On wrongfully seized property and the homeless

[This morning was Day 116 of the (De)Occupy Honolulu encampment. It was also Raid #9. HPD and City crews have escalated the property seizures by seizing tents that were not tagged and which we have documentation of being off public property last night. One was a brand new tent I dropped off last night. I managed to tell Office of Housing Coordinator, Trish Morikawa, we have videos of the stuff being dropped off recently from private storage and she asked me to email them to her.  So I did.]

Trisha Morikawa,

I am sending you this email because at this morning's raid of Occupy Honolulu you asked me to email to you the videos I made showing that the tents seized in this morning's raid were not subject to seizure under the law.

In order to comply with Bill 54 (now 11-029 ROH) the encampment has been taking tents off property, either carrying them with them at school/work, or by storing them at supporters' homes. Here is the documentation from last night of two carloads of stuff being dropped off:

First drop off:

2/21/2012 Rally to Label GMOs, the livestream and some highlights

It was great to see so many people out at the State Capitol to speak out for labeling GMO foods. I managed to live stream some of it and present that (and highlights) below. For some reason, the file won't download correctly so I can't do the more convenient Youtube videos.

These are Ustream recordings so they carry the warning that you'll probably get an irritating ad at the begining.

The Label GMO Rally at the Hawaii State Capitol:

Makana did a long set. But more than just singing with his "pretty voice," he spoke powerful words.

Makana excerpt: About Hope:

Introducing: Freedom of Speech Furniture

Just posting my video introducing "Freedom of Speech Furniture" here at my blog for easy reference. In short, take furniture appropriate for a public forum to (De)Occupy Honolulu. The stuff will probably get stickered with a Bill 54 tag at which time you can repossess the property with the tag, a valuable token of your support for freedom of speech.



Thinking of an art installation featuring collections of Bill 54 tags, but more about that later...

H. Doug Matsuoka
Makiki, Honolulu

P.S. Those who want a reminder on why there is still a need for Freedom Furniture might want to check my email to Mayor Carlisle regarding the raid of 2/15/2012.

Email to Mayor Carlisle re raid of 2/15/2012 on Occupy Honolulu

Subject: Follow up on Kelsey Gaddy suggestion

Aloha Mayor Carlisle,

I'm writing to you at the suggestion of Kelsey Gaddy, your representative at last night's Makiki Neighborhood Board meeting which I attended along with several others from Occupy Honolulu. First, please extend my apologies to Ms. Gaddy for the longer than usual meeting. It was a packed agenda. Along with a pro-GMO presentation by registered Hawaii lobbyist for DuPont, Cindy Goldstein, a number of issues directly related to Occupy Honolulu came up for discussion.

One of the main concerns discussed was the "Bill 54" raid on Occupy Honolulu of 15 February 2012, in which Honolulu Police Department and City Parks personnel seized personal possessions on private property. These possessions and property were not subject to Bill 54 (ordinance 11-029) since they were not tagged, not on public property, and had never been stored on public property for 24 hours. In short, City personnel took personal possessions from people on private property. 

I asked several City personnel what law empowered them to take private possessions from people on private property. I would have expected a straight answer from Director of Housing, attorney Trish Morikawa, who was your Deputy Prosecutor when you were Prosecuting Attorney of Honolulu. (It seems odd to me for a prosecutor to become Director of Housing but it does explain why the homeless are treated like criminals.) 

Here's a video of the raid to help you follow along what I'm talking about:

Video: Honolulu Police Department caught stealing

I combined three videos of the Honolulu Police Department raid yesterday and edited them down to a coherent video showing the series of events. The question I want to ask is, "How can Honolulu Police Department take personal possessions from people on private property?" I don't think they can.

More later, but I want to mount this quickly:


H. Doug Matsuoka
16 February 2012
Makiki, Honolulu

Honolulu Police Seizure of Occupy Honolulu's Mobile Encampment 02/15/2012

[Update of 2/16/2012: I combined my video with those of Blade and Damion, edited and captioned them to form a narrative below. I'm mounting it as a separate entry but thought I'd update this link in case people hit it.  Mahalo Blade and Damion! Doug]






Original post:
Just wanted to make a quick gather of video etc. of today's property seizure of (De)Occupy Honolulu's Forum Furniture and Mobile Encampment.

In order to comply with Bill 54, now known as Ordinance 11-29 ROH, Occupy Honolulu had been rotating out tents and other equipment. The only items left on public property were art installations and forum furniture. Both were of material gleaned from various sources and were replaced after each seizure from curbside or dropped off by supporters.

Today HPD (Honolulu Police Department) seized part of the Mobile Encampment that was on private property. Although the tags left on the telephone pole are Bill 54 tags (Ordinance 11-29), Police Officer Santos informed us the property was being seized under a "found property" statute. I can't find ref to that in HRS or ROH but I'm not an attorney. What law allows the seizure of property from someone on private property?

More next page:

Ann Wright talks on the Occupy Movement 2/12/12

Ann Wright gave a talk today at Rev Books. I live streamed it, then cut the recorded version into three parts to mount at Youtube. I embed all three parts here to make it easy to find and view (and avoid the really intrusive and irritating Ustream ads!).

Repeal Bill 54

[Subscribers to the Honolulu Star Advertiser can read the Guest Editorial version of this originally published on Sunday, February 12, 2012. I present it here for those who can't get past the Advertiser pay wall. Doug]

The enduring symbol of the Kanawai Mamalahoe, the Law of the Splintered paddle tagged by police.  

Like most people, I would like to live in a clean, quiet, peaceful, and prosperous community. But at some point after the 2008 Crash, the homeless and their encampments began to expand into new parks, sidewalks, beaches -- even under freeway overpasses. I was surprised to see the "traditional" homeless spots so overcrowded, and even more surprised to see large encampments sprout all over the island.

My Guerrilla Video Activists presentation notes

[Update: This post originally served as the class notes for my part of the Guerrilla Video Activists Workshop on 02/11/2012. I've updated the post to include recordings of the actual workshop live stream, as well as confirmation of its value: the video of the police raid and seizure of personal possessions on private property of 02/15/2012.]

I'm scheduled to help present a Guerilla Video Activists presentation at 3pm on Saturday, February 11. My section is on live streaming, so I figure I'll try to live stream it. [Duh!] Since I'll be using a bunch of examples, I'll clip them here so we can follow along.

Also, if you're sitting there at 3pm to 6pm on Sunday, you might be able to see the live stream here. Actually, this embedded viewer should be able to view anything that's currently broadcasting live.

[Embedded viewer to HonoluluDoug at Ustream with really irritating ads]


I'm probably still working on this and will be updating but thought I'd mount what I have while I work on things to keep the page bookmarkable.

DOUG'S LIVESTREAMING PRESENTATION NOTES

“Your enemy can teach you more than your sensei [master]. Be grateful to your enemy for helping to develop your technique and perfect your character.”

I'm doing this Occupy Style, so this isn’t “teaching,” this is sharing, mutual learning, mutual aid.

Before I start, this is way cool:

RoboCopter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dce0XV4kwTM

No GMO: The Ki‘i of Haloa rises on State Capitol grounds

Today Walter Ritte of Moloka‘i, Hanohano Naehu and crew erected a ki‘i of Haloa on the grounds of the Hawai‘i State Capitol. I live streamed it, then excerpted a bunch of interviews. I Youtubed them to keep those intrusive Ustream ads out and embed the interviews them all here for reference, documentation, and your viewing pleasure!