Alex Darocy Photography

In solidarity with activists facing state repression in Turkey and Brazil, as well as American whistle blowers Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden, community members held a "Rally for Rights" at the Santa Cruz Town Clock on July 6. Demonstrators held signs, staged an intervention on Uncle Sam, lit candles for a vigil, and several individuals also stood on traffic medians to protest the recent criminalization of that act in the City of Santa Cruz. "Protesters in Turkey and Brazil have faced down tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets simply for trying to assemble. U.S. patriots such as Edward Snowden face jail time and possibly torture if captured, while political activists are spied on and monitored merely for criticizing the U.S. government, banksters and multinational corporations," an announcement for the event read. "It doesn't matter whether the government is led by reactionary Islamists in Turkey, secular social democrats in Brazil, or conserva...

At this year's Fourth of July anti-war demonstration in Santa Cruz, community members called for the release of all political prisoners, including Bradley Manning, Lynne Stewart, and Edward Snowden. The event is held annually at the corner of Ocean and Water Street, and the throng of holiday traffic rolling by slowly, bumper to bumper, was greeted this year with protest signs bearing strong messages of opposition to the expansion of security culture in the United Sates. Support for Bradley Manning among the group was very strong, and many adoringly communicated in a variety of ways that he is a political hero to them. Several individuals used whistles to declare their belief that Manning and other American political prisoners should receive whistle blower protections for the government crimes they have exposed. Organizers created a series of themed protest signs inscribed with messages correlating the reduced liberties of Americans domestically to corporate rule, and the deadly...

Coinciding with demonstrations planned worldwide for February 23, Bradley Manning's 1000th day in prison, community members in Santa Cruz gathered at the Town Clock on February 24 to demand justice and humane treatment for the U.S. soldier. At the Town Clock, a number of community members held signs that described Bradley Manning as a "hero" and one sign described what he has endured in prison and solitary confinement as "torture." The overwhelming sentiment of the Santa Cruz group was that Manning is a whistleblower and that the role he played exposing the military's crimes was crucial to the functioning of U.S. democracy, as well as a legally permissible activity.  Participating in the rally were several members of Sin Barras, a group of community members interested in prison abolition. They describe themselves as meeting regularly to, "support inmates and their struggles, organize rallies in support of prisoners, send literature to inmates...