Defend the De Anza 8!

(Young Spartacus Pages)

We reprint below a protest letter sent by the Bay Area Spartacus Youth Club to the Santa Clara County District Attorney on January 22.

The Bay Area Spartacus Youth Club vehemently protests the brutal arrests of eight protesters and students (including two Muslim bystanders) on 11 November 2005 at De Anza College in Cupertino. The demonstration that night was part of three days of protest against former Secretary of State Colin Powell and in opposition to the Iraq war. Santa Clara County Sheriffs arrested seven young men outside of the Flint Center, where Powell was speaking, and elsewhere around the campus. All of them were black and/or Muslim. They were tackled, beaten and, in some cases, pepper-sprayed. Two of the arrestees required hospitalization, one was left unconscious. Police stepped on one protester’s head. The eighth person was arrested for protesting inside of the Flint Center. These arrests come in the context of ongoing “war on terror” witchhunts of immigrants, especially of Near Eastern descent and Muslim background.

The protesters and students were arrested and charged with an outrageous litany of trumped up felonies and misdemeanors including assault and battery on a police officer, assault with a deadly weapon, disturbing the peace, and resisting arrest. One was even charged with making a false bomb threat.

This aggressive police intimidation and violence shows that the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department is doing its part in the government’s attempt to stifle dissent and regiment the population. Drop all charges against the De Anza 8 immediately!