[van-announce] Woodwards Squat...

[Sid Tan]

circulate as you will

audio-video backgrounder
http://www.workingtv.com/squat.html

FYI
Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2002 16:56:18 -0700
From: Janine Bandcroft <bandj at uvic.ca>

WHAT REALLY WENT ON AT WOODWARDS
(EXCERPTS)

1.  From: Pivot Legal Society

A local lawyer is preparing to sue the Vancouver Police Department after
being arrested and held in custody overnight without cause.

John Richardson, executive director for Pivot Legal Society, was arrested
on Sunday night around 11:45 p.m. while outside the abandoned Woodwardsí
building.  Police arrested Richardson for "obstruction of justice" a few
seconds after he began crossing the Hastings Street crosswalk at the
south-east corner of Hastings and Abbot Streets.

The arrest of Richardson followed a police raid outside the Woodward's
building.  Late Sunday night, officers of the Vancouver Police Department
cordoned off a one-block radius around the building, and began kicking,
harassing and arresting the more than 50 homeless people sleeping on the
sidewalk.  Richardson, who on Saturday represented many of the homeless
people evicted from the building under the recent court injunction, came
to advise his clients and record the police activity.

What he saw disturbed him.

"I saw a very large number of police officers engaged in a police action
against the homeless people sleeping outside the Woodards building," he
said.  "I saw them throwing people's belongings into garbage trucks with
no regard for the personal value of that property.  Especially disturbing
was the fact that the officers I spoke with were unable to give any
explanation as to their legal authority for acting as they did."

Richardson, who was placed in solitary confinement when he refused to
consent to an illegal strip-search, spent nine hours in a bare 4 x 7 foot
concrete cell.  Eleven other people were also charged, one of whom
suffered a dislocated shoulder during arrest.  All were released the next
morning, after Crown Counsel refused to approve the police charges.

Dean Wilson, president of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, was
at the scene when Richardson was arrested.  "I caught the entire incident
on videotape," said Wilson. "I can honestly say I am ashamed to be a
citizen of the City of Vancouver, if that's the way the police will act.
They should be ashamed of themselves."

Richardson remarked "It is ironic to be charged with obstructing justice
when my role as a lawyer was observe and be available to advise people on
their legal rights.  The actual conduct of the Vancouver Police makes it
doubly ironic.  If police believe a municipal bylaw has been infringed,
they have the authority to issue bylaw infraction tickets.  That is the
process under the law.  They do not have the authority to cordon off city
blocks, harass and assault people, conduct arbitrary arrests, and destroy
personal property.  That is not justice."

For more information, contact:
John Richardson (604) 742-1843
Dean Wilson (604) 723-3184

2.  From: <sidtan at vcn.bc.ca>

This is beyond belief. People are meeting and the police swoop in. I'm
walking away but taking still photos and get jumped. My leg still hurts
from the leg lock. I get handcuffed and tossed in paddy wagon. There was
no warning to the crowd, just police officers saying move back. I did and
kept taking photos, two or three. When taken down, I tried to pass my
camera to someone but was unsuccessful. The police returned it to me
while I was handcuffed in wagon and said they did not want my camera.

3.  From: <tony at tao.ca>:

Approximately twelve people were arrested outside the Woodwards Building
at Abbott & Hastings shortly after 11pm on Sunday evening. Police used a
good deal of force & violence in conducting the arrests, and it is
unclear at this point what injuries the arrestees might have sustained.
Included amongst the arrested was John Richardson, a lawyer who works for
PIVOT who has represented previous Woodwards arrestees at their release
hearings on Saturday.

After the police had conducted the arrests, they had a garbage truck pull
up and dispose of personal possessions, mattresses, etc. which were on
the sidewalk area outside the building.

4.  "apc at resist.ca" wrote:

The police stated that the reason for the brutal raid was that people
were committing a bylaw infraction by obstructing the sidewalk.

Police cordoned off Abbott between Hastings and Cordova and two blocks
squatters off the premises, and then without allowing people to gather
their belongings and leave, the police started to arrest people at the
site. Many were thrown to the ground and witnesses saw police beating
people up during the arrests.

"I witnessed a homeless woman being grabbed by the scruff of the neck and
thrown down by three police officers after she asked them where their
heart was.  They are picking on the homeless and poor," said Jack, an
orginal squatter from the Woodwards building.

Last Saturday the homeless squatted the Woodwards building to demand the
province make good on their promise for social housing in that building.

The Anti-Poverty Committee demands the unconditional release of all
people arrested at the Woodwards building tonight.

5.  From:<quak at tao.ca>:

This is turning into one of the longest and strongest protests against
the BC Liberal government since they came to office. Most importantly it
is coming from the ground; it is poor and homeless fighting back and our
power is clear by the brutal response from police over the past few days.

From:  http://vancouver.indymedia.org/:

The week-long squat demonstrated the depth of the housing crisis in
Vancouver, particularly in the Downtown Eastside.  The squat provided
people with a safe place to sleep, a roof over the head, food and
community support.

Late Sunday night (Sept. 22) police once again moved in and arrested
squatters, this time for camping OUTSIDE the building.  The squatters say
that they were not told what they were being arrested for.  They were not
given the chance to speak to legal counsel.  Indeed, lawyer John
Richardson from PIVOT who has been acting for the squatters was arrested
as he crossed the street to approach the squatters and question the police
about the arrests.

What makes the arrests particularly horrifying is that police were
accompanied by dumptrucks.  All of the belongings of the homeless people
camped outside Woodward's were picked up and tossed in the trash.  Gone
are their mattresses, sleeping bags, blankets, sweaters and in some cases
identification and other personal effects.

The squatters have now been released without charge.  They marched from
cells at Main and Hastings to Victory Park.  Following a community
meeting the squatters have returned to the Woodward's building and are
once again set up outside the building.

Support for the squatters is critical.  This issue goes beyond housing.
In arresting people and holding them without charge for sleeping outside
the building police and Campbell's Liberal government are criminalizing
poverty.  It is an attack on the right to protest and it is an attack on
our legal rights when we do protest.

If you have any questions or require more information, please contact:

Ali at (604) 725-8415; or
Mike at (604) 779-7430; or
The Anti-Poverty Committee at (604) 682-2726.



THE "WOODWARD'S 58" NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT WE RAISE SUFFICIENT FUNDS FOR OUR LEGAL DEFENCE.
PLEASE DONATE WHATEVER YOU CAN TO THE "WOODWARD'S 58 LEGAL DEFENCE FUND"
AND ASK YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, CO-WORKERS, UNION, HOUSING CO-OP, CHURCH OR
COMMUNITY GROUP TO DO THE SAME.
Please make checks payable to the "People's Opposition" and write "legal
defence" on them.  Checks can be mailed to:

Woodward's 58 Legal Defence
c/o Anti-Poverty Committee
42 Blood Alley Square
Vancouver, BC, Canada
V6B 1C7

More Info:

Information on the Woodwards' Occupation and a Slide Show
http://www.downtowneastside.ca/hot.html

Woodward's squat continues despite arrests
CBC: Sept. 24, 2002
http://vancouver.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=bc_woodwards020924

Squatters Ousted from Tent City (in Toronto)
Globe and Mail: Sept. 24, 2002
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/front/RTGAM/20020924/wbumz924/F
ont/homeBN/breakingnews

More Information on Welfare Issues at:
http://www.creativeresistance.ca/awareness/awareness-welfare.htm

 *** CHOW TAN is legal surname. You can call me SID
               or anything as long as you call me for dinner! ***