too strong for any union sponsored boycotts to bring down! And their presence is so eloquently so in demonstrating.

They're out there ... they're out there," said Brewer scornfully. "Anyway, thank you all for coming today. And thank you to all you from the business community, I certainly thank you for your private sector sponsorship."

Recently retired Louisiana State Representative and outgoing ALEC national chairman, Noble Ellington, claimed the protests showed ALEC was doing something right:

"It is just so exiting and I hope you feel the same way that ALEC is on the move," drawled Ellington. "We've got things goin' our way and we're bound to be doing something right, or we wouldn't have the helicopters flying around and the demonstrators..."

Uproarious applause.

"Would you join with me in thanking Novartis for this luncheon today? They have been some really good friends to ALEC and we thank them so much..." said Ellington.

ALEC Director of Communications Kaitlyn Buss then sang the national anthem.

By the time Buss hit her high note, "For the land of the Freeeeeeeeee...," Phoenix police officers were treating protesters outside to the second round of pepper spray of the day.

Betsy Schuler, a former school teacher, was pepper sprayed as officers were moving barricades into the crowd. Schuler said an officer reached over the barricade and started pepper spraying the non-violent protesters. Schuler got a face full of the stuff. The officer, recalled Schuler, stood behind police barricades, smiling smugly.

Schuler was a part of a delegation of Unitarian Universalists who had joined the protests as peacekeepers.

According to Phoenix Police Department spokesman Sgt. Trent Crump, the first of a series of confrontations between the police and the protesters had occurred a few hours earlier that morning.

According to Bret "Buddha" Cary, a small business owner and an organizer with Occupy Phoenix, a group of anarchists had brought a large black canvas banner ("Shut Down ALEC") supported by a framework.

The anarchist moved toward the front of the protests and put the banner between the police and the protesters.

At first, police tried to push the banner back with their own barricade. Eventually, an officer reached over the police barricade and grabbed hold of the banner, tearing it apart. The cop then began throwing pieces of the banner back at the protesters.

A protester screamed, "No! No! No!" as pepper spray was sent out in bright orange streams to the crowd.

Cary and others tried to obtain the name of the officer who had reached over the barricade and grabbed the banner but the officer would not divulge his name and retreated to Westin grounds, smiling smugly at the protesters from a distance. Following the incident, Cary filed a complaint with PPD internal affairs. He has received no response to his complaint.

Inside: Public Dissent Met with Laughter

By the time Arizona House Majority Whip and ALEC Public Sector Chair, Rep. Debbie Lesko, kicked off her remarks on the Novartis stage, several protesters had been placed under arrest and loaded into paddy wagons.

"We have some critics--we saw a few of them outside--because a group recently wrote a large report criticizing ALEC," said Lesko ("ALEC in Arizona: The Voice of Corporate Special Interests in the Halls of Arizona’s Legislature," by Common Cause and People for the American Way). "And so, what better way is there to explain Arizona's involvement in ALEC by reading right from that very report?! So, here we go..."

"'Arizona has one of the highest concentrations of ALEC legislators of any state in the United States.'"

Uproarious applause.

"'At least 50 of the 90 legislators now serving in the legislature are ALEC members....'"

More uproarious applause.

"Yay Arizona," said Lesko. "Two-thirds of the Republican leadership in the Arizona House and Senate are ALEC members and the last three Arizona Senate presidents--including the current one--all served in ALEC roles."

Lesko did not mention that Senate President Russell Pearce had just been thrown out of office in a special recall election. Pearce had been criticized for pushing through the controversial SB 1070 immigration bill, for sitting on the ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force alongside Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation's foremost operator of private immigrant detention and prison facilities, the scandal surrounding the Fiesta Bowl and his ties to special interest lobbyists, among other things.

"Way to go Arizona!" shouted Lesko.

Uproarious applause.

Earlier that morning, Ezra Kaplan, a college student and Arizona resident, was one of those arrested and charged with criminal trespass.

Kaplan was working as part of the media chain for the Occupy ALEC protest.

Arrested while Trying to Film, Taunted by Infiltrator

“There were several gentlemen sitting on the ground, kind of locking arms in peaceful protest. At one point, two officers decided to pick up a metal barricade and slant it down on top of [the seated protesters], pushing them to the ground, trying to get them to move," said Kaplan.

Kaplan entered the area between the banner and the police line and to capture this brutality on film.

Kaplan was taking pictures as police suddenly moved their barrier toward protester banners. Kaplan was caught between the two lines.

"I was basically standing there, with my hands above my head, peacefully and calmly talking to the officers, telling them 'I'm trying to get out,'" said Kaplan.

