By Rose Laudicina and Susan Dickson
Staff Writers
When Carrboro was first introduced to a group calling themselves the Carrboro Commune in February, they were occupying the vacant building at 201 N. Greensboro St. to protest a two-story CVS development proposed for that location.

For their second public protest, the Carrboro Commune returned to the same site on Saturday, but this time, instead of trying to take back the building, they took back the earth. Though the event seemed to pass relatively peacefully, several days later protesters, police and members of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen are reflecting on the demonstration – some with praise and some with criticism, for both protesters and police officers.
Trading bandanas that obscured their faces for face paint and spray paint for sidewalk chalk to spread their message, participants on Saturday grabbed shovels and rakes and expressed their opposition through gardening.
In an event they called Guerrilla Gardening, a group of about 40 commune members, collaborating with members from Carrboro Greenspace and Croatan Earth First!, planted herbs and medicinal plants in front of a chain-link fence that now surrounds the building.
“We are just a loose affiliation of citizens that are interested in creating ways to live outside of capitalism,†commune member Vincent Gonzalez said.
“This is really about getting the community together to support one another and to do activities against the CVS,†he added.
While the chain-link fence – erected after the previous occupation to prevent trespassing – limited where their shovels could dig, it didn’t keep protestors from tossing seed bombs over it to disperse their message.
Demonstrators hoped their seed bombs – essentially, balls of clay filled with either dirt or compost and seeds; in this case, wildflower seeds – would break open once tossed over the fence, scattering the seeds on the property.
In addition to gardening, participants decorated the fence with long colorful woven garlands; hung decorations from the trees; made birdfeeders out of seeds, peanut butter and pinecones; and posted a sign that read, “Garden everywhere.â€
The event not only stopped curious passersby, it also brought out numerous local elected officials checking out what was going on and a contingent of police officers keeping a close watch on the event.
“I wanted to witness this prominent Carrboro event,†board of aldermen member Dan Coleman said. “As elected officials, it is important to be here and witness what is going on.â€
Coleman also said he had some concern over the number of police present at the event, a concern echoed by fellow aldermen member Sammy Slade, who also attended the event.
“It is a concern of mine to see so many resources dedicated to safeguarding an empty building,†Slade said.
Despite a fairly peaceful event, Saturday’s festivities did result in one arrest. Gonzalez was arrested for impeding traffic as he blocked the road while chalking it as a car was trying to turn.
“Generally, it seems people are not in favor of a CVS,†Slade said as he reflected on the perspectives he heard at the event.
“People seem to have an aversion to it on grounds of it being a big corporation with deep pockets, and if they are the only people who can afford to live in this town, then we have bigger problems.â€
Reflecting
At Tuesday’s Carrboro Board of Aldermen meeting, two of the demonstrators spoke to the board, also expressing concerns about the number of police present at the Saturday event, as well as photos and videos taken by the police of the protesters.
Elizabeth Reeves said that the demonstration was peaceful and positive, and that the only negative aspect of the event was “the oppressive police presence, police surveillance and the targeted arrest of a participant.â€
David Malekin, a demonstrator who was arrested during the Nov. 13 demonstration at the former Yates Motor Co. building in Chapel Hill, agreed that the arrest was targeted.
“[Police] chose to single out somebody because he was involved in an action doing the exact same thing that plenty of people were doing in a one-block radius of where we were,†he said, referring to pedestrians jay-walking across streets.
“I understand your perspective. I can completely see your perspective. I know that the police have another perspective, which I also understand, and I’m wondering if some conversations maybe between a few people from your group and the police chief … might be useful,†board member Jacquie Gist said.
“That’s speaking to power when power is actively acting against us,†Malekin said. However, he ultimately agreed to meet with Gist and Carrboro Police Chief Carolyn Hutchison over coffee.
Several board members said that when demonstrators engage in civil disobedience, some level of police response should be expected.
“We don’t spend any time investigating people involved in organizations that are doing things that are legal,†Chilton said. “To sit back and say, ‘Well, I’m a part of these various things that are against the law and I feel that it’s not fair that I’m being investigated for that,’ is sort of an unrealistic expectation.â€
“We have no idea how many people are going to show up [to demonstrations], and we’ve got to schedule people to be available to deal with a variety of situations,†he continued. “As it turned out, those were pretty mild situations, but we had no way of knowing that.â€
Board member Randee Haven-O’Donnell stressed the importance of communication between the demonstrators and the police.
