Seaside is considering a city-wide Surveillance System

message from Felix Bachofner (the former mayor of Seaside):
The City of Seaside is proposing the first steps of instituting a citywide surveillance system dubbed STEMA.  [Please attend the meeting at Seaside City Hall at 4 p.m. this Thursday, August 1, 2013 to speak against this proposal.  Evidence of how problematic this proposal is and talking points provided below.]
I hope you will agree this has hugely negative connotations regarding individual (and collective) rights and liberties. Unfortunately, knowing the council I would expect this to get significant traction with at least three members (two of whom are public safety officers and the Mayor who seems more for bigger rather than leaner government).
This proposal is therefore only stoppable with a SIGNIFICANT participation by freedom and civil liberties minded stakeholders both at the first presentational meeting (4 pm, Thursday, August 1, 2013) and any subsequent meeting where an implementation vote might be taken. [NOTE: this item *may* have specifically been agendized for 4 p.m. to minimize public attendance and participation.  On the other hand, a large crowd advocating AGAINST this proposal may have a correspondingly greater chance of success (i.e. significant input probably won't be expected).]
The system is proposed to assist with solving crimes such as recent raft of shootings in the city during the past 12 months.  Never mind that virtually ALL these shootings have resulted in fairly quick arrests due to conventional detective work (not taking away from patrol time) and significant witness participation contrary to the generalized negative claims in the report.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is quite strongly opposed to such surveillance systems and has even pointed out that "The use of surveillance cameras, unfortunately, comes at the expense of proven crime reduction measures such as better lighting, foot patrols, and community policing. In this sense, throwing money at video surveillance actually detracts from law enforcement's efforts to reduce crime."
With the chance that the system is ineffective or not particularly effective, one of the biggest concerns with such a citywide (at full build-out) surveillance system is one of almost certain "mission creep."  Capabilities will grow exponentially as software capabilities become better.  Once the cameras are installed and images are capable of being captured, in the future the system might be upgraded (relatively simply with "improved" software) and be used to automatically prosecute offenses such as speeding, improperly licensed vehicles, and or far greater concern someday, maybe because your hair has not been cut to "specification" (only kidding ever so slightly).
The history of surveillance (particularly general surveillance, like this) shows that it unfortunately does NOT bode well for people's civil rights.  A contemporary British report (Britain has the most government operated mass video surveillance) by Clive Norris, University of Hull and Gary Armstrong, University of Reading, for example, showed that people of color were two-and-a-half times more likely to be monitored and one in 10 women were monitored entirely for voyeuristic reasons.
Depending on statutes of limitations and how badly the city needs money at any given point, an "improved" system could be used to look backwards (in time), for example, to issue citations when current quarter revenues do not meet expenditures.
Federal and state government surveillance programs are growing rampantly (NSA's PRISM, for example).  Our last chance to stop or slow down this domestic-focused militaristic and Orwellian march of "progress" (against personal and social freedom) is at the local level.  If this local proposal is not halted, it will just be a matter of time before this system can be integrated into the larger state and federal system making such programs even more onerous.
Please attend the meeting at 4 p.m. this Thursday to speak against this proposal.  Reach out to as many freedom and civil liberties oriented Monterey Peninsula stakeholders as you can too!  [Keep in mind, anyone who passes through Seaside will be affected if this goes forward.]
The staff report is on page 48 here: [http://www.ci.seaside.ca.us/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8365]
As an interesting aside, not one single potential negative aspect is listed in the staff report.  In addition to the negative examples I indicated above, one notable point is that these are internet connected cameras.  This means the system is much more easily "hackable" than a closed circuit system (which I would also oppose on the basis of all the other issues related to government sponsored general surveillance).
Why could hacking be a problem?  Well, for one, criminals could actually use the system to their advantage.  Example: a hacker could use the cameras in real time to identify when the last police patrol passed through.  Then such a criminal could use the presumed "window" to perpetrate a crime just outside the view of the camera in question. This possibility is PARTICULARLY dangerous should PG+E's WiFi smart meters ever be hacked.  At such point a criminal could EASILY determine when someone is NOT home and police are NOT likely to be close by to thwart a crime, resulting in the perfect opportunity to wreak criminal havoc at a "high-value" target.
Thanks for considering helping me stop this particular government intrusion.  Please reach out to all your friends with Seaside and Monterey Peninsula interests at heart.
[signed] Felix Bachofner, Former Mayor, City of Seaside, CA

WTF? Vallejo enforces peculier infringement on building's colors

Here is an example of a little-known but common infringement on freedom of speech. "Excessive" signage and bright colors on a business's premises are illegal in Vallejo, according to the following official report for the City of Vallejo, which describes a strange enforcement of building colors, ignoring that if the same enforcement were applied to Vallejo's fast food franchises, the town would be a healthier place...

One photograph shows a building which is bright and busy, the other shows a building which is drab and grey... so what's the deal? It is certain that fast-food franchises have a different set of regulations, yet, upon reading the reasons for Vallejo's code enforcement, it makes one wonder why those differences even exist. "Excessive" signage and bright colors seem appropriate for anyone to utilize to grab a busy person's attention, and it is a right of the People to attract attention for their message. Heaven forbid the building were colored red!

The Politics of Rioting

Oakland Police are using the provocateurs of the Trayvon Martin protests as examples about why they need more money and military-style equipment!

* Crowd control at Oakland protests: A visual explainer [oaklandnorth.net/2012/03/01/crowd-control-at-oakland-protests-a-visual-explainer/]

* 2012-04-28 "Police Used Illegal Weapons on Occupy Protesters; Internal reports show Oakland department violated its own policies" by Shoshana Walter [https://www.baycitizen.org/news/crime/oakland-police-aim-improve-crowd-tactics/]
* 2013-04-23 "Oakland police announce new crowd control tactics" by Matthew Artz from "Oakland Tribune" [http://www.insidebayarea.com/occupy/ci_20462130/police-announce-new-crowd-control-tactics]

2013-07-19 "What more can Oakland do to control the crowds? Tactics may put Oakland police at a disadvantage"
by Demian Bulwa [http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Tactics-may-put-Oakland-police-at-a-disadvantage-4673932.php]:
The atmosphere was calm as demonstrators streamed through downtown Oakland. Then a masked figure emerged from the crowd with a hammer and smashed the windows of a Comerica Bank branch.
No police officers were nearby, and the vandal slipped into the mass of people. But something had changed. In the next half-hour, the Monday night rally over the acquittal of George Zimmerman turned ugly, with police skirmishes, more broken windows and a hammer attack on a waiter.
As Oakland again struggles to keep such episodes from scarring its downtown, city leaders and outside experts point to a core problem: the understaffed police force's inability to control subsets of agitators and simultaneously ensure the free-speech rights of peaceful protesters.
The failure to arrest the person who smashed the bank window at 10:30 p.m. was pivotal, said Don Cameron, who teaches police tactics. The attack, he said, was an overt act designed to incite.
"When you get into the copycat phase, it can get to a point where (police) can't take control," said Cameron, a former officer for Berkeley and BART. "I don't think Oakland buys into that - that you have to respond to the first overt action. What I've seen in the past is they let it get out of hand before they take action."

'Poor management' -
City Councilman Noel Gallo said the police force, which has been led by four chiefs since 2009, was unprepared for this week's protests.
"It's just poor management," said Gallo, who chairs the council's Public Safety Committee. "The protesters are better organized than our Police Department."
While saying the problem traced largely to severe understaffing - Oakland has 630 officers, down from 837 in December 2008 - interim Police Chief Sean Whent promises to be more assertive if there's trouble this weekend. Another protest is planned Saturday.
Whent and Mayor Jean Quan are under intense pressure from business owners to calm protests and make more arrests. Police arrested nine people Monday night after making no arrests during rallies Saturday and Sunday. Some merchants say they are bringing in private security guards.
Whent, who became acting chief in May, said he would put more officers on the streets by canceling days off and paying overtime. He may also call for mutual aid from outside agencies, as he did late Monday.
One of his goals is to avoid a repeat of that night, when officers were often several blocks away from protesters and, as a result, missed the hammer attack that injured a waiter at Flora restaurant on Telegraph Avenue. The assailant ran off.
"I can't really get into a lot of specifics. But, largely, we're trying to keep the police closer to the demonstrators," Whent said.
Quan said the agitators, whom she described as anarchists and "idiots," "are changing their tactics, and we need to change our tactics, too."
One veteran Oakland officer said he and his colleagues were in a terrible position during most of this week's demonstrations - understaffed and lacking a clear message from city leaders on whether to be forceful with protesters.
"San Francisco takes a very straightforward line," said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. "You're not messing with anyone's life or property, or it's over - you're going to jail."

Taking names -
City officials say other changes are coming. On Tuesday, Oakland officers began issuing tickets to protesters for infractions such as jaywalking. Cameron said that appeared to be an effort to deter people from committing crimes by letting them know their presence was a matter of record.
At its July 30 meeting, the City Council will also revisit a ban on carrying hammers, shields and other potential weapons at demonstrations - a measure Whent said he supported.
The original proposal, raised last year in the midst of Occupy protests, died after council President Pat Kernighan said it might be counterproductive, providing a fresh controversy that would energize street protests just as they were tapering off.
Councilwoman Libby Schaaf said Thursday that the city had to do better, "even with our limited resources. We've got to be more prepared. If anyone should get good at responding to protests, it should be the city of Oakland."
But while Oakland has a track record in dealing with chaotic protests, such as those linked to the 2009 killing of Oscar Grant by a BART police officer, that record is rocky.