Kaplan says he was pushed to the ground by police "with a knee on my head and a knee on my neck," and cuffed by no less than three officers. As he was laying on the ground with officers on his back nonsensically shouting, "Stop resisting!" he looked up and saw a man in plain clothes. "Yeah, stop resisting, Ezra," the man taunted.

Kaplan was at a loss as to how this man knew his name. His name had not yet been taken by police, and he had not yet been booked for any alleged crime. (According to Kaplan, the police took his camera and continue to hold his camera as "evidence.")

Police spokesman Crump later said police action had been directly informed by real-time intelligence obtained from plainclothes PPD personnel interspersed through the crowd. 

Crump claims these plainclothes officers reported that protesters were engaging in “illegal activity” behind the banner:

"They were doing things like shaking paint cans, and they were using poles to stick them under the pedestrian walkway gate that we put up. And they were trying to do that hiding behind those banners. And so those banners were pulled down when they tried to [push police barriers]. And that is when pepper spray was deployed at those who were the ones engaging in aggressive behavior."

Protesters have uniformly stated that the crowd had no poles or sticks until after police reduced their banners to a mass of rubble (consisting mainly of poles and sticks).

According to Crump, the Phoenix Police Department has made over 100 arrests and expended nearly $250,000 in overtime pay to officers since the outset of Occupy Phoenix and related protests in mid October.

Native Americans and Others Protest ALEC State Co-Chair Salt River Project

 photo credit: Censored News

On December 2, an additional 12 protesters were arrested by Tempe police on trespassing charges during a related protest at Salt River Project (SRP) offices in Tempe, Arizona.

SRP Manager of State Government Relations Russell Smoldon serves on ALEC’s corporate board and is the ALEC Arizona private sector chair, tasked with extracting donations from lobbyists and their clients to pay for “scholarships” for ALEC legislators.

From the Novartis stage at the ALEC luncheon, Smoldon lobbied his fellow lobbyists:

"[Gov. Brewer is] the author of a new book. And every time I speak, I am required to put in this plug," said Smoldon. "Her new book is entitled, 'Scorpions for Breakfast.' If you go to JanPAC.com--J-A-N-P-A-C-dot-com--you can contribute to the governor's PAC, which will do great things for America. And, for a $100 contribution, you will get an autographed copy of the book from the governor."

Evicting the Press, Part 2: Rejoining Mr. Black's Inquisition

Hodai: "Surely you can see this is an odd time to be kicking someone out..."

Black: "That's one person's opinion. This is a 24-hour business."

Hodai: "That's a hell of a statement."

I was, by no means, the only reporter in attendance at the ALEC conference to face near arrest or harassment by police.

Almost Arresting a Reporter After He Interviewed Protesters?

Bob Ortega, of the Arizona Republic, stepped outside the Westin's eastern gate on the morning of November 30 to scope out the ALEC occupation. Ortega was one of the few reporters to be credentialed by ALEC for coverage of the conference.

Following the incident where the police tore down the protesters’ banner, Ortega attempted to return to the conference. He was stopped by police in riot gear, pepper spray in hand, at the Westin gate.

The cops told Ortega that he could not enter the grounds. Ortega showed them his ALEC-issued press credentials, identified himself and identified the paper he represented.

"I don't care who you are, turn around and leave or you're going to be arrested," retorted one of the officers.

Ortega persisted in arguing his point, explaining that he had permission from both ALEC and Kierland security to attend the conference-- at which point a cop grabbed him by the arm from behind.

"Okay, you've been warned," said the cop, who commenced to march Ortega off to a waiting paddy wagon.

Ortega narrowly escaped arrest by convincing one of the cops to check with hotel security before sending him off to Maricopa County Jail.

Renting a Real Cop?

This brings us to the interesting arrangement between PPD, Kierland and ALEC.

A few days before the conference, ALEC Senior Director of Membership and Meetings Chas Cirame sent out an advisory to conference attendees stating that, due to planned protests at the event, ALEC would be hiring additional security personnel to protect conference attendees. Cirame advised attendees to wear their ALEC identification badges at all times at the resort.

I had been on the lookout for additional security to see what firm of private spooks ALEC would employ. I had no idea ALEC had actually rented themselves real cops.

As was explained by Black during my eviction: all of these PPD officers on the Westin’s grounds--uniformed and armed--were actually off-duty and being paid, as one cop put it, "really well," to help ALEC and Westin keep undesirables out of the hair of conference attendees.

These were true 'rent-a-cops'-- the best money could buy.

Badgering a Reporter about a Talk over Drinks?

While Sgt. Lowe, another cop and Black supervised me packing in my room, two other officers harangued Ward outside the bar, wearing PPD uniforms but not disclosing that their services were rented for the night.

"Do you know this man? Do you know this man," a rented cop demanded of Ward, referring to me.

"Do you know this man? Do you know this man???" he continued.

