Santa Cruz Students Face Draconian Punishment for Shutting Down Highway 1 Defend the Highway 6!

May 11, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

On March 3, six students from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) chained themselves together, linking arms through metal tubes and trash cans, and shut down Highway 1, the main artery along the coast, for five hours. The action—part of four days of protests at UCSC and other University of California campuses against tuition hikes and police brutality—included a student strike at Santa Cruz which completely shut down the campus. In response, Santa Cruz city officials and the UCSC administration are bringing down draconian punishment against these courageous students.

Initially the six were charged with three misdemeanor charges and a felony, “conspiring to execute a plan of conspiracy.” Facing the felony charge and threatened with 18 months in prison, the six pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors. The judge has already said that she plans to sentence the students to 30 days in jail and the city announced that it will seek $40,000 in restitution from the students—the cost of the police in arresting them. And UCSC has suspended the students for 10 months, saying that they cannot even set foot on campus until 2016!

Speaking at his initial arraignment, Ethan Pezzolo, one of the six, and a second year student at UCSC, said, “I am standing before you today to tell you that I am not a criminal. But there are real criminals in this world, real acts against our humanity that occur every day. The real criminals are the police officers who, working under a white supremacist, systemically racist umbrella of state-sponsored violence, murder countless Black and Brown people as they cry out under the weight of their oppression.”

A climate of hate has been fanned against these students. According to the Huffington Post, threats toward the activists have been seen on the “Official Group of UCSC Students”—a closed group on Facebook. And more than 4,000 people have signed a petition on change.org urging the chancellor to expel the students.

These courageous students—who are setting a moral example—are to be sentenced on June 19. And even BEFORE the sentencing hearing, the judge has announced the jail time and large fine that she plans to deliver. Meanwhile, 68 students from Stanford University are facing misdemeanor charges for shutting down the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge in a protest on January 19—part of actions around the country to protest police brutality and murder on Martin Luther King Day.

This cannot be allowed to stand! These students need to be defended and supported in the courts, against UC Santa Cruz’s outrageous suspension, and in public opinion. This is a crucial part of building the new wave of resistance across the country.

 

 

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