John Cassali Continues to Steal and Destroy Houseless People’s Possessions in Southern Humboldt

Statement of events of Sunday 8/22/2010 involving John Cassali

[brackets indicate notes from PEOPLE PROJECT]

Prologue: three weeks ago, on 8/3/2010 John Cassali phoned my bookshop at 2:40PM and threatened that if I didn’t stop “demonizing” him he would throw all garbage he collects in the front of my bookshop. I told him I had no idea what he was talking about; he referenced letters in the local papers (not written by me, nor with my preknowledge) and hung up. I was shaken by this call, because John seemed capable of violence.

 

Yesterday my partner Paul Encimer and I were approached by some of the street population who informed us that homeless encampments had been raided, tents slashed, and things taken. We were asked for help in getting the survival gear—sleeping bags, tents, clothing, blankets, crutches, shoes, food, and other items to safety before these items were taken to the landfill. Guided by community members, Paul went and filled our truck with these needful things. We put word out to the community that we would keep these things safe.

 

Today at around noon John Cassali pulled up in his white truck and dumped 10 bags of garbage [17 bags in all, 7 of them containing survival gear] in front of our shop. We went out to ask him what he was doing; he was very angry and swore and said that Paul had scattered garbage (not true) and therefore all the garbage was ours to keep. Paul and he exchanged words, Cassali drove away.

 

Paul called the sheriff’s department, and after a time Officers Zeck and Ireland appeared. Ireland is usually in Eureka; Zeck says he is here at the SoHum substation during the week. They had been contacted by Cassali before receiving our call. We explained our situation and I informed the officers of the previous threat. Zeck phoned Cassali and tried very hard to frame everything in the “everyone desires the best for the community” mode. I spoke to the officers about why they were not taking property to the substation instead of to the landfill. We showed the officers the retrieved survival gear.

 

Cassali was asked by the officers to come back and remove the bags of garbage. At 12:51pm he returned and filled his truck, staying to chat with a friend at our steps for a few moments before driving away.

 

I declare this to be a true statement of these events; I have typed this myself.

8/22/2010

Kathy Epling (signed)

[Other documentation about John Cassali’s acts against houseless people:

October 2008: John Cassali, some time ago, started petitions against people who live outside, and he harasses them. John Cassali has been bagging people’s stuff. He has been stealing survival gear. John broke the law by taking people’s stuff after the sheriffs did their sweeps- by coming behind the sheriffs and taking people’s possessions to the landfill.The people’s DUE PROCESS has been violated.

February 22, 2010: John Cassali steals and dumps peoples’ camps with the Sheriff’s complicity, assistance, blessing.

July 17, 2010: These raids of sleeping people violate a bunch of human and Constitutional rights, including the right to privacy, to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, etc. When cops (or John Shelter in Eureka or John Cassali in SoHum) steal and/or destroy peoples’ property, it doesn’t matter what they want to call it- “cleaning up”, “helping out”, “warning” -it is illegal. It is stealing. It’s cruel. It ain’t right.]

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Eureka Cops Plan Raids of Houseless People’s Sleeping Spots; Raids Will VIOLATE Human & Constitutional Rights

The word is that raids will begin on Monday, July 19th. Cops hunt down outside-sleeping people every night, but these raids will be broad-sweeping and perhaps more orchestrated.

These raids will violate the rights of the houseless people. There are no legal, free-of-charge places to sleep in Eureka (or Arcata), so there are no options for almost all people who have no shelter except to sleep where they can find a hidden piece of ground. Then ya gotta be able to protect yourself from the rain, wind, cold, dew.

This is not a new situation. But all too often, people who are housed dismiss the reality of the situation by simply saying, “Well, there are homeless shelters for them to go to.” That is completely INACCURATE.

All of us need to sleep. That is a NECESSITY. And even the crooked, ruled by the rich courts of the U.S. say that because none of us can go without sleep, it is more of a “significant evil” to deprive a person of sleep (as do the laws against sleeping on public property and the cops who wake people up) than to break a law that prohibits you from sleeping. When someone is punished for something- like sleep- which they cannot go without, it is (here’s the court again) “cruel and unusual punishment.” I would also call it discrimination. And the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights says, among other things completely defied by policies throughout the U.S. :

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and
well-being of oneself and of one’s family, including food, clothing,
housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to
security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood,
old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond one’s control.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 25, Section (1)

So, if you’re a person who still needs to see something in the “law books” to really believe it’s legitimate, there is plenty to support that people have a right to sleep, even when they don’t pay rent somewhere. And if there are no available options besides a small piece of Earth (or a doorway, or a dumpster or a person’s own vehicle), people are to be left alone.

These raids of sleeping people violate a bunch of human and Constitutional rights, including the right to privacy, to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, etc. When cops (or John Shelter in Eureka or John Cassali in SoHum) steal and/or destroy peoples’ property, it doesn’t matter what they want to call it- “cleaning up”, “helping out”, “warning” -it is illegal. It is stealing. It’s cruel. It ain’t right.

Another thing that happens during these raids (and any random night): When the cops approach someone sleeping (how scary, huh?), they not only wake the person up (say 3:30am, flashlight in the eyes, hand on the gunbelt), but they often physically hurt the person. Cops slash tents, kick people in the ribs, threaten people with guns, pull folks out of their vehicles, grab people’s arms so hard they bruise, bang on windows, tow away someone’s only private space… It IS really that bad.

Every Saturday there are PEOPLE PROJECT meetings at PARC [Peoples’ Action for Rights and Community] at 1:30pm. These are spaces where we can figure out how we will fight this painful and ongoing injustice.

Please contact PEOPLE PROJECT if you want to do something about this upcoming raid situation. (707) 442-7465

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