Channeling the persona of her British mother, Ward let loose a fusillade of indignation:

"What do you mean? How dare you ask me such a question?! Are you putting me up on some sort of morality charge?! I am a Canadian citizen. Are you telling me that in the Westin hotel, I am not allowed to sit with a man to whom I am not married?!? I have continually attended meetings [at the conference] where I have been told that this is the land of the free and that Arizona is one of the free-est states in the union. So, what is going on here? Why are you asking me these questions?!"

"So, you know this man?" said the cop.

The officers eventually abandoned this cutting-edge line of interrogation and told Ward was told she was "free to go."

Claiming a Reporter "Presented a Threat?"

Ward later received somewhat more cogent answers to her questions from the resort’s General Manager Bruce Lange:

"Mr. Hodai was considered to be a persona non grata from the conference," Lange told Ward ("America's Secret Political Power," Toronto Star, December 17, 2011). "Not by the hotel, not by the police. ... He clearly presented a threat to the conference, based on his history."

Lange did not elaborate as to what "history" he was referring to.

Lange could not be reached for comment.

When asked why Ward had been interrogated by police under contract with the Westin during my eviction, Kierland Director of Communications Stephanie Dowling parried with this spin:

"Our main objective, our goal with anything--and we certainly understand everyone's concerns in this situation--is to protect our property and our guests, regardless of what organization they represent. That includes our friends from the media and everyone else. The safety and security of our guests is our number one priority--so, if there was any reason, or any situation that might have affected that--that would drive [hotel security's] reasoning behind asking someone to leave."

When asked what threat to the "safety and security" of conference attendees a reporter like me posed, Dowling declined to discuss the matter further, stating that the hotel would never compromise the privacy of a guest by discussing that guest's eviction with the press.

Hodai: "Well, I tell you what: I am that guest and I give you permission to speak to me, as a member of the press, about what happened."

Dowling: "Well, I do really appreciate you calling..."

It should be noted that Black later flatly denied he had ever said ALEC did not want me on the premises.

Evicting a Paying Hotel Guest Whom ALEC Did Not Want Nearby

According to Dowling, the argument that my reservation had been made under "false pretenses" stemmed from the fact that my reservation had initially been made under a different name. The Center for Media and Democracy had openly reserved a room at the Westin for its Executive Director, Lisa Graves, reserved with a CMD credit card. This reservation was later openly changed (by Westin personnel, at the request of CMD) to my name and pre-paid by CMD. There was nothing false or misleading about this process.

According to Dowling, the reservation was also problematic because it had been made as part of the "ALEC block."

CMD had clicked through to the hotel through an open reservation portal from the ALEC website. The portal did not require ALEC membership or ALEC approval and was open to anyone.

According to Dowling, during the conference ALEC personnel reviewed the hotel reservation roster and identified me as being "not part of the conference.” Dowling asserted that according to ALEC, CMD had falsely claimed to be a member of ALEC at the time the reservation made. CMD unequivocally denies this assertion and notes that it made no such statements to any Westin personnel.

A Mere "Miscommunication?"

"I don't know where the miscommunication came from. I do know that that was the information that we were given by ALEC," said Dowling.

When asked if it is standard Westin practice to throw paid guests out on the street in the middle of the night due to "miscommunications," Dowling asserted that Westin would never do such a thing without good cause and without alternative accommodations offered.

No such accommodations were offered in my case--unless those other accommodations were at the Maricopa County Jail.

And, just as the Westin has been unable to elaborate on what "safety" threat I posed to the ALEC conference, at least some of the cops involved in the eviction seemed to know that the situation was absurd. They knew I had committed no crime. These were just guys working on their off time, looking to take home a little more pay.

This was not true of Sgt. Lowe. He was committed to the notion I posed an imminent threat to the safety of the conference, not that I was being booted and threatened with arrest because I was a journalist who had caused some discomfort to the powers of the hour due to my past reporting on ALEC.

You've Been "Trespassed"

As I was being escorted from my room to the curb, Lowe asked for my ID--purportedly to file a report detailing how I had been "trespassed."

(Lowe never filed any such report with PPD. The only report detailing the activities of off-duty law enforcement in relation to this incident are maintained by Westin. Westin declined to disclose any portion of these reports.)

Lowe said it struck him as odd that I would carry an audio recorder. He said individuals in law enforcement carried recorders, "such as I am recording this entire conversation with you," showing me a little silver recorder tucked into his utility belt.

Lowe went on to assert that the only non-law enforcement people he knew of who carried audio recorders were those who were expecting trouble.

I explained that reporters routinely carry recorders--that this was not a violation of law.

"Do you, by any chance have journalistic credentials," asked Lowe.

ALEC had refused to credential me, despite my long-standing work as a reporter.