History of mistakes -
Last year, a city-commissioned report criticized the department for a "flawed response" to Occupy demonstrations, citing "years of diminishing resources, increasing workload and failure to keep pace with national current standards."
During Occupy protests, officers shot beanbag rounds at people who were not posing a threat - a direct violation of the city's crowd-control policy, which the department is now updating.
As a result of that and other alleged police abuses, the City Council recently agreed to a pair of civil settlements with protesters, paying a total of about $2 million.
Rachel Lederman, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild in San Francisco who represented some of the plaintiffs, said she continues to be concerned by police actions - including an incident Monday night in which an officer used an explosive to clear an unruly crowd.
She said the blast caused only chaos, injuring a protester.
"We don't have any problem with them arresting people who break the law," Lederman said. "But taking enforcement action on every single thing can make the situation much worse and lead to injuries."

Oakland Domain Awareness Center

2013-07-18 "Oakland surveillance center raises concerns; Move for widespread monitoring by law enforcement raises concern" 

by Ali Winston, "Center for Investigative Reporting" [http://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Oakland-surveillance-center-raises-concerns-4671708.php]:
The independent, nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting is the country's largest investigative reporting team. For more, visit www.cironline.org. E-mail: info@cironline.org
---
Photo by Carlos Avila Gonzalez for "The San Francisco Chronicle". Original caption: Reneé Domingo, Oakland's Director of Emergency Services, in the main room at the Domain Awareness Center in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The DAC will soon combine emergency data and information sets from city police, fire, the Port of Oakland, among others in 2014.

As Oakland is rocked by renewed street protests and national attention focuses on government monitoring of phone and e-mail records, city officials are considering a federally funded project to funnel information from surveillance cameras, license-plate readers, gunshot detectors and other devices into a law enforcement-run center.
The Domain Awareness Center, a joint project between the Port of Oakland and the city, started as a nationwide initiative to secure ports by connecting motion sensors and cameras in and around the shipping facilities. Since its inception in 2009, however, the project has evolved into a program that would cover much of the city.
On Tuesday evening, the Oakland City Council was expected to approve an additional $2 million in federal grants to fund the surveillance center at the Emergency Operations Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. But after an outcry from speakers about the center's lack of privacy guidelines or data retention limits, the council pulled the item from the consent calendar and postponed a vote until July 30.
Councilwoman Desley Brooks noted that the consent calendar is normally reserved for routine matters. She said funding the surveillance center "clearly, is very controversial."
Renee Domingo, the city's director of emergency services, said the city's public safety challenges and the sprawling nature of the port - which also operates Oakland International Airport - had prompted officials to design an "all-hazards system" capable of helping law enforcement respond to crime, terrorism and disasters such as earthquakes.

Cameras and Twitter -
The center would integrate computer dispatch systems for the Oakland police and fire departments, gunshot detection microphones and license-plate readers. It would use crime-mapping software and video cameras, private alarm detection programs, and even Twitter feeds to help police and emergency personnel draw up a "more effective incident response," Ahsan Baig, the city's information technology manager, told the City Council's Public Safety Committee this month.
Right now, there are 130 cameras from the Port of Oakland and four city cameras integrated into the surveillance center. Seventy-five of the port cameras are equipped with motion or image recognition technology.
Key to the operation is a geographic information system map with points representing cameras, license-plate readers, gunshot detection and alarm sensors and other devices that feed into a central network. Multiple camera feeds, sensor indicators and maps can be viewed at one time alongside alerts from government agencies.
For the Fire Department, such a system would greatly expand its ability to get a handle on a crisis. Battalion Chief Darin White pointed to a fiery tanker crash on Interstate 880 in 2008 that spilled 1,000 gallons of fuel and prompted a large emergency response.
In such situations, White said, the surveillance center "will be able to see and have real-time situational awareness as they're responding to an incident."

Police usage -
Former New York and Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton suggested that the Oakland Police Department make use of the surveillance project in a report in May on improving investigations. He recommended that police "significantly increase" their use of surveillance cameras in commercial areas "to provide identifications and evidence in robbery, burglary and some shooting cases. Cameras would be monitored and recorded at the Domain Awareness Center that is currently under construction."
That prospect, however, has some people concerned. Joshua Daniels, one of the speakers during Tuesday night's council meeting, said the surveillance center would give a great deal of power to a police department that "doesn't respect the rights" of Oakland residents.
"This city has a huge trust issue," Daniels said, "and it's not going to be solved by spying on your citizens."

Other agencies -
The $2 million grant that the council is considering would incorporate into the surveillance center sensors and cameras from outside agencies such as Caltrans, the Oakland Unified School District, the O.co Coliseum and Oracle Arena, and regional law enforcement intelligence centers. Such agencies would need to sign agreements with the city and the port.
The Domain Awareness Center does not have privacy guidelines or limits for retaining the data it collects, raising concerns from civil libertarians and privacy advocates.
Linda Lye, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, called the surveillance center "a classic illustration of mission creep."
"What are the limits on dissemination?" Lye asked. "And what are the privacy and safety protocols for handling this information internally and through outside agencies?"
Baig, the city's information technology manager, said officials will draw up guidelines on privacy and data retention during the next year. Because the surveillance center would draw on different types of sensors and cameras, Baig said, drafting such policies would be a complex process.

Reacting to protests -
Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the level of unrest Oakland has experienced in recent years made the issue an easy sell to the city. But Tien said he is concerned that the center lacks guidelines about data use or retention.
"There's no indication they've considered any privacy or civil liberties issue in the first place," Tien said.
Officials expect to have the center up and running by mid-2014. A sergeant and an analyst from the Police Department, as well as someone from the Port of Oakland, would work there. The city and port are applying for another federal grant of $2.6 million to fund these positions.
City documents indicate the projected cost is roughly $10.9 million in federal grant funding. To date, $3.4 million in federal grants has been spent on the project.

Photo by Carlos Avila Gonzalez for "The San Francisco Chronicle". Original caption: Renee Domingo, Oakland's director of emergency services, scans a monitoring screen at the Domain Awareness Center.

Justice for Kenneth Harding, jr.!

Justice campaigns against Police Murder and Systematic Cover-Up [link]
Facebook: [facebook.com/groups/Justice4KennethHardingJr]

Kenneth Harding Lives!
Support your local Communitarians!
Donate to Kenneth Harding Foundation! 
DONATIONS CAN BE MADE THROUGH [wepay.com/donations/kenneth-harding-jr-foundation]!
Message from the Kenneth Harding Jr. Foundation:
I am writing to ask you to donate to an amazing organization that in the past few months has: organized anti-police brutality speak-outs, free hip hop shows, and provided food to hundreds of Bay Area residents.
Kenneth Harding Foundation was born after SFPD gunned down 19-year-old Kenneth Harding Jr for allegedly evading a $2 Muni transit fair.
Kenny's mother, Denika Chatman, organized last month's Muni Shutdown that brought awareness to police brutality and labor rights.
Currently, Denika holds monthly "Community Feeds" in Bayview Hunter's Point where she and allies give out bagged lunches to San Franciscans in need. This event not only helps to educate the public about what happened to her young son but additionally it brings attention to the economic plight that many people of color face in the resource-rich Bay Area.
Denika and others involved in the feed pay for it out-of-pocket and through generous donations of bread, fresh fruits and sandwich fixings.
if you can afford to, please donate at least $2--this was the amount that police murdered Kenny over and every little bit makes a difference!

Kenneth Harding Jr Foundation Monthly Community Feed
Every 3rd Sunday, 10:00am until 2:00pm
Kenny's Plaza FNA Mendell Plaza in San Francisco at 3RD & OAKDALE
The reason we feed the community is because on July 16, 2011 19 year old Kenneth Wade Harding Jr. was brutally murdered by the SFPD over a $2.00 transit fare. While the community of Bayiew Hunters Point watched this live, the rest of the world watched the horrific video on youtube. It was evident that something needed to be done to address not only the crime against Kenny and his family but also against the community members that witnessed this crime.
In August 2011 a group of young people from Bayview, members known as the Black Star Liner Incorporated stood up against the injustice in their community by the hands of police officers paid by the tax dollars to harrass and at some times kill the civilians by reaching out to the people in Kenny's Plaza (formally known as Mendell Plaza). That interaction came in the form of communication via political and educational literature, OCC complaints and planting the seed for a regular community feed. Over one year later we are now in our 12th consecutive month.
To date with the guidance of Kenneth Harding Jr.'s Courageous mother Denika Chatman we feed up to 100 people a day.
 Donations are needed and welcomed! Below you will find a detailed list of the essential items that make our monthly feeds such a success!
WHAT WE NEED:
* Turkey, Chicken or Beef sandwich meat (NO PORK!!!)
* Whole wheat bread
* Condiments (mayo and mustard)
* Lettuce, Tomatoes and other veggies
* Fruit both fresh and canned
* Healthy snacks (crackers, chips, granola, fruit bars, fruit snacks, pastries, nuts, yogurt ect.)
* Water
* Juice
 ***And anything else healthy that you think would fill the bag and a belly with love!
ADDITIONALLY ASIDE FROM FOOD WE NEED:
*** Paper sandwich bags
*** Plastic sandwich bags
*** Serving Gloves
*** Paper towels
*** Hand sanitizer
*****And any other suggestions that you may have would be great!

Message from "Mama DOE" Denika: Thank you so much for your support in this struggle! The best way to heal the community is to provide the pathway to the basics that we have been denied as a whole. In order to fight we must feed The Body, The Mind and The Spirit! 

