Police State Downtown - Enough!

A flier circulated by the City of Santa Cruz in all of the major locals borders on self parody.

THIS HALLOWEEN,
THE COSTUME YOU START OUT IN,
MAY NOT BE
THE COSTUME YOU END UP IN.

Ahh, Halloween night in Downtown Santa Cruz. The costumes,
the party atmosphere...it all can be pretty intoxicating. But this
Halloween, make sure you’re not – because 100 police officers
from 9 law enforcement agencies will be out in force downtown.
From triple fines to jail time, believe us when we say:
This Halloween there is nothing funny about clowning
around downtown.

And features a photo of a clown in a Santa Cruz County Jail jumpsuit being thrown in the slammer.

I think the message is loud and clear, if you are not coming downtown to shop, get the fuck out. This has been the trend in downtown Santa Cruz for years. In lean times, merchants struggle to afford high rents, lament that tourists aren't taking home enough of their overpriced boutitique-y shit and expensive trendy clothing, and blame the homeless and the riff-raff and pressure the city to criminalize any activity that doesn't constitute commerce.

During celebrations, the police errect glaring banks of flood lights and chainlink barricades that channel revelers into tight avenues like cattle. Bar owners and liquor stores who provide the holiday drug of choice make a killing. Police turn up the pressure downtown until it becomes a pressure cooker. Police crack down with zero tolerance on any wayward activity. Then the city blames gangs and drunks for any outbreaks of agression.

It is time to resist the police state. Refuse to ask permission to live your life. Fuck the fascist city government and their strongarm enforcers.