"Most folks who claim to be journalists, if they stumble on a story are actually able to say 'hey, I have media credentials,'" explained Lowe. "If they are carrying a recorder, they are carrying credentials at the same time. You see my dilemma?"

I did not see his dilemma.

"My dilemma is believing your story," Lowe retorted. "You understand that?!"

He was getting red.

Outside, I waited for Graves to pick me up at the curb, where she too would be threatened while attempting to take photos of the evicting officers. Waiting with me were Lowe, three other rented cops, along with Black and two members of his resort security team. Seven Westin Kierland security personnel in all--at least four of them with guns--all working at the behest of ALEC, all for one reporter. I was flattered.

Criminalization of Phoenix's Homeless continues...

Thanks to Len at Occupy Phoenix for spotting this article and calling it what it is: well-timed propaganda. The title and subheader say it all: on the surface the Phoenix Police are "helping the homeless", but their real duty is to keep the park - and all public areas in town - clear of the very poor, lest they mess up our landscape. That means they pack them into our jails if they won't go to designated shelters or be kept in corrals (like the lot used for shelter "overflow" at CASS). Try being homeless for a week or two, and see how quickly you rack up criminal charges if you don't stay in those out-of-sight, out-of-mind often-abusive places we've designated for the homeless to legally exist. You, too, will be referred to Parascandola's office for special prosecution for "non-compliance"...beginning to sound like 1984?

This article comes, not surprisingly, as Occupy Phoenix challenges the Phoenix Camping Ordinance, enacted to give cops more tools to hassle and control the movements of people without homes. Some citizen groups in the community (like Require the Prior) have been actively working to make violations of statutes like this affecting homeless people and families into felonies so these dangerous "career criminals" who brazenly sleep in public can be given even more serious penalties. Please check out their website for their full agenda - they purport to be defending the homeless from the "cultural crime" that the REAL bad guys perpetrate against them by posing as homeless people and giving them all a bad name. These are the folks that joined the Phoenix PD in their dog and pony show this summer arguing against the budget cuts recommended by the Berkshire report. The PPD meetings I attended about those proposed cuts were packed with the same pro-police advocates from Require the Prior representing themselves as THE "grassroots" community response urging that regardless of whether crime is up or down in Phoenix, we need more police - especially the ones who are serving, in essence, as social workers (the people we should really be employing to "help" the poor and homeless, not cops).

At the Occupy Phoenix HQ in Cesar Chavez Plaza these past few weeks the cops have been targeting the most vulnerable guests and members of OP for citation and arrest - most often those who have no place else to sleep all day, and seek refuge when exhausted where they may be least likely to be assaulted or robbed when they lay down their heads. They are least able to afford the cost of tickets and most likely to pay with their time if they can't produce satisfactory Arizona state identification (the Phoenix PD wrings their hands and claim that without in-state ID they HAVE to book violators into jail instead of issue citations so they can be properly identified - which means EVERYONE in Arizona should be subject to the violence of arrest over minor infractions if we don't carry our papers at all times - not just the homeless and suspected undocumented immigrants who the public doesn't care about inconveniencing). Is this the kind of policing this town needs so much that we have to tax food purchases? Is this what is supposed to keep our city "safe"?

I've been supporting activists with Phoenix Homeless Rising (go read their report) in their efforts to abolish the camping ordinance for the past year, but it wasn't until I saw 4 Phoenix Police actually take a homeless woman to jail this weekend for peacefully sleeping that it really sunk in how cruel and absurd it is to make sleeping a crime deserving of arrest and incarceration. It reflects extremely poorly on the inhumanity and pettiness of the police, the city government, and the business community in Phoenix - as well as Require the Prior type groups who claim to represent the interests of the more deserving citizenry in our town. The shelters and "overflow" lots are full and dangerous, leaving thousands of people vulnerable to the elements, violence and arrest every night for simply existing. I believe it's time for Occupy Phoenix to begin to occupy vacant buildings - as other Occupies have done - and demand meaningful, safe options for our homeless brothers and sisters...jail is not it.

----------------------------

Phoenix police precincts work together to help homeless

Police precinct teams with community to keep park clear

Maria Polletta - Nov. 15, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

When boundary lines for Phoenix Police Department precincts shifted last year, Mountain View Precinct inherited a problem.

Homeless people were crowding Margaret T. Hance Park -- previously part of the Central City Precinct -- and residents of nearby neighborhoods felt unsafe.

"Things just really got out of control," said park manager Brian Flanigan. The park, at Central Avenue and Culver Street, "almost looked like a campground at times," he said. "You'd be stepping over bodies."

The situation worsened when the parks department lost employees because of budget cuts, leaving parks such as Hance with minimal security, Flanigan said. And initial attempts by police at quick fixes, such as arrest sweeps, proved temporary.