Kenneth Harding and his friend, Diamonique


And don't forget: 
* Solidarity to Denika "Mama DOE"! 
2013-05-17 message from Denika Chatman:
No one understands what we as mothers endure after the police kill our children. If you stand up and fight back the pain they inflict upon our lives is almost unbearable. Days after my son's murder my house was raided by 3 swat teams in full riot gear and no search warrant. They confiscated my Escalade 3 times till I just walked away from it. They have continued to harass and incarcerate my oldest son; tried to pin a phony murder on him, they beat him, they tried to say he stole a car but he had paper work and they still took him to jail. They tried to charge him with an assault but there was no victim. Now he has been sitting in jail since Dec. 7th 2012 with no paper work and no charges because they have been trying to make a case against him. The U.S. Marshalls have raided my house no paperwork. All of a sudden I'm being sued by my daughters father for conditional custodial rights and he's in jail and have been there for over a year. I have mandatory family court in Seattle on June 4th. My phone was tapped and I had to keep getting new ones. They have gone through my computer and laptop, and when they get ready they follow me as I'm driving. 2 days ago they have raided my granddaughters house with a fake warrant, and they have gone to every police department to find out what is going on and none of the precinct's have any documentation that this raid has happened and they don't issue the kind of paper work that was left at her house after the raid. I'm putting this out there so people can see how they try to destroy us. But through the grace, mercy, and glory of God we're still standing. Walk a day in my shoes, you will be ready to kick your shoes off before the day ends!
* Justice for Tommy Carpenter! [link]
* Hands Off "Fly Benzo" Debray Carpenter! [link]


SFPD gives Gold Medal of Valor to cops who killed Kenneth Harding jr., refers to his death as an "arrest":
2012-06-05 "Police department honors officers for valor"
by Christopher Peak [sfpublicpress.org/news-notes/2012-06/police-department-honors-officers-for-valor]:
CLARIFICATION 6/12/12: This story omitted a fact about the confrontation with suspect Kenneth Harding: He was shot in the incident and was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead two hours later. Police later said Harding shot himself. Police pointed to the bullet they found, which did not match the size of department-issued bullets, and said that another bullet of the same caliber was found in Harding’s pocket. Supporters and family of Harding dispute the official police version of events.
---
A simple request to check a Muni fare that ended in a shootout and the arrest of a fugitive from Seattle was one of the stories of bravery singled out for recognition at the annual San Francisco Police Department Medal of Valor awards ceremony at the Mission Bay Conference Center last week.
In all, 23 awards were handed out, and six officers received the Gold Medal of Valor, the highest honor the department bestows. All the recipients of the Gold Medal were involved in gunfights.
Officers Richard Hastings and Matthew Lopez were positioned on a Muni platform in the Bayview neighborhood, when they asked to see a rider’s fare receipt. The man fled across a crowded plaza and fired shots when the officers were 10 feet away. After a brief exchange of gunfire, he was arrested. The man turned out to be Kenneth Harding, Jr., a career criminal wanted for the murder of a young pregnant woman in Seattle a week before.
Officers Thomas Minkel and Joseph Everson attempted to pull over a car with outdated registration last December but ended up in a car chase and gun battle with another career criminal, who was wanted for stealing approximately 20 guns in a South Bay burglary.
An investigation by officers Patrick Griffin and Michael Tursi of gunshots fired into a sidewalk led them to a gunfight with a suspect who fired a handgun at the officers as he attempted to flee his home.
Thomas Mazzucco, the president of the city’s police commission, said, “These are our heroes.” He said that most of the officers told him, “We were doing our job.”


La Mesha Irizarry, 2013-12-08 [https://www.facebook.com/groups/Justice4KennethHardingJr/552837201457571]:
a flash point picture worth a thousand words.... (notice that the "gun?" was actually a cell phone that a pacific Islander youth picked up and showed on camera) so this shows that THREE COPS were shooting, not just Hastings and Lopez..... HOW COME WE NEVER HEARD ABOUT #3 ????
Commander Mikeal Ali (who was present at the shooting), claimed that Kenneth was running away from the officers, and wrapped his right arm around the left side of his waist to shoot at them. How would this be possible without stopping at all, how would kenny wrap his arm around his left side and not shoot his own spleen as well?
How could Kenny shoot himself in the right side of his neck while his right arm, allegedly holding a gun, would be wrapped around his left side? Lie after lie after lie....
Soar in Glory Kenny... we can see from his flashpoint exhibit that Officer #1 shot once, officer #2 shot 6 times, officer #3 shot once. Typical cops solidarity : if one of us shoot, we all shoot, to confuse ballistic report and make it harder to find out who started shooting first.'


2011-07-22 "Media Manipulation with the Kenneth Harding Jr. Murder at the hands of SFPD" by "Race for the Times"
[facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150322634556055]

The following comments were posted 2011-07-22 at [http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150322634556055]:
* Sista D.: "When I downloaded the video for this to look at he object closer...I also saw the pig you see pointed out here...he was over by the tape and when dude in the hoodie walked over to the object the cop lso walked over and watched the brutha pick up the object...and they both went their sepeate ways....so since this was a gun...why didn't he tackle him...or even better shoot...which is their modus operandi...I mean here is the perfect opportunity to kill another nukka...right...but it is not a gun."
* Race for the Times: "pigs 1st, secure suspect, then secure weapon... but this didn't happen because there wasnt one... you can hear the community yelling in the video "wheres the gun?!" ... that object was close to a couple officers in the first video, prior to the community surrounding the scene. so why wasn't the object picked up and secured prior to the community walking closer? because it was a cell phone"
* Tony D.: "i also noticed how the first time i watched the video it didn't look like a gun, and then later the same day, it looked a lot like a gun. i also felt it had miraculously moved forward, closer to the crowd. bottom line is, police said "man in the hoodie" picked up gun and they apprehended him later that evening thanks to help "from the community" - and yesterday's announcement proved that story to be a lie. SFPD ruined their own credibility in their vengeful campaign to further slander the victim."


2012-07-16 Jusice for Kenneth Harding! Strike for our Rights!
4 days of events and activities in memory of Kenneth Harding Jr. on the 1 year anniversary of his execution by SFPD.
Friday, July 13: Community Speak Out, 7 p.m., Nation of Islam Mosque 26a, Third and Revere, Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco.
-
Saturday, July 14: Free Community Hip Hop Show, 3-6 p.m., San Francisco City College Mission Campus in the courtyard
-
Sunday, July 15: Regular Monthly Community Feed, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Kenny’s (Mendell) Plaza, Third and Palou, San Francisco. The Peoples Community Medics will be in Kenny’s Plaza to teach us how to save one another so we don’t have to depend on ambulance services. When anyone, such as Lil Kenny or Oscar Grant, is denied medical attention, we can step in and help to save their lives.
-
Monday, July 16: Kenneth Harding Jr. Shut Down Day, beginning at 6 a.m. at Market and 14th Street, San Francisco. Bring your walking shoes and your determination for justice for people who have been murdered by police for no good reason. Also, a vigil will be held at 5 a.m. at Third and Palou.


Outdated version of the flier:


Muni Shutdown - KPIX 5 Lies about Kenneth Harding Jr.
LaborBlackBrown2010 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV1LrsVuO9I]:

Kenneth Harding Jr. Muni Shutdown - KRON 4 TV story
LaborBlackBrown2010 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaNINObRj_Y]:

Muni Shutdown Kenneth Harding Jr. Vigil - Alana Turner 7/16/12
LaborBlackBrown2010 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWoQW5UBTds]:

Kenneth Harding Muni Shutdown: Cephus "Uncle Bobby" Johnson - Police Lies, Derrick Gaines, etc.
LaborBlackBrown2010 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHkR29_5t0w]

Muni Shutdown - KPIX 5 Lies about Kenneth Harding Jr.
LaborBlackBrown2010 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV1LrsVuO9I]:

Muni Shutdown: Lies by KTVU About Kenneth Harding Jr.
LaborBlackBrown2010 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq2ZDE4rnVE]:
Kenneth Harding was NOT wanted for murder. The only ones wanted for murder are officers Richard Hastings and Matthew Lopez for shooting Kenneth in the back over a $2 Muni fare. Mika Edwards is a liar.

Jabari Shaw - Vanguard Party - Kenneth Harding Jr. Muni Shutdown Vigil
LaborBlackBrown2010 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDSwmHg4k_k]:

Support the Shutdown of MUNI for Kenneth Harding Jr. July 13-16!! Stop Police Brutality
CentaurCinema [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfNH-KJb0Sw]:
From July 13th-16th. Come support the different events that are happening around the murder of Kenneth Harding Jr by SFPD. Police Brutality is a chronic ill in our community and it must be stopped. Please support anyway you can.

"Shutting Down MUNI for Kenneth Harding" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2iaAxsUh4E]:
on the corner of Church and Duboce.






