Long Beach May Day Update

Long Beach May Day 2001 Legal Update 5/06/01

Recap: Last Tuesday May 1st 100 people were arrested in Down Town Long Beach at the Southern California Carnival Against Capital; Approximately 75 of those arrested were adults, the other 25 were juveniles. The original charges placed against the majority of those arrested were Felony Conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor. The misdemeanor charges ranged from failure to disperse to provoking a riot.

Casualties of the Class War: The participants in the carnival against capital sustained many injuries. Rubber bullet and bean bag shotguns were fired from as close a 3 feet away into peoples backs. Many had severe rubber bullet wounds. One individual had a hole blown thru his jeans and several rubber bullets imbedded inches into his leg. There was also one broken arm, one broken elbow, and many broken and hyper-extended fingers and wrists.

Yesterday, Saturday May 5 after a court support network meeting we learned that there are still 4 adult males being held in custody at Twin Towers County Jail in Down Town Los Angeles. One of these prisoners is being held in INS detention and is facing possible deportation. The other three males are facing serious assault charges and are being held on bail ranging from 30,000 to 100,000 dollars. In addition to these 4 people, there are also 8 John Doe prisoners who may or may not still be in jail at Twin Towers. There is also still one Juvenile being held.

The first set of arraignments was held last Thursday, May 5. Of those arraigned some had their conspiracy charges dropped and some did not. The Long Beach Police Department harassed and intimidated court support people and confiscated all writing utensils (pens and paper). In addition, the LBPD arrested a court support participant for truancy.

The next arraignments will be held Wednesday May 11, Thursday May 12, and Friday May 13 at the Down Town Long Beach courthouse. We are asking for a large showing of support at court on these days.

So far all defendants have plead not guilty!

What we need: The main thing that we can use right now from people from around the country is monetary support. We need bail bond money for the prisoners still being held and we need to develop a legal defense fund for future court/legal costs. We can also use any referrals of criminal defense lawyers.

Please send any donations to the:

Long Beach May Day 2001 Support Fund:

PO. BOX 424

996 Redondo Ave

Long Beach, CA 90804

LBmaydayfund@disinfo.net

For general Information please call (562) 437-4040