"Every now and then, we'll try a zero-tolerance approach, which will occasionally displace the problem," said Mountain View Commander Glen Gardner. "But one of the things we've recognized as a department is that you can't arrest your way out of most problems. A lot of these issues have deep-rooted social causes, and that's where it becomes really important to ... come up with a solution that's long-term."

About two months ago, precinct officials decided to try a more individualized approach. The effort, part of Phoenix's Street Crime Reduction Program, focuses arrests on career criminals and repeat offenders while connecting others who are simply down on their luck to appropriate local resources.

Mountain View Officer Rusty Stuart, who has studied Phoenix homeless populations for years and successfully implemented a similar effort at Steele Indian School Park, was a natural fit to head the Hance Park initiative, Gardner said. Area volunteers and employees from city departments such as parks, law and human services also have pledged their support.

The situation at Hance is unique not only because of the sheer number of homeless people who gather there, but also because of the diversity of the park's homeless population, according to Stuart and other city officials.

"Every now and then, we'll have an individual who is a real bad guy, and we're able to put together a case to show he has no intention of changing his lifestyle," Gardner said. "But other people are out there just because of mental illnesses or economic circumstances."

Human-services caseworker Jessica Miley is the primary contact for the second group of people, many of whom have initially been hesitant to trust her, she said.

"Some of these people have been lost in the system and have been on the streets 10, 20 years," Miley said. "They're like 'Oh, I've been told that before. I've been promised that before. Everybody keeps telling me and nobody does anything.' "

Since getting involved at Hance, Miley has referred more than 20 people to temporary housing and other resources, working as a go-between for homeless people, their former and potential employers, housing officials and others.

"I set aside time for initial meetings, and I also take them to a Social Security appointment, a doctor's appointment, that sort of thing," she said. "I'll start with getting them documentation that's going to be required to apply for things or benefits and move from there. I'll go through all the necessary channels to get to our clients off the street."

Stuart and Miley often turn to local church groups and other faith-based volunteers for temporary assistance -- a significant departure from officers' relationship with such volunteers in the past.

"I reached out to the church groups that were coming here instead of doing what we'd traditionally have to do -- kick them out of the park," Stuart said. "We've put together this whole coalition of churches that are very involved. Bible Baptist Church is kind of heading it up. They have a kitchen, showers, a huge gymnasium, a living space for temporary housing. We're looking at expanding that, doing the work that needs to be done to get the space up to code."

And for those homeless people "who just won't stop, won't listen, won't take the services offered and continue to break the law," community prosecutor Barbara Parascandola is standing by.

Parascandola, with the city prosecutor's office, has been assigned to handle issues with repeat offenders, defined as people with five related arrests in the last year.

So far, only one person has been referred to Parascandola.

Though development of the effort at Hance Park is still in progress, Mountain View is already looking at using a similar approach at other parks.

Stuart was recently assigned a partner, and together they are designing a training program so police officers can implement the approach in other parts of town.

One for the good guys: Arpaio loses again.

YAY!!!!

The good guys won this one!!!!

(When are the people of this county going to finally just run that man out of office?)

Anti-Arpaio protesters awarded settlement from 2008 arrests

by Craig Harris and Yvonne Wingett - Jul. 9, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Seven political activists claiming their civil rights were violated after they were arrested and cited for protesting against Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration policies recently were awarded nearly $475,000 by Maricopa County.

The settlement, reached this week, was nine times more than what the county's self-insured trust had originally authorized in February, and significantly higher than what the county planned to offer just days before the settlement, according to memos obtained by The Arizona Republic.

The settlements skyrocketed during negotiations because two lawyers working for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and a county risk manager persuaded the trust's board to pay up to $100,000 per plaintiff, records show. The money will come from the county's general fund, whose reduction this year caused layoffs and budget cuts.

Cari Gerchick, a county spokeswoman, said the earlier authorization "was an unreasonable amount" for the plaintiffs, and it would not have settled the case. She said the county's goal was to "minimize taxpayer exposure," and settling the case was far less expensive than going to trial.

But Chief Deputy David Hendershott of the Sheriff's Office called the settlement a "fraud on the taxpayers." He said the county should have settled for far less or forced the activists to go to court. Hendershott accused the county of settling to keep supervisors from being questioned in depositions.

The Sheriff's Office, he said, would have been allowed to participate in the depositions and would have questioned Supervisors Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox about criminal investigations the Sheriff's Office had conducted against them. Investigations into questionable financial dealings by Stapley and Wilcox resulted in indictments, but all charges have been dropped.