“Civil disobedience is about pushing the boundary, and at some point when you are disobedient and you know you’re being disobedient and you intend to be disobedient, you also need to be willing to have the conversation afterwards,†she said. “You want to engage around the fact that you’ve made a stand for a reason, and that’s when you get to explain what your reason is.â€
However, both Coleman and Slade on Tuesday restated their concerns about police response to the demonstration.
“I am very troubled by some of what I’ve seen,†Coleman said, adding, “There should not be prejudices held in the minds of our police based on the organizational affiliations.â€
Slade thanked Malekin and Reeves for coming to the meeting.
“We are the place where people come to make sure that there’s accountability for these kind of things,†he said.
Other board members said they supported the actions of the police.
“I don’t want our police department, who knows very well the values of our community … to have to second guess what they do … in a situation that might be much more serious,†board member Lydia Lavelle said.
“I think our police department goes above and beyond trying to avoid the kind of situations that would be ones that would make us uncomfortable,†she added.
Board members agreed that the demonstration and other recent protests have created a need for the board to have a larger discussion on civil disobedience and policy.
“I do think we want to be able to look at policy and be sure that policy conveys our values,†Haven-O’Donnell said.
Chief Hutchison said Wednesday that from her perspective, Saturday’s events went well, and that she would welcome a discussion with demonstrators.
“Our goal was not to arrest multiple people,†she said. “Our goal was to encourage a peaceful and law-abiding protest, and I think that we achieved that. It’s unfortunate that one person elected not to comply, but that’s not my problem – that’s his.â€
Hutchison said Gonzalez was warned by police to stop blocking traffic before he was arrested and that he had “multiple opportunities†to comply.
“My job is described by laws and policies and procedures that are consistent with laws and, I think, consistent with the values of the majority of the members of this community,†she said. “So I believe that I know what my job is, and I believe that I do my job consistent with the values of the majority of the people in this community.
“So I guess it is disheartening to me that some people feel that I’m not doing my job consistent with those values.â€
The main point missing in this description of this “direct action” taken by the Carrboro Commune is the purpose, which was clearly spelled out in their flyer promoting the event. It clearly stated the purpose was to make the point that “all private property is stolen”. They have no interest in gardening at the CVS site any more than they had an interest in starting a community center when they took over the Yates building. If they did have an interest in gardening they would be participating in one of the two communal gardens in Carrboro. No, the flyer makes it perfectly clear they are trying to take control over other people’s property for use by their commune. They are welcome to to exercise their free speech rights to rail against the evils of private property all they want, but shouldn’t be surprised when the police show up to prevent them from seizing other people’s property.
I support the Occupy Movement locally, because I have spent my life fighting against arbitrary authority, and for social and economic justice.
I do not, however, find favor with Carrboro Commune. I feel they focus on issues which have little relevance to ordinary Carrborites. And they do so in a way that brings Occupy into disrepute.
Commune members rail against the arbitrary authority of corporate America. Yet, they employ a similar arbitrary authority to impose unwelcome behavior on a community from which they have received no permission.
They complain about the police response to their alleged civil disobedience, quite forgetting the incivility of their screaming match with the Mayor only a few weeks before, after they had equally uncivilly broken into an empty office building.
I have the greatest of respect for our Board of Aldermen. But they are sworn to uphold the law, so long as it remains the law. If they would prefer to protest that law, then they should resign, and join the protesters.
Furthermore, provided our police force operates within the policy guidelines monitored by the Board of Aldermen, then Aldermen have no business publicly criticizing police officers whose professionalism does not allow them to respond.
Politics and philosophy aside, I was disappointed to find that the protester I spoke with didn’t know anything about the yarn displays under which they were rallying. It struck me as disconnected from the community as well as their ideals, “What about beauty?” In trying to explain to the protester the graffiti-like nature of the knitting, they responded in a disapproving tone, “Yeah, but it’s legal.”
http://abigailandgreg.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/signage-of-a-revolution/
Carrboro Commune seems to lack a clear, cohesive message. It seems petty to me to complain of too much police presence since the police would not have been there in the first place were it not for their “guerrilla action”. Also some plants are invasive, crowding out native plants. http://www.ncwildflower.org/invasives/list.htm. I hope they chose their plant species with care.