2012-07-17 "Shutting down Muni for Kenneth Harding and all victims of police terror"
by Tiny aka Lisa Gray-Garcia from "San Francisco Bay View" [http://sfbayview.com/2012/shutting-down-muni-for-kenneth-harding-and-all-victims-of-police-terror/]:
Tiny – or Lisa Gray-Garcia – is co-founder with her Mama Dee and co-editor with Tony Robles of POOR Magazine, where this story first appeared, and its many projects and author of “Criminal of Poverty: Growing Up Homeless in America,” published by City Lights. She can be reached at [deeandtiny (@poormagazine.org]. Visit [www.tinygraygarcia.com] and [www.racepovertymediajustice.org].
---
The police line was hard, boot to boot, helmet to helmet, unmoving, bringing the threat of death with each gaze. The opposing line was a circle and it was moving, with resistance. And strength and people power. We were mamaz, uncles, daddys, sisters and brothers in solidarity, and we won’t stop fighting, we won’t stop walking, we won’t stop speaking until this ongoing police murder of our babies is over.
These two lines were in front of the Muni bus tunnel at 14th and Church Street at 6 a.m. on Monday, July 16, in San Francisco, which I have affectionately re-named (Stop and) Frisco due to the stop-and-frisk legislation proposed by Mayor Ed Lee. The line of resistance successfully stopped the Muni buses from coming or going out of the tunnel for almost two hours.
“We pay you, and you kill us,” Tracey Bell-Borden, one of many justice fighters fighting against the ongoing police terror in our neighborhoods, chanted as she walked back and forth in front of the police line.
“We are here to commemorate the anniversary of one year of my son Kenneth Harding Jr.’s murder by SFPD,” fierce mama and revolutionary freedom fighter Denika Chatman told the crowd of almost 100 people who gathered to honor Kenneth Harding and all young Black and Brown warriors who constantly face state-sponsored police terror for the sole act of being a young person of color in Amerikkka.
Denika went on to relate the ways in which the Muni transit police practice blatant racial and poverty profiling in poor communities of color like Bayview Hunters Point and the Mission with a massive and unequal police presence on the buses of these neighborhoods.
“Our children are being stalked and murdered in cold blood by this ongoing police harassment, and it cannot continue,” Cephus Johnson aka Uncle Bobby, Oscar Grant’s uncle and a powerful leader against police terror in the community said as he walked the line, not stopping, speaking the truth.
“All of us are under attack, and this is murder,” declared Toussaint Dubois from Labor Black and Brown, walking the line with his real talk.
As we spoke, the police gangsters stood, eyes glazed as they are trained to do, as though we were animals they were taught to kill on sight, clutching and unclutching their helmets, the threat of attack present and constant.
As I, a poor mama, saw them, I shuddered. I tried to hold my head up, to not think of the many times my melanin-challenged self faced their hate, because I am the daughter of a poor wombyn of color, because I am the child of a houseless and hated family, because we didn’t have the money to pay for a roof over our heads for most of our life in Amerikkka.
I shuddered as I walked, and yet I walked for Ramarley Graham, Oscar Grant, Amadou Diallo, Annette Garcia, Idriss Stelley, Alan Blueford, Derrick Gaines, Rahiem Brown and every single victim of this ongoing occupation called the police.
At approximately 7:30 a.m., the police occupiers shifted their stance, giving the final threat of attack. We, the people, the fighters for justice, not just-us, moving with humility, peace and liberation, began to march, still chanting, still walking, because we mamaz, daddys, uncles, sisters, cousins and community members won’t stop until THEY stop the killing, the stalking, the harassing and the profiling of our babies, our communities and our spirits.
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One year from the day SFPD murdered Kenneth Harding Jr., 19, over a $2 Muni fare, his mother, Denika Chatman, led a group of freedom fighters to shut down Muni. They – and the police – were out in force at 6 a.m. Monday at 14th and Church, where they shut down Muni for two hours. – Photo: Tiny aka Lisa Gray-Garcia

Denika Chatman, Kenny’s mother, has emerged as a major voice for justice and unity in the year since police murdered her son. – Photo: Tiny aka Lisa Gray-Garcia

“Look at the money the City paid to try and stop us,” exclaimed Denika, describing the large contingent SFPD sent to “serve and protect” the protesters’ rights to free speech and assembly. – Photo: Tiny aka Lisa Gray-Garcia



2012-07-17 "Protesters Disrupt MUNI On One-Year Anniversary Death of Kenneth Harding" by Maggie Ortins from "Fog City Journal"
[http://www.fogcityjournal.com/wordpress/4858/protesters-disrupt-muni-on-one-year-anniversary-death-of-kenneth-harding/]:
Demonstrators disrupted San Francisco Municipal Railway service Monday morning to mark the one-year anniversary of the shooting death of 19-year-old Kenneth Harding Jr.
Harding died in an exchange of gunfire with police after he dodged his Muni fare and fled from officers. Family and supporters maintain Harding was shot by police, who allowed him to bleed to death of multiple gunshot wounds. However, investigators later said that the bullet that killed Harding appeared to have been fired from his own gun, not a police weapon.
Today’s action brought Harding’s mother a modicum of relief.
“My son was racially profiled on the T-train, stopped and frisked, gave chase and then shot and bled to death for 28 minutes,” said Denika Chatman, who came in disguise to avoid the scrutiny of police. Chatman said she wants the officers charged with the murder of her son.
Shortly before 7am, protesters gathered at Church and Duboce streets, blocking light-rail cars from entering and exiting the tunnel system, Muni spokesman Paul Rose said. Shuttle buses substituted for the N and J lines until 7:30am when the protesters were cleared from the intersection, Rose said.
The protesters then moved to the Muni headquarters at 1 Van Ness Ave., holding signs that read, “RIP Little Kenny,” “They Shoot Us Down, We Shut It Down” and “Stop the Brutality.”
Police in riot gear stood by but made no arrests. The plan was to gather again at Third Street and Palou Avenue for a 5pm vigil.
The Oscar Grant Foundation and Labor Black and Brown helped organize the event.
“Harding was shot over a $2 ticket,” longtime activist Charles DeBois said. “We are appealing to all workers of union people to use union power to fight for themselves.”
“We cost the city money and time and we are very successful in what we wanted to accomplish,” said Marco Harding, the victim’s uncle. “We hope to bring this to national awareness.”
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Denika Chatman mother of Kenneth Harding dons a black veil in mourning for her son as she stands with family and friends in Mendell Plaza. Photo by Maggie Ortins


[http://sfbayview.com/2012/remembering-kenneth-harding-no-stop-n-frisco]


2012-07-10 Mother's Movement in SF Hunter's Point. Photo by Kilo G Perry



2012-07-16 "Protesters Threaten Muni Shutdown, Cause Delays"
by Rigoberto Hernandez & Lisette Mejia from "Mission Local" [http://missionlocal.org/2012/07/protestors-threaten-to-shut-down-muni-today/]:
Protesters delayed five light-rail lines and the 22 Fillmore bus this morning when they temporarily blocked the Duboce Triangle tunnel, according to John Haley, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s director of transit.
The affected lines are currently operating and are catching up with their schedules, Haley said.
As of 9 a.m., a group that had shrunk to two dozen protesters stood in front of the SFMTA’s downtown headquarters, while disrupted Muni lines had resumed. Commuters should still expect delays inbound and outbound due to heavy congestion, according to SFMTA’s Twitter account.
Earlier in the morning, about 40 protesters blocked the Church Street underground rail entrance at the intersection of Church and Duboce, preventing trains from entering and leaving the tunnel.
The N line then switched from an inbound to an outbound train at Church and Market streets, and the J line switched from an inbound to an outbound train at Duboce and Fillmore. Transfers were available via the Church station, and bus shuttles were sent to alleviate the situation.
The 49 and 47 lines, which were blocked from traveling southbound at Van Ness Avenue and Hayes Street, have been cleared and southbound service has resumed. Protesters also briefly blocked the offramp from Highway 101 at Octavia and Market streets.
Several groups had called for a Muni shutdown and asked protesters to gather at various locations.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Kenneth Harding Jr., a 19-year-old man who died in an encounter with police after failing to pay his Muni fare.
Police say that Harding died of a self-inflected gunshot wound sustained while he was shooting at officers. Initially no gun was recovered, but investigators located it days later, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Protesters directed their anger toward police officers who followed them as they marched.
They chanted slogans such as “F*** the police” and “No justice, no peace, no racist police.”
Khalid Shakur of Oakland said the group chose to disrupt the commute in an effort to raise awareness about their cause.
“It’s about money,” he said of targeting Muni. “Once you affect the money, they take you seriously.”
On its Facebook page, one group wrote the following:
"On July 16th, it’ll be 1 year after the SFPD murdered Kenneth Harding Jr. over a $2 Muni fare. The city, SFMTA and the SFPD are stonewalling on the investigation and aren’t releasing videos they confiscated. The family of Kenneth need answers. They shot him the back but can’t look us in the eye? Kenneth Harding didn’t have to die.
When we have family emergencies, we SHUT DOWN our work and take care of our loved ones. Shutting it down is normal. Sweeping it under the rug and going about business as usual is not normal. Do any of our city leaders care? So on Monday July 16th at 6am we going to start the Shutdown Movement and SHUT IT DOWN."
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Protestors headed eastbound on Duboce Ave. Photos by Rigoberto Hernandez.




2012-07-14 "Mothers Unite to Shut Down MUNI at the Kenneth Harding Jr SpeakOut Friday" by rebecca for "Idriss Stelley Foundation"
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/07/14/18717517.php]:
Denika Chatman, mother of Kenneth Harding Jr. who was murdered by SFPD, calls for a movement of mothers against police terror. JOIN THE MUNI SHUTDOWN MONDAY!
On a cold and gloomy San Francisco night, families from around the Bay Area and beyond traveled to the Kenneth Harding Jr. SpeakOut. The event was planned to raise awareness of the murder of Kenneth Harding Jr., a 19-year-old gunned down by SFPD on July 16th of last year and build support for all deaths resulting from police misconduct. In the packed Mosque 26a (Nation of Islam's San Francisco chapter), teary-eyed mothers of victims of police killings recounted stories of their struggle for justice with police departments, city officials and the public.
 Rachel Guido Red, the mother of Derrick Gaines, explained how her son--15-years-old and disabled--was shot in the back by South San Francisco police last month. When the coroner's report was released Thursday, Rachel was so overwhelmed that she passed out and had to be taken to the hospital. Lori Davis, mother of Raheim Brown Jr., told the audience about her son's death at the hands of Oakland Unified School District Police. Like many officers who have taken the life of a young Black or Brown youth, one of Brown's killers was promoted. Officer Bhatt was soon demoted back to his post due to public pressure. Dionne Smith-Downs, mother of 16-year-old James Earl Rivera who was shot 48 times by Stockton police wielding assault rifles nearly two-years-ago, still has not received a coroner's report or been provided with the police video. Ms. Smith-Down's impassioned speech ended with her shouting that "This system is not for us!" a reference to the legal system and government not working on the side of anguished families bereft with a police murder.
 Denika Chatman, Kenny's mother and main organizer of the event along with Kenny's uncle Q, spoke of the tremendous pain that she has had to endure since the murder of her son and how the situation has forced her to become an activist--moving to the Bay Area from her home in Washington state and organizing for justice. Chatman has been vigilant in attending the rallies and protests for other victims of police terror and sees strength in connecting with other mothers. This form of solidarity, she hopes, will lead to a movement of mothers demanding justice for their children.
 Many of the mothers looked to the family of Oscar Grant for guidance. Last year's conviction of Johanes Mesherle was the first conviction of a white officer for the murder of a Black male in history. Cephus Johnson, Oscar Grant's uncle, has been working with the Kenneth Harding Jr. Foundation to organize the weekend's events scheduled to memorialize young Kenny. This afternoon, a free hiphop show in Kenny's honor will be held at City College's Ocean Campus from 3pm-6pm and tomorrow at 3rd Street and Palou Streets in the San Francisco's Bayview district, the Foundation will hold their monthly community feed where they offer bagged lunches to the poor.
 Members of Labor Black and Brown, Decolonize Oakland, Oscar Grant Foundation and Idriss Stelley Foundation. have been working with Kenneth Harding's family to build momentum for the MUNI Shutdown Monday. Kenneth Harding Jr. was killed after allegedly evading a $2 MUNI fare. Activists plan to shut down MUNI on the anniversary of his death early Monday morning and are asking allies to meet at 6am at 14th Street and Market in San Francisco.
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Rachel, the mother of Derrick Gaines speaks with dignity and determination at the Kenneth Harding Jr. SpeakOut yesterday evening. Sitting in the front to the right watching her are Lori Davis, mother of Raheim Brown Jr. Applauding in front Denika Chatman, mother of Kenneth Harding Jr. and main event organizer, Behind her is Kenny's uncle Q. Elaine Brown, once Black Panther Party leader watches from a chair behind the podium. (Rachel stands with Archbishop Franzo King, of St. John Coltrane Church) (photograph by rebecca for Idriss Stelley Foundation)