Gerchick called Hendershott's allegation "ridiculous" and said the settlement had nothing to do with the ongoing battle between the Sheriff's Office and the supervisors. The settlement stems from the arrests and citation of protesters on Dec. 15, 2008, on the 10th floor of Maricopa County's administration building and two days later at a Board of Supervisors meeting. Some protesters wore animal masks and pig snouts.

All were later acquitted. They sued the county for wrongful arrest, malicious prosecution and civil-rights violations. The activists have been vocal critics of Arpaio and his immigration policies.

The settlements, reached Tuesday evening, will pay:

• Monica Sandschafer and Kristy Theilen each $99,999.

• Jason Odhner and Joel Nelson each $75,000.

• Guillermina Bethancourt and Ayensa Millan each $50,000.

• Raquel Teran $24,700.

County Manager David Smith said the settlement was a business decision. He estimated that going to trial on the cases could cost "at least $1 million in the first six months, just to defend them."

"You'd end up going round and round, grinding up all kinds of resources and spending two to three times the amount," Smith said. "Once again, the Sheriff's Office is creating these liabilities against the county. If it's 'fraud,' it's a fraud committed by virtue of bad acts."

The county expects to make the payouts within the next few weeks.

Records obtained by The Republic show the county intended to pay much less.

Maria Brandon is an attorney who works in the county's office of special-litigation services. She was appointed to represent the Sheriff's Office.

In memos sent to the Sheriff's Office days before the July 6 mediation hearing, Brandon stated that the county intended to start discussions with an offer of $2,000 per person and had no intention of giving away a lot of money. She indicated she received approval from the county trust in February to pay only up to $7,500 per plaintiff.

The county increased the payouts because, according to one of Brandon's memos, attorneys Brad Keogh and Wade Swanson, who report to the Board of Supervisors, and Assistant Risk Manager Rocky Armfield later went to the trust without her knowledge and received authority to pay up to $100,000 per plaintiff.

"I don't know why they did what they did, and I'm sure they have their reasons," Brandon said in an interview.

Swanson and Keogh declined to answer questions. Armfield could not be reached regarding Brandon's claim.

In a July 2 memo, Brandon stated that she and Armfield argued about the protesters, and he said it was OK to protest at the county's headquarters.

"He says the animal masks and pig snouts are for 'fun.' I said, 'Will they like it the next time if it is skinheads and neo Nazis?' " Brandon wrote.

Randy Parraz is another activist who filed a claim and is asking for $500,000. He withdrew from mediation and said negotiations are ongoing.

"In the event it doesn't get resolved, we have a lawsuit that's ready to be filed," Parraz said. "We're still engaged; we're still talking."

We Are Human, too: Arpaio Protesters Attacked and Arrested.

Here's my contribution to the march yesterday.

I only made it there for the beginning, so have a few more photos below - I just don't have any stamina these days. 

 

So check this out: I have a hard time believing these folks were really planning to throw bottles and rocks at cops and go to jail dressed like this. In fact, they seem to be having  a nice dialogue with this one. 

Now, most people wouldn't look at these folks and think they were Anarchists - they're some of our finest, actually, and they're some of the most creative protesters I know. They don't need to throw stuff - this is much more effective at getting the message across: Alienation. That tells me there wasn't necessarily some agenda among the area Anarchists to pick a fight with anyone. 

Now, this is me. I don't know enough about Anarchy to be a spokesperson for it, so I don't call myself an Anarchist - but I'm pretty much in alignment with a lot of it. Do I look like some kind of radical Anarchist? 

Really?

C'mon. Never mind the "Rage Against the Machine." I'm 45 years old and maybe 105 lbs. I'm neither young, male, nor really even white enough to fit your stereotype. But Anarchists are the folks I gravitate towards, and I would have probably been outside the jail with them if I could have handled the march. I could have easily "assaulted" a police officer, too, god knows.

Frankly, the Anarchists protest every oppression that the state has a hand in, and these cops probably had it in for us from the moment this demonstration was planned - they knew better than to go after the Puente families with kids, but I bet they couldn't wait to get their hands on some Anarchists. No one ever complains when the Anarchists are hassled - even on this count, the biggest complaint is that the police gassed children. They can even beat us up a little and  say that we were the ones who assaulted them - the rest of the Left usually stands mute, fuming at us. 

So, our allies are not often quick to come to our defense, assuming themselves, of course, that Anarchists necessarily digress into violence and are therefore likely to be to blame for any smear of violence at a protest. Sometimes I'm afraid they would let them execute us without much resistance, just because of this latent hostility towards Anarchists. I've read enough Anarchist literature to know that it's because we call them on their shit just as we do to the Right. The Left here are mostly just capitalists, too. That's not very Left. 

So, we get a little antagonistic with our friends - someone needs to be. Someone should be appropriately outraged and on the edge of everything. I think the Anarchists are.

