Anarchists occupy abandoned school for May Day, 11 arrested say police

examiner.com May 2, 2010

http://www.examiner.com/x-32279-SF-Crime-Examiner~y2010m5d2-Anarchists-occupy-abandoned-school-for-May-Day-11-arrested-say-police

Last night a San Francisco May Day demonstration by Black Bloc anarchists
turned into an occupation when they took over an abandoned school to claim
it for the homeless of the City.

Anarchists face off police during a "Reclaim The Streets" operation on
Mission Street

After a few hundred Black Bloc anarchists marched around different parts
of the city to commemorate May Day, a.k.a. International Workers' Day,
some of them broke into an abandoned school near the intersection of 16th
and Mission streets and occupied it.

"This school is sitting empty, they're not using it while we have so many
homeless people on the streets. Why doesn't the city let the homeless stay
here?" said one anarchists, who refused to give his name.

San Francisco police, who'd been tracking the march from the beginning,
responded by closing off Mission Street between 15th and 16th streets,
then clearing the sidewalks of both bystanders and anarchists.

The anarchists locked the gates behind them. They'd come with various
items that clearly showed this was not a spur-of-the-moment action but
instead had some amount of planning behind it.

After a standoff and negotiations between them and the police that lasted
about two hours, the anarchists either voluntarily removed themselves from
the property or were arrested and forcibly removed.

A police commander at the scene said 11 people were arrested.


May Day rally turns violent in Santa Cruz

SF Chronicle May 3, 2010

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/03/BA3C1D8HG8.DTL#ixzz0mzooWNtT

SANTA CRUZ -- A May Day rally in Santa Cruz erupted into chaos Saturday
night when about 200 protesters, some with torches, stormed the city's
main street. Some smashed windows and spray-painted anarchist graffiti,
police said.

Jimi Haynes, 24, was arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism after
witnesses saw him shatter two windows at a Pacific Avenue jewelry store,
police said. They said Haynes, a parolee from Fresno County, had been in
Santa Cruz for several weeks and had learned of the rally by picking up a
flyer at a "local anarchist cafe."

The incident started after protesters at a labor rally at the town clock
marched down Pacific around 10:30 p.m., police said. At least 15
businesses were vandalized. A video posted on YouTube shows several people
in masks smashing windows, with some others in the crowd confronting the
vandals.