
{"id":24628,"date":"2012-03-22T10:27:36","date_gmt":"2012-03-22T14:27:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=24628"},"modified":"2012-03-22T14:27:21","modified_gmt":"2012-03-22T18:27:21","slug":"gardeners-question-police-presence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2012\/03\/22\/gardeners-question-police-presence\/","title":{"rendered":"Gardeners question police presence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Rose Laudicina and Susan Dickson<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writers<\/em><\/p>\n<p>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. <\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_24630\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24630\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2012\/03\/22\/gardeners-question-police-presence\/guerrillagardening032212_web\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-24630\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/GuerrillaGardening032212_web.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"GuerrillaGardening032212_web\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" class=\"size-full wp-image-24630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/GuerrillaGardening032212_web.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/GuerrillaGardening032212_web-113x84.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/GuerrillaGardening032212_web-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/GuerrillaGardening032212_web-100x75.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/GuerrillaGardening032212_web-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-24630\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstrators hang a banner at Carrboro Commune\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Guerrilla Gardening event on Saturday while a number of police keep watch on the event. Photo by Robert Dickson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>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 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c some with praise and some with criticism, for both protesters and police officers. <\/p>\n<p>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. <\/p>\n<p>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. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are just a loose affiliation of citizens that are interested in creating ways to live outside of capitalism,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d commune member Vincent Gonzalez said. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is really about getting the community together to support one another and to do activities against the CVS,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he added. <\/p>\n<p>While the chain-link fence \u00e2\u20ac\u201c erected after the previous occupation to prevent trespassing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c limited where their shovels could dig, it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t keep protestors from tossing seed bombs over it to disperse their message. <\/p>\n<p>Demonstrators hoped their seed bombs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c essentially, balls of clay filled with either dirt or compost and seeds; in this case, wildflower seeds \u00e2\u20ac\u201c would break open once tossed over the fence, scattering the seeds on the property. <\/p>\n<p>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, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Garden everywhere.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>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. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I wanted to witness this prominent Carrboro event,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d board of aldermen member Dan Coleman said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As elected officials, it is important to be here and witness what is going on.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d  <\/p>\n<p>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. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is a concern of mine to see so many resources dedicated to safeguarding an empty building,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Slade said.  <\/p>\n<p>Despite a fairly peaceful event, Saturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Generally, it seems people are not in favor of a CVS,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Slade said as he reflected on the perspectives he heard at the event. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153People 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.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p><strong>Reflecting<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At Tuesday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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. <\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth Reeves said that the demonstration was peaceful and positive, and that the only negative aspect of the event was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the oppressive police presence, police surveillance and the targeted arrest of a participant.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>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. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153[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,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, referring to pedestrians jay-walking across streets.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I understand your perspective. I can completely see your perspective. I know that the police have another perspective, which I also understand, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m wondering if some conversations maybe between a few people from your group and the police chief \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 might be useful,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d board member Jacquie Gist said.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s speaking to power when power is actively acting against us,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Malekin said. However, he ultimately agreed to meet with Gist and Carrboro Police Chief Carolyn Hutchison over coffee.  <\/p>\n<p>Several board members said that when demonstrators engage in civil disobedience, some level of police response should be expected.  <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t spend any time investigating people involved in organizations that are doing things that are legal,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Chilton said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153To sit back and say, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWell, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a part of these various things that are against the law and I feel that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not fair that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m being investigated for that,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is sort of an unrealistic expectation.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have no idea how many people are going to show up [to demonstrations], and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to schedule people to be available to deal with a variety of situations,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he continued. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As it turned out, those were pretty mild situations, but we had no way of knowing that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Board member Randee Haven-O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell stressed the importance of communication between the demonstrators and the police. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Civil disobedience is about pushing the boundary, and at some point when you are disobedient and you know you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re being disobedient and you intend to be disobedient, you also need to be willing to have the conversation afterwards,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You want to engage around the fact that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made a stand for a reason, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when you get to explain what your reason is.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d  <\/p>\n<p>However, both Coleman and Slade on Tuesday restated their concerns about police response to the demonstration. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am very troubled by some of what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Coleman said, adding, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There should not be prejudices held in the minds of our police based on the organizational affiliations.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Slade thanked Malekin and Reeves for coming to the meeting. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are the place where people come to make sure that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s accountability for these kind of things,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Other board members said they supported the actions of the police. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want our police department, who knows very well the values of our community \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 to have to second guess what they do \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 in a situation that might be much more serious,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d board member Lydia Lavelle said.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think our police department goes above and beyond trying to avoid the kind of situations that would be ones that would make us uncomfortable,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she added. <\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I do think we want to be able to look at policy and be sure that policy conveys our values,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Haven-O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell said. <\/p>\n<p>Chief Hutchison said Wednesday that from her perspective, Saturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s events went well, and that she would welcome a discussion with demonstrators. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our goal was not to arrest multiple people,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our goal was to encourage a peaceful and law-abiding protest, and I think that we achieved that. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unfortunate that one person elected not to comply, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not my problem \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s his.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Hutchison said Gonzalez was warned by police to stop blocking traffic before he was arrested and that he had \u00e2\u20ac\u0153multiple opportunities\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to comply. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My 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,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So I guess it is disheartening to me that some people feel that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not doing my job consistent with those values.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":24630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24628"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24667,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24628\/revisions\/24667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}