Kris and AJ, Raheim Brown Jr.'s younger brothers and Kris' girlfriend listen to Oscar Grant's Uncle Bobby (Cephus Johnson) at the Kenneth Harding Jr. SpeakOut yesterday evening organized by Kenny's mom, Denika Chatman and the Kenneth Harding Jr. Foundation. (photograph by rebecca for Idriss Stelley Foundation)



Free Basic First Aid - Arroyo Park this Saturday, July 14th & Justice for Kenneth Harding Jr. July 13-16
message from "People's Community Medics"
Dear Family, Friends and Neighbors,
Ever since the tragedy of Katrina in New Orleans we have been told by local, state and federal agencies that in case of a natural disaster or emergency we should be able to take care of ourselves for at least 72 hours and not to expect assistance from local, state or federal agencies for three or more days.
With that in mind, we believe that we need to know how to care for ourselves, family and neighbors at all times. So about a year ago we started planning the People’s Community Medics, we launched our first training on March 17th and have been sharing our knowledge of basic emergency first aid with our community since then. We want everyone in the community to know how to provide basic emergency care for one another until an ambulance arrives for our injured or sick folks in the community.
Please join us this SATURDAY, JULY 14TH at 1:00 p.m. Arroyo Park in East Oakland (near Ritchie & Bancroft) to learn how to treat seizures and bleeding traumas like gunshot wounds.
The People’s Community Medics are pleased and honored to be part of the Kenneth Harding Jr. Weekend for Justice in San Francisco this coming weekend. We will be at the Community Meal on Sunday, July 15th at 3rd and Palou providing free basic emergency first aid training for our friends and family in the San Francisco Bayview neighborhood. We support the Muni Shutdown in solidarity with Kenneth Harding Jr. who was executed by SFPD 1 year ago over a $2 fare.  Check out #munishutdown.
FOUR DAYS OF ACTION IN MEMORY OF KENNETH HARDING JR. AND AGAINST ALL RACIST COP MURDER IN OUR COMMUNITIES!
·         Friday July 13 Community Speak Out NOI Mosque 26a 3rd & Revere 7pm.
·         Saturday July 14th Free community HIP HOP Show.
·         Sunday July 15th Community Meal, 3rd and Palou St. 10am -2pm.
·         Monday July 16th SHUT DOWN MUNI -DON’T RIDE MUNI come to 3rd and Palou all day -- various bus depots actions.
We look forward to seeing you at Arroyo Park on Saturday and in San Francisco for the Muni Shutdown for Justice for Kenneth Harding!!



KENNETH HARDING JR. SHUT DOWN DAY
MONDAY, JULY 16, 2012
Meet at Market Street and 14th Street in San Francisco at @ 6:00 a.m.
Bring your walking shoes and your determination for justice for people who have been murdered by police for no good reason
 On July 16th, it'll be 1 year after the SFPD murdered Kenneth Harding Jr. over a $2 Muni fare. The city, SFMTA and the SFPD are stonewalling on the investigation and aren't releasing videos they confiscated. The family of  Kenneth need answers. They shot him in the back but can't look us in the eye? Kenneth Harding didn't have to die.
When we have family emergencies, we SHUT DOWN our work and take care of our loved ones. Shutting it down is normal. Sweeping it under the rug and going about business as usual is not normal. Do any of our city leaders care? So on Monday July 16th at 6am we going to start the Shutdown Movement and SHUT IT DOWN.
What Do We Do When They Shoot Us Down?
Shut It Down! Shut It Down!


2012-07-17 "Protesters stall Muni over death; Protesters move on; Muni Metro resumes" by Ellen Huet and Will Kane from "San Francisco Chronicle"
[http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Protesters-move-on-Muni-Metro-resumes-3710093.php]:
A handful of demonstrators protesting the death a year of ago of a man being chased by San Francisco police blocked two Muni Metro lines from entering the downtown tunnel for about 45 minutes Monday morning.
The group of 30 protesters marched in a circle in front of a J-Church line train at Church Street and Duboce Avenue, starting at about 6:45 a.m. The demonstration prevented all J-Church and N-Judah lines from traveling through the area. Bus shuttles were brought in to replace the trains.
The group left a little after 7:30 a.m. and marched down Market before dispersing.
The group was marking the first anniversary of the death of Kenneth Wade Harding, 19, who died in a gunfight with police officers in the Bayview on July 16, 2011.
Harding was fleeing from police who had tried to stop him for failing to pay a Muni fare. Investigators say Harding shot himself to death, apparently accidentally, as he tried to fire at officers.
Seattle police said at the time that they had been looking for Harding in connection with the shooting death three days earlier of a 19-year-old woman. He was also on parole for trying to prostitute a 14-year-old girl.
The bullet that entered Harding's neck and lodged in his head was from a .380-caliber handgun, a weapon that San Francisco officers do not carry, police said. A .380-caliber bullet was found in Harding's pocket, and he had gunshot residue on his hand, police said.
The gun allegedly used in the killing was not immediately found, but investigators located it several days later, police said.
Demonstrators, however, question the police version of events.
"There was no gun found on (Harding)," said Taffy Sourov, 19, as he marched down Market. "The evidence shows an innocent black man shot down."
Some passers-by such as Todd Unnerstall, 42, said they didn't see why the demonstrators had to block the street to make their point.
"I am in support of the issue, but these halfwits are ruining the message," Unnerstall said. "All they want is attention."
Sourov said a public march was the best way to make the point.
"I do understand the frustration of feeling like you have no other recourse," he said. "This is one of their tactics of messing with the city."
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Topaz Shirlita DuBois rallies at 3rd and Palou in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, Calif., Monday, July 16, 2012, where Kenneth Harding was killed a year ago in a shootout with police. Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle / SF

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Thomas J. Medina-Jimenez (middle) protesting on Market St. near Church St. in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, July 16, 2012, in memory of Kenneth Harding, Jr., who was shot last year. Harding died during a shootout with SF police where after riding the T line, he ran from police after they approached him asking if he had a ticket or transfer. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle / SF

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Rebecca Ruiz-Lichter, right, and Ladonna Caloway, left, light candles at a rally at 3rd and Palou in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, Calif., Monday, July 16, 2012, where Kenneth Harding was killed a year ago in a shootout with police. Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle / SF

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Kenneth Harding, Jr.'s mother Denika Chatman (right), joined protesters on Church at Duboce streets in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, July 16, 2012, in memory of her son who was shot last year. Kenneth Harding, Jr. died during a shootout with SF police where after riding the T line, he ran from police after they approached him asking if he had a ticket or transfer. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle / SF

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San Francisco police line up on Church at Duboce streets in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, July 16, 2012, as they control protesters blocking the muni line in memory of Kenneth Harding, Jr. who was shot last year. Harding died during a shootout with SF police where after riding the T line, he ran from police after they approached him asking if he had a ticket or transfer. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle / SF

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Protesters on Church at Duboce streets in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, July 16, 2012, seen in a street mirror as they block the muni line in memory of Kenneth Harding, Jr. who was shot last year. Harding died during a shootout with SF police where after riding the T line, he ran from police after they approached him asking if he had a ticket or transfer. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle / SF

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Marco Harding, uncle of Kenneth Harding, wears a sticker that says "They Shoot Us Down We Shut It Down" at a rally at 3rd and Palou in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, Calif., Monday, July 16, 2012, where Kenneth Harding was killed a year ago in a shootout with police after being stopped on Muni. Protestors organized Monday morning to shut down Muni. Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle / SF


MUNI SHUT DOWN action at Church and Dubose backs up the underground for an hour


2012-07-16 "Protesters Block Muni, Commuting Chaos Has Begun" by Erin Sherbert from "San Francisco Weekly"
[http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/07/muni_protest_kenneth_harding.php]:
Original story (7:40 a.m.) As promised, protesters have reportedly blocked Muni trains, creating what is probably going to be the start of a nightmarish Monday commute.
According to the SFMTA, protesters blocked the N and J lines at Church and Duboce around 7 a.m. The transit agency is sending in shuttles to assist the unfortunate commuters who are stranded.
Here's some other advice from Muni for those of you who don't feel like waiting for shuttles:

