WATCHER DIGEST: APRIL
WATCHER DIGEST: APRIL
San Diegans celebrated Chicano Park and fought for justice in Palestine this month.
This month, San Diegans demonstrated for Palestine, celebrated Chicano Park and the Barrio’s heritage, and worked toward a more humane US/Mexico border. UCSD Students even started a Gaza solidarity encampment on May 1st.
The month started with the beginning of the trial of two Los Angeles antifascist demonstrators for a 2021 counter-protest in San Diego—the verdict is in, and the the defendants were found guilty of conspiracy in a chilling verdict. More to come from myself and others on that story.
This month’s zine is going to be delayed a week while I chase down another story, too. Apologies in advance!
April 4th: Two antifascists who counter-protested a "Patriot March" in 2021 are on trial. The prosecution alleges that these defendants committed violence and conspired to do so—and the prosecution is relying on its definition of Antifa to make that case. On the second day of the trial, right-wing extremist Kris Wуrіck came to the courthouse to intimidate Tasha Williamson, a community activist. Fascist propaganda stickers were found at the courthouse the following day. One called for violence against antifascists.
I spoke with Williamson briefly about the encounter.
“We were minding our business because the courtroom hadn’t opened yet. Wуrіck lunged out of his seat and said, ‘Hey Tasha, I’m here, just for you. You’ve been talking shit,'" she said.
Tasha continued, “I found out that Wуrіck is the president of the American Gսard SoCal chapter here in San Diego. He has been involved in a number of violent incidents at protests here in San Diego.”
According to the SPLC, American Gսard splintered from the Vinlanders Social Club, a violent skinhead gang. AG members have rallied alongside Prօud Boys, according to Unicorn Riot.
Williamson shared that Wуrіck and others have threatened her in the past. He was banned from the courthouse for the duration of the trial.
Much of the trial has been spent on definitions of Antifa, and antifascism. The prosecution has relied on a detective’s experience with antifascist ideology. Today, the prosecution noted that an alleged co-conspirator possessed articles and zines from Crimethinc.
Known extremists are within the court’s exhibits. One victim appears to be affiliated with Dеfend Eаst County, a local right-wing extremist group that has clashed with Black Lives Matter protesters. Another victim was shown in a skirmish line alongside an armed DEC affiliate.
Some attendees of the "Patriot March" were at the January 6th capitol riot three days earlier.
The "Patriot March" was organized by a then-underaged white supremacist who founded the Americаn Coаlition Pаrty. Unicorn Riot notes that the ACP made “flattering comments about Hitler in its Telegram channel.”
No right-wing protesters have been charged for the day's violence.
April 10th: Protesters gathered at Oceanside’s city council meeting today, calling on the council to reject a contract with Caterpillar. Under the contract, the city would lease equipment from the manufacturer. Caterpillar has been condemned for its role in human rights violations in Palestine. City council approved the lease without comment, with council member Joyce being the lone dissenter.
Protesters highlighted Caterpillar’s complicity in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians. Occupation forces have used armored Caterpillar bulldozers—the IDF Caterpillar D9—to raze homes during ethnic cleansing campaigns. One such armored bulldozer ran over Rachel Corrie in 2003, an American activist who died resisting ethnic cleansing in Rafah. Caterpillar equipment was also used in Operation Cast Lead, a 22-day assault which killed three hundred Palestinian children.
One commenter shared a screenshot from a pro-Israel Telegram chatroom. In it, a chatter celebrates the death of a Palestinian who’d been run over by a bulldozer. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has said the body of a Palestinian man was destroyed by being run over “using a tank or bulldozer.” Further, it’s not clear if the man was dead at the time he was run over. Nonetheless, the Telegram chat celebrated this man’s death as the result of a bulldozer.
Mayor Esther Sanchez inquired about alternatives to Caterpillar. She was presented with alternative manufacturers. Soon after, a council member motioned for a vote, and another seconded soon after. The lease with Caterpillar was swiftly approved.
Some attendees cheered in response. Protesters booed, and reminded council that they’d chosen to be complicit in a genocide.
According to Al Jazeera, 33,482 Palestinians have been killed since October 7th. According to CNN, the Biden administration is set to approve an $18 billion sale of F-15 fighter jets to Israel.
