44 lines
2.0 KiB
Plaintext
44 lines
2.0 KiB
Plaintext
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DATE: FEBRUARY 7, 1994
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FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: 415 330-5030
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This afternoon at 3:00 PM in San Francisco Superior Court Dept. 1 (City
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Hall Room 402), Food Not Bombs members Catherine Marsh and Greg Price
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will appear to defend the temporary restraining orders they each obtained
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last week against members of the San Francisco Police Department.
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Marsh obtained the restraining order against officer Cornelius Johnson
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after he sexually harassed and demeaned her on several occasions. Price,
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who obtained a restraining order against officer Leroy Lindo, charges
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that Lindo threatened violence against him.
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"Officer Lindo threatened to kill me," says Price, "He has also
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threatened several of my friends."
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Johnson and Lindo are both part of the SFPD Special Operations unit
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assigned to Food Not Bombs' daily noon time giveaways of free food to the
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homeless in Civic Center Plaza. Since the implementation last fall of
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Mayor Frank Jordan's crackdown on the homeless pursuant to the "matrix"
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program, more than 250 Food Not Bombs members have been arrested for
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violating a 1991 preliminary injunction prohibiting the group from giving
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away food in public parks.
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The injunction, which went unenforced for over a year after it was
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obtained by the city, is currently under judicial review. Attorney Sarge
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Holtzmann, representing Food Not Bombs in that action, maintains that the
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injunction was illegally issued and that it violates the First Amendment
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rights of Food Not Bombs members.
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Marsh and Price are confident that the restraining orders will be upheld
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despite Officers Johnson and Lindo's allegations that the orders were
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only part of Food Not Bombs' attempt to make political gains.
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"We have no quarrel with the Police Department," said Price. "They're
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just enforcing their orders, even if the orders are bogus. But Johnson
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and Lindo have pursued a personal vendetta against particular members of
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Food Not Bombs."
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"Food Not Bombs has been the object of police harassment since the
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beginning of the Matrix program," says Marsh. "It's important that the
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public be made aware of that."
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