Anything We Do is a Threat to the System

Account of the Police Raid on Sunday Nov. 16, 2008

By Joaquin Cienfuegos

“It’s a war between city blocks and cops.” -Psycho Realm

I was released on Tuesday November 18th after spending about 3 days in police custody for “resisting/obstructing police.” First I want to start by apologizing, because I feel like the police caught us off guard on Sunday November 16, and I personally could have been more prepared or should not have put myself in that type of situation. This political repression was made clear to me when the arresting officers were cracking jokes to the “watch commander” about how thy had “shut down an anarchist party.”

The event was a fundraiser for the first ever Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair, the Revolutionary Autonomous Communities’ Defense Fund, and to support a traveling revolutionary hip hop group from New York called the X-Vandals, held at a warehouse space collectively rented out to artists from Los Angeles. Part of the problem is that this space is isolated in an industrial part of the city with no traffic, so it made it is easy for the police to surround us there. Their intentions were clear, they wanted to shut down the event, and according to several accounts, it seemed like they had specific targets for arrest. Their main excuse was that some youth allegedly stole beer from a liqour store, but they were also asking people to show them proof that we weren’t “trespassing.” They were also saying that they needed to go in because they “smelled something.”

The police had been patroling and watching the event. People say they thought there might have been undercover police there as well. I was walking outside to talk to some of the artists who needed directions and I was waiting for some sound equipment. Inside we had a DJ spinning some hip hop, but we hadn’t even started the show. The police pulled up and ask me to go talk to them. People who were outside were walking into the show. The police asked to speak to the person in charge of the event, I walk in to find someone to talk to them. I was telling someone to find one of the people in charge of the space when the police kick the door open and tell me to go over to them, they then grabbed me and pull me to the outside. They try to push my head into some steel bars outside while they put handcuffs on me, but I held my head back, so I wouldn’t get my head smashed. At this point there were over 10 cop cars filling 6th street, and a helicopter circling the warehouse, which included more than 15 cops (high ranking officers as well).

Someone talked to the police from behind the door. People stuck out some cameras from the doorway to film my wrongful arrest and detention. While the arresting officers Cervantes and Cho were yelling at me and putting their hands into my pockets, I told them I did not consent to my pockets being searched. Cho (39259) told me I didn’t have a choice, and that they didn’t need a warrant to go into the warehouse, that we were trespassing. They draw their guns and grabbed one of my comrades who was filming, and continue to try to push the door to the warehouse open. They told me I was being arrested bor 148 (A) (1) PC Resisting/Obstructing a Police Investigation. One of the arresting officers, Cervantes was upset because I was letting them know that they were breaking an entry and told me that we didn’t know the law, and pushed me into a police car.

The Black Riders Liberation Party came out from inside along with other people who just wanted to leave the scene, and told the police that they did not do anything and that they wanted to leave. The police then put handcuffs on Comrades Nadia and Kambui and started to put everyone from inside the warehouse onto the wall. They also spotted two people on the rooftop of the warehouse and arrested them as well, along with Nadia, Kambui, Ulises from Los Angeles Food Not Bombs who tried talking to the police about the space, and one young person who was id’d for allegedly stealing some beer from a liquor store.

We were taken to Central Division on 6th and Wall in Downtown L.A., where we were booked, and taken to Parker Center. The white artists bailed out that same night. My main concerns were the Riders who I felt were targeted because they wanted to get them back into the system to do some time for their organizing. They are now out on bail and pending their court case on December 6th at Bouchet St. Court. Our charges were reduced to infractions (equivalent to a ticket) “disturbing the peace.” When I talked to the public defender he told me the police didn’t have a case and the police report didn’t make sense and was full of holes and lies. We pleaded No Contest, to be released that day, and fines were waived due to time served. What upset me was the waste of time, and I felt bad for all the people who were arrested on Sunday as well. I’ll repeat what I told the pigs Cervantes and Cho, “this isn’t over.”

While in prison we talked to many people and we definitely had an effect on people in custody. We told everyone we talked to that we were in there because of our politics and that we were revolutionaries. Many people were surprised at the real Black and Brown unity and solidarity, but also were inspired by the work that is being done in the community, and wanted to support some of the community programs in Los Angeles. I would say 99% of people in custody were people of color, and felt they were there because of the injustice system. We have to continue to fight off these attacks on our people and our communities.

The show before it was raided was a rare mix of people, which I think is why it was shut down as well. There were punks, hip hop heads, revolutionaries, artists, and others. The police attack serves as a learning experience for me. Anything we do is a threat to the police and to the state as a whole, so if we don’t take our enemies seriously then we are going to suffer defeats constantly. We have to know when to strategically retreat and have protocols in place to deal with state repression. We have to understand that the reason they are attacking us is because they take us seriously. They also wanted to scare the youth that were there, so they won’t come out to any political events. It is our responsibility to let youth and other community members know about the seriousness of these events, and defend our people as well.

This will not stop us, or intimidate us. We will continue to fight, and be strategic at all times.
As always, in struggle,

Joaquin Cienfuegos
(RAC, CWLA-GC)
Power Through the People!

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