April 13th: A World Design Capital Impact Project held a launch event at the New School of Architecture and Design last night. The project, Redesigning Border Rescue Beacons (RBRB), aims to redesign rescue beacons throughout the US/Mexico borderlands. Speakers shared that the current proposed designs are built by Border Patrol agents, and that their purpose is not visually intelligible—these designs more closely resemble the agency’s beloved surveillance infrastructure.
Further, the current devices are of dubious workmanship and limited functionality. James Cordero of @borderkindness shared that these beacons can be life-saving measures, especially given Border Patrol’s policy of weaponizing the environment against desperate people. As the United States continues to fortify more passable corridors along the border, more people are forced through treacherous ground, leading to unnecessary deaths. Under these circumstances, rescue beacons save lives—especially when the frontier is increasingly militarized and policed.
Members of the initiative also spoke: Andrea Montejano, Tomás Sebastián Perez, and Karla Suarez. Today, the Redesigning Border Rescue Beacons project is speaking in Tijuana. The RBRB team is holding design workshops next month: May 3rd in San Diego and May 4th in Tijuana. The team is asking people to provide support via a sign-on letter located at their instagram bio @redesigningborderrescuebeacons. The team is seeking community feedback.
Local musician @jackiemendozaaa played some compelling, textural songs for attendees.
April 20th: Hundreds gathered at @chicanopark_official to celebrate the 54th anniversary of its founding. Following the systematic disenfranchisement of the Logan Heights neighborhood, residents occupied the proposed site of a California Highway Patrol substation. The community had been demanding a park for some time, and were met with further oppression—so residents took the space back and occupied it for twelve days
Now, more than half a century later, the park has become the heart of the Barrio and one of San Diego’s claims to international renown.
Today’s ceremony included indigenous songs, dances, and prayers. It also included a flag raise, an homage to the flag raise that occurred during the historic takeover that founded the park.
Dr. Rodriguez, a Kumeyaay elder and professor, spoke to attendees.
“Over fifty years, your culture has been growing here like a seed. It’s only betting stronger … When we support each other, we are strong—we are unbreakable,” he said.
Another speaker called for unity, pleading that “it’s already bad enough that we have to fight the system and the powers that be. We shouldn’t have to fight each other.”
Groups like Union Del Barrio and Via International reminded attendees of the revolutionary history of the park.
The sister of the late Christopher DeArman also spoke. DeArman was shot to death by police in early 2023 after being stopped for a broken tail-light. His sister contends that this stop was pretextual. She told attendees that DeArman was trying to rebuild his life after incarceration.
Per the SDUT, officers asked DeArman why he had been on a street they claimed was known for “narcotics and a bunch of bad stuff.”
To quote the article, “police have previously said that after the shooting, officers ordered DeArman to move away from his gun, and when he didn’t, a police dog was sent in to pull him away from it. None of that was on the video released by police.”
The Chicano Park Steering Committee’s Vice-Chair, Tonantzin ‘Nina’ Sanchez, reminded attendees of the Barrio’s shared history.
“This was all one Barrio before. There are many systems put into place to divide us—freeways, visible lines—we can’t let those keep us divided.”
April 22nd: Hundreds marched on the San Diego convention center yesterday, opposing Xponential 2024. The expo draws in tech companies and defense contractors alike. Protesters decried US complicity in genocide—as well as in fascism in the Philippines.
Israeli firm Elbit Systems is attending. They work with Border Patrol to surveil the southern border.
Speakers condemned the use of technological advancement by the military. A speaker with Veterans for Peace noted that many ostensibly peaceful tech developments end up being used for war—as with unmanned aerial vehicles and global satellite communications networks, both of which operate in tandem to drop bombs on the global south.
Another speaker drew parallels between the open air detention sites operated by CBP within San Diego County, open-air prisons operated by the Modi government, and the world’s largest open-air prison—Gaza.
Other speakers discussed the link between military bases and violence. One recalled Jennifer Laude, a trans woman who was killed by a US marine. Another recalled the missing fourteen year old girl who was found at a Marine Corps base in Oceanside. Laude’s killer was pardoned by the Duterte government, and the unnamed Oceanside marine has been charged with sexual assault of a minor.
