Oakland Squat Fiasco.. The Safehouse what the fuck

[rock city]

Over the past couple of months a strange situation had come to a head at the safehouse, a pretty long runnin squat from my understanding around the corner more or less from hellarity, mentioned earlier on this forum concerning the new residents from wretchedryan
http://squattheplanet.com/diy-die/squatting-alternative-housing/11618-fuck-squat-nazis.html
and by the way ryan, Im sorry yall had a shitty time, I was the kid that let yall in and thought yall should be as welcome to the house as anyone who was staying there but it is true there was sort of an anti traveler mentality there and a shitty elitist attitude regarding kids passin thru..


While I was there a family of pissed off muslims who had recently obtained ownership of the property ended up invading the house on two occasions first time with 20+ folks, a few of them over six foot goons who smashed the place up, the second with over 40 people, many of them children who insulted residents and stole whatever they wanted. It was fucking weird. During the first incident one squatter called the police and one traveler made a statement sending one of the family members to jail. Because of that support from the bay area anarchists was gone and the house was regarded as shelter for snitches. During the second "invasion" there were only a few of us in the house, and they quickly moved us all out and destroyed the interior. Most kids who were all gung ho political about the house and then callin the cops were not even there and those of us who had nothing to do with that shit caught the shitty end of the stick when we got ran up on.
I cant explain it too well I suppose, but here is an account of what happend including a flaming comment war with the squatters and supporters and a member or two of that fucking family.
Oakland's Safehouse Experience Violent Attack After Attempted Unlawful Eviction : Indybay

and heres an anarchist perspective denouncin the house
SafeHouse Snafu | Anarchist news dot org

there were also some youtube videos of them smashing up the place but I cant find them.

 

[Matt Derrick]

damn, that sounds shitty. i didn't read the whole thing on the anarchist's perspective denouncing the place (it's pretty long) but i do agree with the not calling the cops thing, that was pretty dumb. it's hard to tell over the internet which group was right, and which one was wrong since they're pretty conflicting stories. but anyways, here's those youtube vids you were looking for:

 

[shittickit]

i think the squatters illigitimized themselves when they called the police when in this kind of situation it's hard to know what to do but the only options icould see are leaving or fighting sit-ins and such seem silly and makes the people in them look i know i wasn't there i dont't know and all that but iwould have probably left when i knew shit was gonna get out of hand which you had to know when the police told the owners that they couldn't do anything would probably be what happens angy+feelings of helplessness in a white oppressive society= "im the rightful owner these people are tresspassers and the police won't help me because i am black"= we see what makes us angry lets get them really this whole issue really drives home to me that if i neglected my property and some blacks moved in would the police help me damn right

 

[wokofshame]

Ehh wow woulda been interesting to be there to say the least.
I can't fucking stand the PC talk regarding any race matters or "gentrification" you find on most anarchist web sites.
A spade's a spade no matter the color. Go to fucking spain in 39 ya retards if ya love it so much. I guess I feel completely alienated from the declared "anarchist" community. Plus fuck talking shit on peeps in a situation you weren't in yourself from the safety of your room.

What was I gonna say, oh yeah, I 've called the cops before. When I'm in trainyards and want to distract the bull from my part of the yard, when frat bros and sluts play loud techno nearby i'll call in a noise complaint, when i see a mistreated animal, or someone burning trash in the neighbourhood i grew up in (brother's got asthma), when I feel a real and defined threat to my physical safety or someone else's, or just when i feel someone is a complete douchebag pondscum and deserves some trouble with Johnny Law.
Calling 911 is a tool in your arsenal just like any other. If you went around pepper spraying everyone that wouldnt be very nice would it? But if you only spray those who deserve it its simply useful as fuck. Cops are like a mad dog on a long chain, let em loose when you need it and get the hell out of the way fast.

 

[Trains]

ahahha oh murt...

crazy stuff

 

[Trains]

``This is a legitimate question. The squatters would have gone to jail and lost their house.

Also, the anarchist scene and intellectuals such as the original poster who now advocate violence and denounce the squatters would then denounce them anyway even though they followed their suggestion. They would call them racist for killing a absentee landlord who happens to be black.

So you see the squatters had no good options, and they would have been villified by their fellow anarchist douchebags no matter what they did.

Thanks for posing a ligitimate question in this otherwise bullshit thread. For everyone else fuck you in your smug lack of solidarity!``

I feel this guy.
APOC, bring up a lot of good critques and perspectives on things, but as soon as white privilege is thrown into your face and name calling starts I get such a hostile vibe that is hard to empathise with.