Check these guys out, by the way. The Indigenous Anarchist community is awesome.

As for me, I think the state routinely employs excess violence, and the handful of anarchists arrested yesterday - or the 10,000 people they were with - weren't such a threat to the security of Tent City that they needed to be sending horses into that crowd pepper-spraying children. That's a guarantee that someone's going to get hurt. Look at how their lack of control quickly becomes our fault. 

Frankly, it sounds to me from the accounts I've read as if the Anarchists might have easily been trying to defend people in the crowd from the police incursion. The cops just freaked out. Or they were being provocative because nothing yet had really happened they could arrest anyone on (boy, I bet I'm making fast friends in law enforcement today...).

I'm posting this news piece that's up on AZ Indymedia - if you want to read the garbage the police and the media spit out, find the article from the AZ Republic or Washington Post or something.  Steve Lemons gave it a write up in the PHX New Times - and will have more today, I guess. Couldn't tell if he was more disgusted with the protesters or police, though. He doesn't want to blame the "so-called" Anarchists - it think he's pissed at the protesters - but I'm pretty sure those are real Anarchists involved, God Bless them. 

I bet there's plenty of video footage showing what actually happened - if nothing else, the Anarchists are usually covered by Copwatchers and cameras, since they otherwise have a hard time defending themselves. Sometimes no matter how passive you are, if you're wearing black with a bunch of others who have bandannas covering their faces, there's just no way to avoid a resisting arrest or assaulting-an-officer charge - especially if they're the ones who assaulted you. Not that some of us don't fight back - we have the right and responsibility to defend ourselves and comrades against state violence. But there are a number of ways to fight back that don't necessarily engage the cops with fists.

Last I heard a couple of these folks still needed $1,800 bail. They were organizing at Conspire Phoenix when I was there last night - if you have something to give to their defense, that's where I'd inquire first. 

I'm still trying to raise money for my own favorite criminal - she's about to turn 59, has a compromised immune system, and jail could just kill her - so keep dropping by my place, if you're looking for some good additions to your library and want to support the cause. All the stuff is at Free Marcia Powell, now, so this doesn't look like the home shopping channel. I've been depending a lot on the support of Anarchists for that, actually. Guess they have their hands full, now. 

Still, I think even if one of them did pop a cop, we should try to spring them. It was a heated moment, and they were in a more vulnerable position than the cops (you know how big those horses are?). Nothing attributed to them is near as bad as the violence cops perpetrate and get away with all the time, and I can't say I haven't had the impulse to punch someone in uniform than once myself - some of them are real bad criminals. Besides, they aren't the ones hitting children with pepper spray. If that can be an accident, so can brushing up against a cop with your flagpole. The cops should cut them all loose and apologize for attacking the crowd in the first place.


So, let's be there for our comrades. 

And please remember mine. I'm selling Tenacious Zines to raise the funds to keep her free. I'm not sure what we'll do for these folks, but we'll do something.

-------------

 

Here's the list:

Suspects arrested and booked into jail:

Daniels, Sarah Grace  W/F  23 years old: Booked for Agg Assault on Police P623076

Henry, Jeremiah M  W/M  18 years old: Booked for Agg Assault on Police P623071

Klasek, Garyn  W/M   30 years old: Booked for Agg Assault on Police & Disorderly Conduct P623074

Brock, Claire E  W/F  23 years old; booked for Resisting Arrest & Disorderly Conduct P623069

Emadi, Issa A  W/M  26 years old; booked for Agg Assault on Police P623068

-------------
 
Police unleash pepper gas on non-violent protesters; 5 arrested 
 
More than 10,000 demonstrators came out on January 16 to protest against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his repression of unauthorized immigrants. In the latest and largest in a series of protests against Sheriff Joe, demonstrators marched to MCSO's "tent city", an urban concentration camp where inmates, many arrested on immigration charges, are held 24-7 in the open air.

While marchers focused on Arpaio's 287g arrangement with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement and his high-profile immigration raids, other participants questioned the focus on immigration alone, given the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office's role in forclosure evictions, and also that the Phoenix Police Department turned over more unauthorized migrants to ICE in fiscal year 2009 than did Arpaio's sheriff's department.
Toward the end of the day, police attacked marchers, indiscriminately deploying pepper gas in an area that included a number of young children and families. In addition to street medics, EMTs were called to provide emergency care to at least three individuals, including an infant and young child. Five individuals were singled out for arrest and are being charged with aggravated assault of a police officer. In a news story on the march, the Arizona Republic repeated police statements that demonstrators attacked a police horse with metal poles, despite such allegations contradicting numerous eye-witness accounts, including the following post to Arizona Indymedia:

"Unprovoked, a female officer on horseback (who later covered her name on her uniform) charged her horse headlong into the march, colliding with several people and in the process almost running over at least one child in a stroller. After attacking families and protesters, she then whipped out her pepper spray and let loose on the whole crowd, who fled the noxious spew. In the process, children were blasted with pepper spray. After that, other Phoenix PD officers stormed the crowd, violently attacking marchers, dragging several to the ground and further deploying their chemical weapons from all directions in an attempt to justify their their aggression by nabbing a few people. Dozens were so affected that they were soaked in chemicals, having to strip off clothes to stop the burning."