SF Appeal is reporting that more protesters are on their way, with big plans to shut down trains in the Mission and Financial districts [http://sfappeal.com/news/2012/07/demonstration-shuts-down-n-judah-and-j-church-monday-morning.php]. The protests are being organized to mark the first anniversary of the shooting death of 19-year-old Kenneth Harding, who was chased down by police after not paying his Muni fare in the Bayview.
Marco Scott, Harding's uncle, tells the Appeal that today's action is meant to be a peaceful protest against police brutality. Although some might say that creating a transit meltdown is hardly peaceful.
"We want to honor [Harding] and our other fallen children that have been killed by police brutality -- we're here to make a statement," Scott tells the Appeal.
He also said protesters will convene at Third and Palou streets around noon for a memorial for Harding.
We put in a call to Muni officials. No word back yet, as we are sure they are scrambling to prepare for what's to come.
We'll keep you posted on transit problems and protests. Check back for updates.
Update (8 a.m.): Protesters have cleared the Church Street station and are now marching to Van Ness Avenue and Market Street. The N and the J lines are back on track for now; however, expect delays in both directions, says Rose. Protesters are also blocking the 101 offramp at Octavia and Market.
Update (9 a.m.): Protesters are now standing in front of the Muni headquarters. Nothing is disrupted as of now, except for Muni employees trying to get in and and out of the building.
Update (9:45 a.m.) Muni officials report heavy congestion along transit lines. Crews are working hard to make this Monday less hellish for passengers.
Update (12:55 p.m.): Either protesters have gotten tired, or this is the calm before the storm. Muni officials say trains are back on track and on time. What's more, there's no signs of protesters anywhere. Demonstrators had talked about holding a noon rally at Third and Palou in the Bayview, but when SF Weekly went out there, it was rather quiet. Of course, the day is young.
Update (1:28 p.m.) Muni spokesman Paul Rose tells us that the agency is turning trains around at Third and Evans streets, and instead running shuttles from Third and Marin to Bayshore Boulevard and Sunnydale. "This is in anticipation of potential large crowds expected," Rose says. Protesters are planning to rally at the Third Street location sometime between now and 5 p.m.
Update (5 p.m.): The much -anticipated rally is finally happening. About 15 demonstrators have gathered at the Third Street Muni stop where they are listening to music and rapping in between a few speeches. It seems rather tame from what we can tell. Paul Rose, spokesman for Muni, says all trains are moving through Third Street with no problems or delays.
Photograph by Suzanne Stathatos from "San Francisco Weekly":

Video from "San Francisco Weekly":


2012-07-16 "Protesters disrupt San Francisco Muni service" from "Miami Herald"
[http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/16/2897766/protesters-disrupt-san-francisco.html]:
The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO --  Protesters have disrupted San Francisco municipal transportation service on the one-year anniversary of an alleged fare evader's death in a police gun battle.
Investigators say 19-year-old Kenneth Harding accidentally shot himself while trying to fire at officers attempting to stop him on July 16, 2011. Harding was allegedly fleeing after failing to pay a Muni fare.
A handful of protesters blocked two Muni Metro lines for about 45 minutes on Monday morning before moving on. Muni brought in bus shuttles to replace the trains.
 The protesters dispute police's version of the shooting and say they'll try to shut down Muni service again during the day.


Note: The following action was created by a group who are not connected to the family of Kenneth Harding, jr.
2012-07-16 "MUNI sabotaged on the 1 year anniversary of Kenneth Harding's murder by SFPD" by anonymous
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/07/16/18717645.php]:
Monday July 16th, on the one year anniversary of the murder of Kenneth Harding by SFPD, we put an outbound T train out of commission by splattering paint on it. We wrote, "Vengeance for Kenny" on the train. We sabotaged the construction happening on the N Judah, and we dropped a banner at 7th and Market reading, "Fare Strike for Kenneth Harding/ Fuck the Police."
We sabotaged MUNI because they care more about their 2 dollar fare then they do about our lives.
 We sabotaged MUNI because it is a machine for the transportation of our bodies to the workplace.
 We sabotaged MUNI to encourage an intensification of attack on the instruments of governance.




2012-07-13 "For Unions and Black and Brown Communities, standing with the Family of Kenneth Harding Jr.: Shut Down the MUNI Lines!" statement from the "Ad Hoc Committee For a MUNI Shut Down on July 16"
info update: [facebook.com/laborblackbrown]
Twitter #MuniShutdown
Four Days of Action for Kenneth Harding Jr. : 
* Friday July 13th Community Speak out -- 7pm at Muhammad’s Mosque 26 -- 1709 Revere Ave. San Francisco, 94124 
* Saturday July 14th Free Community Hip Hop Show @ San Francisco City College -- details TBA
* Sunday July 15th Regular Community Feed @ 3rd and Palou -- 10am to 2pm 
* Monday, July 16th -- Kenneth Harding Jr. Transit Shutdown Day -- Community-Labor-Black-Brown Action to Shut Down MUNI at 3rd & Palou.
---
Two weeks ago, 15-year-old Derrick Gaines was murdered by  the South San Francisco Police for “behaving suspiciously” at a gas station. Less than a year earlier, on July 16, 2011 the San  Francisco Police murdered young Kenneth Harding Jr.: shooting  him in the back and leaving him to die on the pavement because  he was riding the MUNI’s “T” line, seemingly not paying his  fare.
Apparently fare evasion is a capital offense -- yet, because  MUNI policy is so contradictory and disorganized, that in many areas, especially poor neighborhoods, there is no mechanism to  pay fare or buy a ticket before boarding! Adding insult to injury, soon after Harding was killed, the police in Seattle, hundreds of miles away, sent an entire assault rifle-  armed SWAT team to break down the door of Harding’s mother, Ms Denika Chatman, ransack her apartment without a warrant, and arrested her other son!
The cops’ much bragged about “nationwide law enforcement cooperation” is nothing but a nationwide system of cover-ups, orchestrated intimidation and  threats. With Ms Chatmans’ safety in question, we appreciate the Nation of Islam’s effort to protect her and help her relocate so she can pursue Justice for Kenneth Harding Jr. 
Gaines and Harding are only the latest in the long list of  innocent victims who have lost their lives to the ongoing  campaign of police terror against Black and Brown youth: Oscar Grant, James Rivera, Raheim Brown and many others. Our mothers, nationwide, are hurting--and poised to build a  nationwide “Mothers Movement” against the murder of more of  our sons. We welcome and look forward to this important  development. Families brought together by tragic circumstances are uniting, to seek justice.
The mothers,  families, and anti-police brutality organizations are reaching out  to the growing numbers of victimized families. In the words of Carey Downs, James Rivera’s stepfather: “After my son got  killed, they are still killing people in the community. We are  not going to just sit here and watch them do that without saying  something about it. It’s personal, and we are here to stay and  we are going to keep on fighting, not just for our son, but for  everybody else.”
Kenneth Harding Jr.’s family has called for a July 16, 2012 San Francisco MUNI Shutdown!  Ad Hoc Committee for a MUNI Shut Down, July16 support this call now, because we have to stop police killings --NOW!
Kenneth was killed by the S.F. police to protect MUNI  bosses’ “savings” on the backs of the workers. This greed takes  the form of attacks on the MUNI workers and compromising safety which endangers MUNI riders as well as the union  drivers. MUNI has been attacking workers and whistle-blowers like MUNI driver Dorian Maxwell, who helped organize  worker and union resistance to such attacks. Workers like  Oakland Paramedic Sean Gillis, who blew the whistle on Oscar Grants medical mistreatment on the Fruitvale BART platform are victimized. Community leaders like Fly Benzo and others are banned from the community by injunctions, in the attempt to  remove our grass roots organizers and fighters.
Defend our working class and community fighters! To protect ourselves from the plague of police violence, the Black and Brown communities need mass workers actions to  build solidarity, with the aim of organizing labor, Black and  Brown defense guards and an indefinite general strike. 
Independent self-organization is a must! We want the Brown  and Black communities and those workers still employed  talking, strategizing and building defense guards, mobile pickets  and worker’s councils to defend our neighborhoods and our  youth against the gangsters in uniform. We need working class,  Black and Brown united fronts that will be for the effective  mobilization of our fighting forces against the police and this  capitalist system of profit and racism that the police protect.
Shut Down Muni on July 16 In Memory and Honor of Kenneth Harding Jr., And All Victims of Police Murder! 
Organize Working Class, Black and Brown Defense Guards Against Police Brutality! 
Labor, Black and Brown -- Drive the Cops Out of Town!
Down With “Stop and Frisk”!
Down with Union-Busting Prop. G!
Free MUNI For All Youth! 
Build a Movement for an Indefinite General Strike, Against the Attacks on the Unions and the Brown and Black Communities!