I think if the same thing were to happen to the owner-landlords, they would of called the cops, after throwing cutlery. If thier car tires were popped, keyed, and windows broken, I imagine they would want some sort of financial statement printed out by a judicial worker, and for police to assist in helping the courts to try and force people to pay them back.

Is this where Eye for an Eye comes in? If the owners broke one of the squatters expensive cameras, and that person feels that it should be payed for, what is there to do? Ask them nicely to replace destroyed property? Go bust their car or house up? Or call the cops and have them pay through the system? Or sacrifice your camera, and eventually get another?

Someone ran over my bike, I was pissed because that was my trasnportation, I was lucky that the kid was nice enough to return my calls and end up coming to an agreement. If he would of never returned my calls, refused to help me out, I would of been out of transportation and he would of went on with his business. Perhaps running over peoples bikes for a living just because he knew he could.. no one was going to call the cops, and if someone tried to damage his propery, he was ready to speed dial 911.

What do you do...


It looked like Luke was in one of those videos.. right after the knives where thrown..
Do you know if he was there Timmothy?

 

[bacongator]

use of cops as a tool is a shady road to tavel.maybe if like you said your life is a stake someone harms a dog .but its not a tool to use for personal gain .thats how people end up in a dumpster dead

 

[ericafuckyea]

Yeah I think calling the cops was probably a bad idea. You shouldn't get to claim anarchist values and then pick and choose situations in which you want police involvement... if cops are at your demonstration / show / raiding your squat you're gonna stand your ground and be all self righteous, but if you're scared you're gonna call them to take care of shit for you? just seems a little hypocritical. correct me if i'm wrong. I just think you should handle those situations yourself and within your community (and i don't mean your homogenous pc kid community, make friends with and gain support from your neighbors.) Secure your squat so people can't just bust in and start fucking shit up. Have a phone tree of supporters you can call if something like that happens, people who will make sure no one gets hurt, that way you don't have to call the police. You don't need police reports for evidence, have a video camera on hand, it's a great deterrent to violence. After Hellarity was set on fire we had a van parked out front with people constantly awake gaurding the house, 24/7. Even before the arson the house was never left unoccupied. There are ways to prevent these kinds of things... plus calling the cops invariably will make a situation worse. They don't work for us.
Sucks y'all had to deal with that though.

 

[Alaska]

I would post something more meaningful here, but something some fucking douchebag said in the anarchistnews.org article already got me riled up and I spent all my shit there.

All I can say is, both parties involved were fucked (in different perspectives). But it turned into a personal issue. I could have sworn claiming to be an anarchist was a personal affair that affects your personal life. Aw well. Now both the neighborhood AND the general anarcho community in that part of california have issues with you. Good job, whoever the cop caller from SafeHouse was!

 

[venusinpisces]

Well, under a system of "perfect" anarchy doesn't that mean no food stamps too? And no walking on sidewalks since they were paid for with taxpayer money? No using any kind of public infrastructure, for that matter, so there goes freighthopping. Reasons like these are why it's kind of hard for me to take anarchism too seriously even though I agree with many of its ideas in principle. I like the idea of worker collectives but at a certain point their structure begins to resemble government and so does virtually any form of social organization which is necessary to function in any practical capacity. This is why I base my values on ethics more than ideology, because every single political system, including anarchism, has been used to enforce dysfunctional and authoritarian practices.

Now, I don't like to call the police but I think there are some situations where it's unavoidable. A few summers ago I had a psycho crackhead who was stalking me. I would come home and he would be outside my door with a metal pipe in his hand.
This guy had told me about murdering people and even threatened to knock me out and steal all my money (not that I have any
so I'm sure he would have been disappointed). What were my options in that situation? Well, I could have bought a gun and killed him, but that could have just resulted in me going to prison. I also could have had someone I know do the same with the same result. On the other hand, I knew for a fact that he was on parole so it probably wouldn't have been too hard to have him locked up. What I did was have various guys stay over but honestly that was kind of a hassle and very inconvenient as they kept trying to get in my pants the whole time and I wasn't interested. I ended up feeling a bit guilty for having them over since I basically risked their safety and they didn't even get what they were looking for. If it had gone on for much longer you better believe I would have called the police. When I think about my grandparents, who are pretty alienated and don't have a "posse" of people to call to back them up, then I'm glad the police are an option for them in the event of dangerous situations.