Arizona is a Police State. Arpaio is just one cop.

If the FBI and DOJ nail this guy, I will send them a thank you card and offer them dinner myself. In the meantime, they should be dropping commandos into Arizona to rescue minority and oppositional citizens from the whole political slate he's aligned with (Thomas, Pearce, et al), before they do anyone else further harm. What's going on in this state - including the way our legislators conduct business - is criminal.

Sheriff Joe is actually the least damaging of them all, I think. It's the men writing laws and prosecuting them that trouble me. Being arrested is no small inconvenience, even if the charges don't stick. It ties up an activist's time and may limit our voice; it's an intimidation tactic, at the very least. But there's not much even Sheriff Joe can do if the law has no teeth or the prosecutor thinks the case has no merit. He may be the main attraction, but Sheriff Joe is hardly the source of the problem. His racism and failure to deal with real crime in Maricopa County are devastating to migrant communities and families, but to most citizens, even some protesters he arrests, he's a petty clown whose time is almost up. 

 Andrew Thomas, however, strong-arms the vulnerable into plea bargains using the threat of sentence enhancements (agree to three or you'll end up with 20) despite their claims of innocence, and buries innocent people in prison for years at a time, too arrogant to evaluate new evidence in his possession that should free them. He's the one we need to really grill about his agenda as Attorney General, and his plans for decreasing mass incarceration and protecting prisoner rights. I suspect that in his vision for Arizona, though, more people will be criminalized and in prison, and more communities will have prisons as their economic foundation. Our entire future will be increasingly invested in incarcerating people ... look at how the business leaders of Wickenburg and Winslow talk about the prisons and inmates - they don't even consider those they will incarcerate as human. They certainly won't be members of their community.

 That's who we will become, if we don't change the direction of this state: people most concerned with how they can profit from the plight of other human beings...I think they do that because they really believe that justice in America is fair. It's racist and classist and self-interested to its core.

---------------- 

Private Citizens: Joe Arpaio Targeted Us, Too

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio Accused Of Abusing Power

POSTED: 10:33 pm MST November 25, 2009

UPDATED: 9:34 am MST November 26, 2009

PHOENIX -- In the weeks since 5 Investigates aired its story on allegations that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is abusing his power, more people have come forward to say they, too, were targeted.

• Interactive: Who's Who Of Investigation Subjects

Politicians, county employees and private citizens claim the sheriff launched investigations into their personal lives after they criticized him.Terri Leija, who is chief of staff for Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, said she is under criminal investigation because of her employer.“They’re trying to scare me to go after my boss,” she told 5 Investigates.

Leija has not been charged with a crime.“I walk around some days thinking, ‘How is this allowed to be happening?’” she asked.Susan Schuerman, deputy administrator for Supervisor Don Stapley, echoed this sentiment.“I don’t have any criminal history,” Schuerman said. “Why I should be tainted is outrageous." Schuerman said the investigation makes it difficult for her to come to work.“This has been an absolute nightmare,” she said.

Her boss, Stapley, was indicted on 118 charges relating to the nondisclosure of a variety of land deals, business associations and business assets.At the time, the county supervisor said he was falsely accused. Fifty-two of the charges were thrown out in August, and prosecutors requested the rest be dropped in September.Three days after the request was made, deputies arrested Stapley on 100 new counts -- 93 felonies and seven misdemeanors.

Two men who set up Stapley’s legal defense fund said they were targeted, too. 5 Investigates agreed to withhold their names as they feared retribution.The day the fund went online, sheriff’s deputies showed up at all of the “trustees’” homes, asking whether they were promised anything from Stapley in return for their efforts.The deputies stayed until 11:30 p.m. in at least one case, the men said.“I was intimidated,” one said. “I started questioning whether I should have stepped forward and helped Don out … in his time of need.”

 When confronted by 5 Investigates reporter Morgan Loew after refusing multiple requests for an on-camera interview, the sheriff denied the allegations.“I don’t see any pattern,” Arpaio said. “We investigate thousands of people -- my office does -- thousands of people. We’re doing our job, and it doesn’t matter what political background or occupation or profession.” Nevertheless, the FBI is investigating the abuse-of-power claims, sources said, and some of those interviewed by 5 Investigates confirmed they spoke with FBI agents.