SAN FRANCISCO: END RACIST COP TERROR -JULY 16 MUNI SHUT DOWN
[http://cwgusa.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/san-francisco-end-racist-cop-terror-july-16-muni-shut-down/]:
Don’t let Denika Chatman Stand Alone!  Organize Political Strikes Against Police Killings!
For labor Black and Brown to: “Shut Down MUNI on July 16, 2012!”
JUSTICE FOR RAHEIM BROWN JR. COPS OUT OF SCHOOLS
 Last year, on July 16, 2011 the unarmed Kenneth Harding Jr., 19, was shot in the back, by the SFPD, for allegedly not paying the $2.00 fare on the MUNI “T” line.  This murder enraged the Black and Brown communities beleaguered by unending racist cop and vigilante murders, like those of Oscar Grant, Raheim Brown Jr., Luther Brown, James Rivera and now Trayvon Martin, Alan Blueford and Derrick Gaines!
On the 1 year anniversary of Kenneth Harding Jr.’s murder by SFPD, Ms. Denika Chatman, mother of Kenneth Harding Jr., is demanding Justice!  She has issued a call to all decent people in the Bay Area, especially the Black and Brown communities and trade unionists working in transit to Shut Down MUNI on July 16, 2012!  She proposes this in honor and memory of her son, Kenneth Harding Jr., and for all victims of police violence and murder. The enforcement of austerity on the working class and poor persists internationally as the capitalists seek to boost their profits.  The violence of the state against our youth is how the ruling class acts to prevent labor, Black and Brown awakening and unity.  The capitalist class is afraid of multi-racial working class unity in action for good reason!
To survive labor must organize alongside the terrorized Brown and Black communities, achieve political independence from the bosses twin capitalist parties and develop a transitional program to help the masses progress from where we find ourselves now to the logic of smashing the capitalist state through the building of our own working class democratic organizations. To be successful we must unite rank and file workers by building class struggle caucuses in our unions which demand the initiation of anti-racist self-defense and strike actions!  We need to build action committees, factory committees, workers and oppressed peoples’ local, regional, national and international assemblies to organize our own self defense which will challenge the controlling power of the 1%.  Self organization, indefinite general strikes and insurrection are all tools the working class will need to employ to end racist capitalism.  Multi-racial class unity in action is the glue that builds our movement. To unite the entire class around a winning program we need to build a revolutionary workers party based on the method of the 1938 Transitional Program of the 4th International.
We support Ms. Chatman’s call for a MUNI shut down on July 16, as well as the Rivera family call for a Stockton General Strike (this past May).  These ambitious endeavors, which, without the participation of organized labor, will at best be exemplary community protests uniting the best elements of the working class in anti-racist action.   These actions point the way toward the community-labor, inter-union, multi-racial organizing needed to initiate anti-racist action and effective political strikes.
Workers and anti-racist militants who have the wisdom, passion and perseverance to initiate multi-racial class struggle are needed to bring their unions and organizations into the fight against state repression.  Come out from the 13th to the 16th and join supporters of the Kenneth Harding Jr. Foundation help to expose the bosses racist cop terror, unite with the families of the victims!
 Ms. Chatman’s sentiment is not hers alone!  Other families are calling for political strikes against racist police violence and killings!  James Rivera’s family, in Stockton called for a “May 31st General Strike demanding: No Work, No Schools, Shut it Down!“   Rather than a strike a militant rally was held.
Networking of the families of victims of racist state and vigilante murder is essential and building.  But the victims’ families can not win justice alone!  The weight of organized labor arm in arm with the Black and Brown communities is required to end racist vigilante and cop terror/murder.  Only by united action can labor, Black and Brown people defeat the terrorism capitalism uses to demobilize us!
The most committed anti-racist fighters in Bay Area labor alongside the youth from the Brown and Black communities were joined by the ILWU local 10 on Oct. 23rd, 2010 to demand “Jail Killer Cops!”  This “political strike” (actually an exemplary political gathering held during an ILWU monthly safety meeting day) is an example of the labor, Black & Brown power we need to build upon!  Rather than adopting the families of the victims as, “labors own,”  just as our motto “AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL!” demands, the class collaborationist labor fakers who have captured our unions run from the families of the murdered Black and Brown youth.  It is against the interests of labor to ignore the victims of racist capitalism’s state terror.  
Ignoring our class duty to the most oppressed perpetuates a slave mentality that arrests the development of class unity and class consciousness.
Don’t let Ms. Chatman stand alone!   Convene an emergency meeting of your organization to build support for the MUNI shutdown on July 16, 2012, show this: http://sfbayview.com/2011/why-should-you-die-for-a-transfer/
Defend Fly Benzo Bayview/Hunter Point persecuted community activist and leader! Hands off Sean Gillis who exposed the Oakland EMT for failure to investigate the withholding of medical treatment for Oscar Grant!   Rehire Dorian Maxwell who blew the whistle on MUNI unsafe conditions.
 Develop transitional demands that link immediate needs to the logic of a workers government:
Cops off public transit! Cops out of schools!  End stop and frisk nationwide!
Form up labor Black & Brown defense guards at our union halls and in our communities to defend our communities from racist killer cops, vigilantes, scabs, union-busters, KKK and neo-Nazi’s.
Establish labor Black & Brown tribunals to arrest and try killer cops, vigilantes, scabs, union-busters, KKK and neo-Nazi’s. 
Demand labor federations form up unions of the unemployed and precarious workers!
Free Public transit for youth and unemployed.
End school closures! End charter schools and university privatization!  Nationalize private   educational institutions run all education under student, parent, teacher, worker’s control! 
Free education from day care to university level.  Open admissions and free tuition!
Jobs for all at union rate!  Share the work! 30 hours work for 40 hours pay! For a sliding scale of wages & prices–abolish poverty! Build a general strike movement prepare the indefinite General Strike!
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 HWRS (EC) June 20, 2012
The transitional demands in the above leaflet were offered at the June19th Ad Hoc MUNI SHUT DOWN Committee meeting for inclusion on the committees leaflet.  The emergent inside/outside faction of the HWRS objected to them for being too long, being a laundry list and for being the program of a party not appropriate for an Ad Hoc Committee. Members of Labor Black and Brown suggested they could be used in an issue of THE EXPROPRIATOR.   The committee’s meeting on 6/19 concluded without a group leaflet being agreed upon. For lack of a committee leaflet the following leaflet was issued on 6/20/12 by the HWRS(EC).  The so-called laundry list of demands were ultimately adopted by Kenneth Harding Jr.’s  Mother and by vote of the next  Ad Hoc committee meeting where  their inclusion on one of the three leaflets sanctioned and issued by the committee. HWRS(EC) released this leaflet in its own name and distributed it at the Lakeview school occupation march, the Gay Pride march, at Mime Troupe shows and at bus and train stops.  The final leaflet issued In the name of the committee produced by LB&B& the inside/outside faction included the slogan “Free transit for youth” & “End Stop and Frisk” despite their objection to those demands at the July 19th meeting.  In an ultra-left bout of sloganeering they advanced the slogan “Labor Black & Brown-Drive the cops out of Town” while opposing the call to organize unions of the unemployed and the development of self defense guards in the union halls. This leaflet included information on the four days of actions  for Kenneth Harding Jr. as well as the July 6th action for Raheim Brown as well as organizing tools (removed for this post event post.)  


It is almost as if "G*D" ordained to serve the cause for justice...
2012-07-15 "Downed power line halts SF Muni trains" by David R. Baker from "San Francisco Chronicle"[http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Downed-power-line-halts-SF-Muni-trains-3708752.php]:
A downed power line briefly stranded two N-Judah trains in San Francisco's Sunset Tunnel on Sunday.
An overhead line that supplies electricity to the trains broke around 11:30 a.m. near the intersection of Church Street and Duboce Avenue. Both the N and the J-Church light rail lines emerge from the Market Street Subway at that intersection, and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has spent months upgrading the tracks, passenger platforms and wiring there.
The overhead line came apart where a piece of new wiring had been spliced to older cable, said agency spokeswoman Kristen Holland.
"That's a point our operations people will be watching closely to make sure it doesn't happen again," she said.
The downed line cut power to an N-Judah train at the intersection as well as two trains in the Sunset Tunnel several blocks away. One train was just starting to enter the tunnel from its western end in Cole Valley, while the other was midway through, traveling outbound.
All passengers on the inbound train - in Cole Valley - left the vehicle. About half of the people on the outbound train chose to leave, walking out of the tunnel along the train tracks. The rest remained on board, Holland said.
Meanwhile, the severed power line also cut electricity to J-Church trains near the Church and Duboce intersection. Muni ran shuttle buses for passengers of both the N and the J until the line was reconnected around 12:20 p.m.2012-07-13 "Protesters Plan to Shut Down Muni Service on Monday" by Erin Sherbert
[http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/07/kenneth_harding_muni_shut_down_protest.php]:
Muni officials are scrambling to prepare for a planned protest in the city's Bayview neighborhood next week that's sure to screw up your commute come Monday.
The Examiner brings us the bad news this morning [http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/transportation/2012/07/bayview-protest-might-disrupt-muni-service], explaining that demonstrators are calling on all Muni lines to be shut down -- and they claim to have plenty of good reasons for it, including the Police Department's racial discrimination policies and Muni's ongoing attack on organized labor.
Even more compelling, they say, is Monday marks the 1-year anniversary of the shooting death of Kenneth Harding, the 19-year-old man who was chased down by police and shot to death after he attempted to dodge paying his Muni fare in the Bayview.
 Demonstrators have targeted Third Street and Palou Avenue as the meeting spot for the protest, but not time has been set. The T-Third Street light rail line and the 54-Felton, 44-O'Shaughnessy, 24-Divisadero, and 23-Monterey bus lines all pass through that particular intersection, the Ex reports.
A random group called the Humanists for Revolutionary Socialism, is backing Monday's protest, dubbed "Kenneth Harding Jr. Transit Shut Down Day" and blames Muni's policies for Harding's death.
"Kenneth was killed by the S.F. police to protect Muni bosses' 'savings' on the backs of the workers," the group says on its website. "This greed takes the form of attacks on the Muni workers and compromising safety which endangers Muni riders as well as the union drivers."
SF Weekly contacted Muni to find out what the rest of us are supposed to do come Monday, if and when the trains are disrupted. She didn't say much other than they are aware of this protest and will take it into consideration, whatever that means. However, Ron Austin, spokesman for the transit union, tells the Examiner that we need not worry too much.
"When the sun rises on Monday, we'll be out there working," he said.
Of course, all that means is they will still get their paycheck.