I don't think police are the problem even though I try to avoid them if possible since they are used to enforce unnecessary laws. I've met a lot of nice cops who gave me rides, didn't take me to jail when they could have, etc. Obviously we've all met a lot of asshole cops too but I think the real problem is with the unjust system they represent. In some situations illegal actions may be the only option, like when genetic engineering companies are allowed free reign to monopolize the food supply. But generally, the focus should be on making structural changes that reduce injustice instead of trying to go back to the Wild West as if that's even possible. Because if you look at systems of "vigilante" justice, they are just as likely to be corrupt as any police department. Think lynch mobs. Or sharia law when women get beheaded for adultery. I also would never want any of my friends to end up in prison for defending me if there was any other option.

I live in the ghetto and pretty much know most of my neighbors. They are people who really don't care what you do as long as you mind your own business. Smoke crack all day? Run an escort business out of your house? Whatever. But when I told them about what was going on, the answer was always either get a gang involved or call the cops. Calling the police was invariably the solution of choice offered up by older people who know first hand how ultimately stupid it is to call in a gang. I probably could have used that option if I had really wanted to but the costs would be having someone deal drugs out of my house which brings more drama than it's worth.

I'm not taking sides on this particular issue as I think both sides were wrong, just jumping in on the ideological purity thing which seems more than a little impractical. My experience with anarchists is that most of them are people whose real world experience with violence has been fairly minimal. When I see some of these issues being addressed in a practical way is when I'll take anarchism seriously as a comprehensive system. Until then, I will continue attending the anarchist bookfair every year simply because I support projects like Food Not Bombs and Books to Prisoners.

 

[Alaska]

I'm not taking sides on this particular issue as I think both sides were wrong, just jumping in on the ideological purity thing which seems more than a little impractical. My experience with anarchists is that most of them are people whose real world experience with violence has been fairly minimal. When I see some of these issues being addressed in a practical way is when I'll take anarchism seriously as a comprehensive system. Until then, I will continue attending the anarchist bookfair every year simply because I support projects like Food Not Bombs and Books to Prisoners.

Pretty much

 

[Diagaro]

You know this is the umteenth time I have come across this thing, the house in oakland that the mob of ay-rab owners came and fucking trashed and asaulted the fuck outa the """""""""""""""""""ANARCHISTS""""""""""""""""""" . . . . .

"OWS MYE GAWD! THA ANARCHIST CALLED THE POLECE - HOW DARE YOU CALL YOUR SELF AN ANARCHIST . . . ."

This is fucking stupid .. .

The police are tools just like food stamps and intercontinental ballistic missiles but I'm not posting in this thread to point out one eyed points of view! I am here to advocate constructive and defensive violence!

Just as they use non lethal tactics on us; beanbags, rubber bullets, mace, tear gas and the ever overlooked plain old bluff tactics. If you love something you defend it right? your dog, your lover, maybe your mommy, little sister, your weed pipe - WHATEVER! Why not your MUTHERFUCKING HOME? These fucking unchristian born again deadhead peaceful lazy shitheart hippie pukes or crusty hipster trustafarian carheart wearing wannabes shoulda kicked the dogshit outta the fucking infiltrators now I'm not saying KILL them cause California don't have self defense statures but nothing wrong with a good asswhopping, maybe wheat flour in the eyes, fuck I dunno theres ways to defend your self, your friends and your sanctuary in non lethal ways or fuck it they should a flat out stomped the hell outta the bastards - but then again there were the little ones running around . . . the same little ones that over in there countries they arm with shoulder fired rocket launchers and AK-47's and brain warp into thinking suicide bombing for some war god is ok at 8 years of age . . . .

Sure some of you will flame for what I said here, but I still posted it. Make of THAT what you will . . . .

 

[Matt Derrick]

You know this is the umteenth time I have come across this thing, the house in oakland that the mob of ay-rab owners came and fucking trashed and asaulted the fuck outa the """""""""""""""""""ANARCHISTS""""""""""""""""""" . . . . .

"OWS MYE GAWD! THA ANARCHIST CALLED THE POLECE - HOW DARE YOU CALL YOUR SELF AN ANARCHIST . . . ."

This is fucking stupid .. .

The police are tools just like food stamps and intercontinental ballistic missiles but I'm not posting in this thread to point out one eyed points of view! I am here to advocate constructive and defensive violence!

