by John Kawakami
Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2003 at 7:58 PM
A cliquey, gossipy, and very tacky "report" about the cheerful celebration. The writer's unvarnished editorializing is offensive. We serious journalists are not amused.
Around 50 or so supporters partied tonight because Josh C., accused of vandalizing the Hummer dealership, was released because the policed had no evidence linking him to the incident, and he had an alibi. It was cool. It was turning into some kind of replica of a Phish concert parking lot, complete with hacky sack, drums, and digeridoo, and as disturbing as that was to my stooges/ramones/buzzcocks rock and roll sensibilities, it was still a beautiful thing. (I'll come out of the closet: I actually have CDs by the Dead, and SCI and Phish tapes. I even listen to Barry Smolin on K sometimes.)
Man, there were peace vigil people there from all over the suburban landscape. Costa Mesa and Brea, Alhambra and West Covina, even this one small area I've forgotten the name of, and of course, Pomona and Claremont. Jim from IMC represented for the Topanga folks. Heidi's got the interview with Josh brewing too. This dude told me he got back from Cancun, and it was amazing, and that the mood there was somber, because of the self-death of farmer activist Kyung-Hae Lee.
I also found out about some rad happenings. One is a peace walk in Huntington Beach this weekend - it's a walk-a-thon, and I'll post the URL on la.indymedia.org if you all want to support this. Also, there's going to be coverage of this on Pueblos Sin Fronteras on KPFK, so listen if you're just getting this. And, a couple guys were there filming this, and they said they're putting together a documentary, and I hope the screen it around town soon.
Aside from this, there are two serious things to watch for. First, the status of the seized computers and materials, and second, whether the house residents will sue the police. When the Regen V house was raided, the police seized six computers, personal letters, notebooks, and other effects from residents. This is material, I suspect, the FBI will be using to map out who knows whom; they say the investigation is ongoing. Sure. I bet that's what they wanted all along, and Josh was just their "key" into the house, a reasonable suspect that they could use to get a search warrant. Second, it's unknown at this time if the residents will file a suit against the involved police agencies, over this issue. It seems like an excessive invasion of privacy, and I wouldn't want someone to haul off with my computer because I know someone who might get fingered by overzealous federales.
-- johnk