"San Francisco Muni Shutdown" Press Conference
July 13th, 2012
Time: 6pm
Location:  3rd and Palou SF, CA
July 16, 2012 will mark the one-year anniversary of the murder of Kenneth Harding Jr. who was murdered by San Francisco police at the age of nineteen for allegedly failing to pay a $2.00 transit fare. While the family still awaits the report on the investigation of the police officers that shot and killed Kenneth Harding Jr, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K9RS34WG7M], the Kenneth Harding Jr. Foundation has called upon the community to come together in solidarity to support a shutdown against the San Francisco Municipal Transit. The community will shutdown Muni transit Service. We want free transit for all youth. No youth should have to worry about losing his or her life for not having $2.00 transit fare. The community is standing in solidarity demanding Federal indictment charges be filed against the police officer who killed Kenneth Harding Jr. The families of Kenneth Harding Jr, murdered by SF Muni Transit Officers; James Rivera Jr, murdered by Stockton police; Derrick Gains, murdered by south San Francisco police; Raheim Brown, murdered by Oakland school district police; and the Family of Oscar Grant  will be present.
James Rivera mother will respond to the July 11, 2012 San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office report detailing the death of James Rivera Jr
The following event are scheduled for the next four days:
* Friday, July 13th Community speaks out 7pm 1709 Revere Ave San Francisco. Families of police murders will speak out with community
* Saturday, July14th Community Hip-Hop shows 3pm-6pm San Francisco City College Mission Campus in courtyard
* Sunday, July15th Community Feed at 10-2pm 3rd and Palou
* Monday, July 16th SF Muni Transit shutdown meet at 5:30 am 3rd and Palou


Fly Benzo Rocks the Mic at Kenneth Harding Jr. Event 2/10/12
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeFNj-KWSQc]:
Fly Benzo performs "Goodbye," "War On Terror," "Picture Perfect" and "And They Wonder Why" at 330 Ritch in San Francisco, 2/10/12

2012-02-09 "Star-studded Kenneth Harding Benefit Concert, HipHop Film Fest, great Bay View stories & more"
from "San Francisco Bay View"  newspaper:
Not long ago a man who’d just been released from the state prison called the California Men’s Colony (I’ve always wondered how it got that name) called to say that officials there dread the day the Bay View hits the mail room because, he reported them as saying, “The Bay View can change the nation.” I’m not relaying that to toot our own horn but to encourage you to visit www.sfbayview.com often to read some truly great stories – and to consider volunteering to help post the stories. Our last volunteers, who were wonderful, moved on to put more time into labor organizing, and we sure could use a few more. No need to come here; I can email you the instructions and a story to get you started. Thanks for considering it.

UPCOMING EVENTS -
Friday, Feb. 10, 9 p.m.: Kenneth Harding Benefit Concert hosted by Chuy Gomez, with music by DJ JR, the Minister of Information, and special club performances by The Jacka, MacMall, Cellski, Turf Talk, Matt Blaque, Beeda Weeda, Laroo, J Diggs, plus The Doe Gang, Undagod and Fly Benzo. Kenneth Harding is the 19-year-old murdered by SFPD last July 16 a block from us over a $2 transit fare. City Hall will judge how serious we are about justice by the size of the crowd. Be there! It’s happening at 330 Ritch in San Francisco. Get your tickets – only $12 – at http://justice4kennethhardingjr.eventbrite.com/. Hurry before it sells out.

Friday-Saturday, Feb. 10-11: Second Annual Civil Rights and HipHop Film Festival. Come by at 5 p.m. before the concert Friday for political hiphop and soul music video shorts and a slideshow and lecture by former Black Panther Party Minister of Culture Emory Douglas on his art work that educates and inspires the world.
On Saturday, 6:30-10 p.m., for a Marvin Gaye documentary; “Planet Rock,” narrated by Ice T on the relationship between hiphop and crack cocaine; and “Life Is,” a documentary with Too Short. The location is Twinspace Continuum, 2111 Mission St. at 17th, third floor Suite 3, San Francisco.Ongoing every weekday morning at 9:30 a.m.: Trial of DeBray “Fly Benzo” Carpenter, the Bayview Hunters Point hero who SFPD is trying to bury under a four-year prison term for using his First Amendment rights to protest the police murder of Kenneth Harding and all the evil committed by the SFPD, the out-of-control militarized gang occupying our hood. Read Fly’s own words at The First Amendment right to record the police and his latest, ‘We don’t work, nobody works’ about his economic justice organizing. The trial is in Department 27 at the Hall of “Justice,” 850 Bryant, San Francisco. For the latest trial schedule and more info, check http://www.facebook.com/FlyBenzo.

Monday, Feb. 20, 12-3 p.m.: National Occupy Day in Support of Prisoners. In the Bay Area, we’ll Occupy San Quentin outside the main gate. Huge crowds in California – LA and Fresno have big rallies planned outside their county jails – could prevent the need for more hunger strikes, and huge crowds around the country could abolish solitary confinement. Get a ride or give a ride at 10 a.m. at either Oscar Grant Plaza, 14th and Broadway, Oakland, or 1540 Market St., San Francisco. Check the Bay View Calendar of Events often. More Saturday, Feb. 11, events to choose from include the HipHop Chess Federation’s anniversary, Bikes 4 Life’s grand re-opening – they’re giving away 20 bikes – and a bold new work by Marc Bamuthi Joseph.

Spend Sunday, Feb. 12, deliberating “The State of Black San Francisco 2012.”
Have a ball celebrating Valentine’s Day Feb. 14 with the POOR Magazine crew at their Fifth Annual Poetry Battle of ALL the Sexes.
And come to the Fillmore, called Harlem of the West before the Redevelopment bulldozers destroyed it, for the Sixth Annual Mardi Gras Feb. 18-21.
LATEST STORIES AT SFBAYVIEW.COM
Behind Enemy Lines – Many more excellent stories are almost ready to post, so please check back often.
 




2012-01-22 "Justice for Kenneth Harding!" gathering: 












2012-01-21 "JUSTICE FOR KENNETH HARDING!!!" sign making party
2012-01-19 message from "Oscar Grant Committee against Police Terror and State Oppression":
THIS SATURDAY, JANUARY 21st at 2:00 p.m., Ms. Denika Chatman, mother of Kenneth Harding, who was murdered on July 16, 2011 by the SFPD for a $2 muni fare "evasion," is having a picket sign making party along with members of the Oscar Grant Committee, Solano County Peace & Freedom Party and MDS/SDS, to make picket signs calling for "Justice For Ken Harding."
Anyone interested in participating and for more information and directions, please call us at 510-239-3570
The Oscar Grant Committee meets the 1st Tuesday of every month at the Niebyl Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph (near Alcatraz) in Oakland at 7:00 p.m.  Visit us at [www.oscargrantcommittee.weebly.com].




2011-08 "Green Party mayoral candidate Teresa Baum calls for independent investigation of Kenneth Harding’s death"
by Teresa Baum [http://sfbayview.com/2011/sfpd-tightens-its-chokehold-on-bayview-hunters-point-since-killing-kenneth-harding/]:
As a candidate for mayor of San Francisco, I join other outraged citizens in calling for an independent investigation of the death of Kenneth Wade Harding Jr. Considering the terrible history of police-community relations in Bayview Hunters Point, considering the history of neglect of the needs of these people by the city, it is understandable that this neighborhood cannot just accept the police department’s version of this tragic death and move on.
There are many troubling questions posed by Harding’s death. Why were police looking for fare evaders in the first place? This is a job for unarmed fare inspectors. Certainly, we don’t see police performing this function in Noe Valley, where I live. Why would police pursue, with guns drawn, someone running from the crime of not having a transfer? Who shot first? Only eyewitnesses can tell us this, and perhaps we will never know with absolutely certainty the answer to this question. Why did police risk the safety of neighborhood children by shooting in the direction of a crowded playground in the middle of the day?
Indeed, no agency can effectively investigate itself. And the incentive is enormous for the police to cover up the possibility that they killed Kenneth Harding. The police press release about the caliber of the fatal bullet made it seem that they were reporting the medical examiner’s results. But in an interview by the Bay Guardian, the Medical Examiner made it clear that it was not her job or her field of expertise to evaluate the caliber of the bullet. The police alone decided that the bullet that killed Harding was a different caliber from the Police Department’s own guns.
In the past year, the San Francisco police have killed Vihn Bui, a mentally ill man in his home in the Bayview, and shot Randal Dunklin through the back of his wheelchair in SoMa. BART police killed Charles Blair Hill, a homeless drunken man, at the Civic Center Station. And now Kenneth Harding. The police are creating a climate of fear in neighborhoods that are ripe for gentrification. It is understandable if the residents feel they’re being pressured to move out, so that others with more money can move in. This is not the San Francisco I want to live in. An investigation by truly independent outsiders would be a step toward creating a climate of police accountability and compassion in our city.


"SAN FRANCISCO: TEEN’S FAMILY DEMONIZED AFTER POLICE MURDER HIM"
2011-09-01 by Diane Bukowski at "Voice of Detroit (VOD)" [http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/09/01/san-francisco-teens-family-demonized-after-police-murder-him/]:
VOD ed: The police terror that is being visited on the family of Kenneth Harding, Jr., who was murdered in San Francisco by police July 16, over a transit fare, is reminiscent of what is happening to the family of Detroit’s Aiyana Stanley-Jones, 7. The Jones family has been forced to move to undisclosed locations because of death threats, while Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy covertly threatens to charge Aiyana’s father Charles Jones in the killing of Je’rean Blake a week previously. Chauncey Owens, currently charged in that incident, was supposed to receive a reduced sentence for implicating Jones, but his sentencing has been postponed twice. It is now set for Oct. 31, 2011. Likewise, after falsely accusing Kenneth Harding, Jr. of being implicated in an earlier shooting in Seattle, police have now targeted his brother Ondrell for another killing.
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Kenneth Jr. and Ondrell Harding as children with mom Denika Chatman. This loving family has been demonized and threatened by police and in the media ever since two San Francisco officers, recently identified as Matthew Lopez and Richard Hastings, shot him in the back as he ran from them, killed him and, with their guns drawn, allowing no one to aid or comfort him, watched him bleed to death in Hunters Point in front of a crowd of witnesses.