Just as they use non lethal tactics on us; beanbags, rubber bullets, mace, tear gas and the ever overlooked plain old bluff tactics. If you love something you defend it right? your dog, your lover, maybe your mommy, little sister, your weed pipe - WHATEVER! Why not your MUTHERFUCKING HOME? These fucking unchristian born again deadhead peaceful lazy shitheart hippie pukes or crusty hipster trustafarian carheart wearing wannabes shoulda kicked the dogshit outta the fucking infiltrators now I'm not saying KILL them cause California don't have self defense statures but nothing wrong with a good asswhopping, maybe wheat flour in the eyes, fuck I dunno theres ways to defend your self, your friends and your sanctuary in non lethal ways or fuck it they should a flat out stomped the hell outta the bastards - but then again there were the little ones running around . . . the same little ones that over in there countries they arm with shoulder fired rocket launchers and AK-47's and brain warp into thinking suicide bombing for some war god is ok at 8 years of age . . . .

Sure some of you will flame for what I said here, but I still posted it. Make of THAT what you will . . . .

So, uh... Tell us how you REALLY feel!

 

[venusinpisces]

If you love something you defend it right? your dog, your lover, maybe your mommy, little sister, your weed pipe - WHATEVER! Why not your MUTHERFUCKING HOME? These fucking unchristian born again deadhead peaceful lazy shitheart hippie pukes or crusty hipster trustafarian carheart wearing wannabes shoulda kicked the dogshit outta the fucking infiltrators .

From what I understand of the situation the people there did defend themselves and yes they had every right to considering the property owners were throwing knives at them. But the issue here is that the only reason the squatters were allowed to stay in there in the first place was because of the law, which in Berkeley states that after a certain period of time squatters legally occupy the building. The police were protecting the squatters from the beginning, not the other way around. The property owners were not infiltrators, but a regular poor family who had spent $10000 of their savings on the house and then were unable to use it. So what you have is anarchists using the law to evict regular poor people from their own property. This is such bullshit! Only in politically correct Berkeley would people think this is morally acceptable. Now I don't agree with how the property owners handled it at all but the squatters should have left the first time they were asked or at least been low key about it instead of trying to say the property was theirs. It's one thing to be occupying city property, or the property of someone who doesn't try to maintain their building--this is a good thing because those buildings need to be used to house people. But to think that it's ok to use laws to steal from working people? These are anarchists who are critical of the way the government takes from the people so how can they turn around and do it themselves, then appeal to the government for help? It just doesn't make sense. As stated above, my problem is not that the cops were called, but the fact that they are stealing from people who may very well have less resources than they do.

 

[venusinpisces]

The police were protecting the squatters from the beginning, not the other way around. .

That was a little unclear. What I meant was the police were protecting the squatters and not the property owners as is usually the case. Damn broken edit button!:soldier:

 

[venusinpisces]

Anyways what's so bad about deadheads? Yeah their music sucks but at least they'll usually pick up hitchhikers and smoke people out. If it wasn't for people like that then we wouldn't be able to do what we're doing at all. Try being a squatter in 1950s America. I promise you would not enjoy it.

 

[Diagaro]

. . . they are stealing from people who may very well have less resources than they do.

Racially biased thinking. Just ask me to prove you wrong . . .
I'll gladly accede - After all I'm a tramp and hobo with a Laptop and nothing better to do with my time. I'd be supprised if they were less than one thousand dollars above the "poverty line" as DHS calls it . . .

Try being a squatter in 1950s America. I promise you would not enjoy it.

I dunno I think that there was alot more for the country to offer us then, long as you minded your P's and Q's so to speak

Raining, time to boogie!

 

[Beegod Santana]

squatting 101: when the immigrant family who owns the house shows up and asks you to leave... you leave.

As far as calling the cops goes...
cops are not your friends,
cops take names and check id's,
cops have dogs, who are also not your friend,
cops are always packing and probably have more experience with a gun than you,
cops don't practice common sense,
cops have a bug in their ear that tells them what to do,

I guess what I'm trying to say here is,

don't call the fucking cops.

 

[venusinpisces]

Racially biased thinking. Just ask me to prove you wrong . . .
.

No, not really. You're making a lot of assumptions about where I'm coming from. I happen to know at least one of the squatters involved in the situation and I know for a fact that this particular person has more resources than he's willing to admit to. This isn't something you can really "prove" unless you know the people involved.

 

[Diagaro]

What you quoted from my post has NOTHING TO DO WIT THE "SQUATTER" I'm saying the "Property owner(s)" were not impoverished.
california>bay area ethnics/minorities are not usually "broke" those mutherfuckers have fat stacks. Food stamps are not issued to property owners, look I'm not gonna argue with you about this, fact is that I'm trying to push is that so fucking what if one "anarchist" acted on his or her own calling the law in stead of breaking some bones I don't fucking care, What I care about is that you assume that the property owners were poor just because they were dark skinned. this thread is turning into the usual StP bullshit . . .