Speakers also highlighted RIMPAC. More than 25 countries are set to participate in the military naval exercise, including the US, the Philippines, and Israel. The US 3rd Fleet of San Diego will participate.
Speakers also addressed the ongoing genocide in Palestine. The US has approved billions in funding for Israel six months into a genocide.
Israel continues to export war tech that it tested on a captive population. The Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) Exercise of 2024 reinforces the strategic partnership between the US and the Philippines. It will include Israeli-made Spyder defense systems.
One passerby attempted to provoke attendees while filming them on his phone. He shouted “fuck Palestine” at anti-genocide demonstrators outside of an arms expo. At the time of writing, the current genocidal offensive has gone on for 200 days. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed.
Heard of event via @anakbayansd
April 30th: Students walked out at California State University San Marcos and San Diego State University today, calling for disclosure and divestment. These walkouts occurred as numerous solidarity encampments at US colleges have been raided by respective local police forces. CSUSM and SDSU students are demanding that the institutions disclose their investments in firms that profit from the oppression of Palestinians, and that the institutions divest from such profiteers.
CSUSM saw dozens of walkouts, and SDSU saw several hundred.
Students are mobilizing to show solidarity with Gaza after 205 days of a genocidal campaign. More than 34,000 are confirmed dead, with thousands more injured or missing. More than 15,000 children are among those killed. Hundreds of thousands of housing units have been destroyed as firms and individual settlers have expressed intentions to move in and occupy the land as soon as possible.
NYPD raided and arrested students occupying Columbia’s Hamilton Hall—a building protesters had reclaimed as “Hind Hall,” honoring the late Hind Rajab. The six-year-old Palestinian girl was killed by an Israeli airstrike. Hind had been the sole survivor of tank fire, and had called emergency services desperate for help.
Cal Poly Humboldt was raided by police last night, and UCLA was harassed by zionist counterprotestors. Known far-right agitators have been spotted at UCLA’s solidarity encampment over the past few days.
Today’s events at CSUSM and SDSU saw minimal disruption. One or two counterprotesters demonstrated at CSUSM. At SDSU, A handful of counter protesters tried to use loudspeakers to disrupt the initial rally.
The Biden administration and congress have signaled support for the Israeli government as rumors of International Criminal Court warrants have circulated in the press. The US is poised to defend prime minister Netanyahu from potential charges.
Learned of these events via @sdsusjp and @sjp.csusm
May 1st: UCSD Students started a Gaza solidarity encampment yesterday, just outside the Geisel library. Students brought tents, prayer rugs, and resources to sustain the encampment for the coming days. Faculty members showed up in support as well.
Students are demanding that UCSD condemn the genocide in Palestine and call for a permanent and immediate ceasefire, grant amnesty to protesters at the encampment, sever ties with Israel and other complicit entities like the Department of Defense and defense contractors, and for the University of California to divest from all weapons manufacturers and those who profit from Israel’s apartheid regime and its ongoing genocide.
From just before noon till midnight, the camp grew in size. Supporters and spectators filled in along library walk as well. The camp was threatened with ID checks, but that has not appeared to have happened yet.
Police were around the periphery of the encampment for most of the day. A camera was either installed or repaired just across from the encampment early in the day.
“Whoever is identified as a UC San Diego student at the encampment will be given Student Conduct Violations. Those who refuse to show their UCSD ID cards or are a non-affiliate to the campus are at risk of being arrested by the UCPD,” read one email to the campus.
One faculty member told students that they are the heirs of the “UCSD protests that ended the war in Vietnam, and the movement that ended apartheid in South Africa.”
Linda Sarsour @lsarsour addressed the encampment around 9:30 PM. She told students that there will be attempts at intimidation by the system, but that the students are better than the system.
“We don’t replicate the oppressor, because that’s what the oppressor wants you to do … and whether the opposition believes it or not, we are fighting for their liberation by extension,” she said.
Attendees performed the Dabke later into the evening, and chanted to affirm their commitment to justice.
Nearly 34,600 Palestinians have been killed since October 7th. Thousands more are missing, tens of thousands more have been injured, and children are afflicted by malnourishment as famine spreads.
Learned of this via @sjp.ucsd