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Hundreds of demonstrators marched to San Quentin Prison where a rally was held in solidarity with a National Occupy Day in Support of Prisoners on February 20. After support for the day was initially passed by Occupy Oakland's general assembly on January 9, over a dozen communities across the nation followed in planning local prisoner solidarity demonstrations, including those in Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Denver, Durham, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Fresno, Portland, and Washington D.C. [videos to be posted soon]



At the demonstration, buses of people arrived from Oakland, and marchers gained access to the east gate of San Quentin Prison by walking approximately 3/4 of a mile, which involved traveling through Main Street of "San Quentin Village," the small residential area that is concentrated with bay side Victorian homes and a small complex of townhouses outside of the main prison facility. Corporate media reported that local police agencies estimated that 700 people were in attendance, but in reality the crowd could have easily been a thousand strong at the height of the rally, and one woman their described the event as, "the largest demonstration held at San Quentin since the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams in 2005."

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site234/2012/0220/20120220
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(That's Q in the distance)

The rally was held in front of barriers that were set up to separate the demonstrators on Main Street approximately 50 feet from the East Gate, and it was there that the stage and sound system was placed. At the rally, people who had been incarcerated in San Quentin shared their accounts, as did family members of those who had been inside, and speakers included Sundiata Tate and Luis Talamantez, who spoke about the San Quentin Six and George Jackson; Elaine Brown; Sarah Shourd, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, who were imprisoned in Iran; Ali and Jack Bryson of Occupy Oakland; Morning Star Gali, and many others. Performers included the brass Liberation Orchestra, and Jabari Shaw and Timbuktu Akaamka. A variety of messages praising the San Quentin demonstration, and the occupy movement in general, were read to the crowd, including those from Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier, and an essay titled, "Occupy Death Row," by Kevin Cooper, an innocent man currently on death row at the facility.

Additionally, several speakers at the rally commented about the fusion of the occupy movement with pre-existing prisoners' rights movements, and the resulting potential to reach out to more people, which could magnify each movement as a result.
The resolution passed at the January 9th general assembly of Occupy Oakland called on occupies across the country to support:

1. Abolishing unjust sentences, such as the Death Penalty, Life Without the Possibility of Parole, Three Strikes, Juvenile Life Without Parole, and the practice of trying children as adults.

2. Standing in solidarity with movements initiated by prisoners and taking action to support prisoner demands, including the Georgia Prison Strike and the Pelican Bay/California Prisoners Hunger Strikes.

3. Freeing political prisoners, such as Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier, Lynne Stewart, Bradley Manning and Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald, a Black Panther Party member incarcerated since 1969.

4. Demanding an end to the repression of activists, specifically the targeting of African Americans and those with histories of incarceration, such as Khali in Occupy Oakland who could now face a life sentence, on trumped-up charges, and many others being falsely charged after only exercising their First Amendment rights.

5. Demanding an end to the brutality of the current system, including the torture of those who have lived for many years in Secured Housing Units (SHUs) or in solitary confinement.

6. Demanding that our tax money spent on isolating, harming and killing prisoners, instead be invested in improving the quality of life for all and be spent on education, housing, health care, mental health care and other human services which contribute to the public good. http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/02/22/18707932.php from our local I.J. (Independent Journal--newspaper):

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As part of a national “day of solidarity” with inmates, about 700 Occupy demonstrators rallied peacefully outside San Quentin State Prison’s East Gate on Monday in support of prison hunger strikers protesting solitary confinement and other human rights issues.

As protesters streamed onto San Quentin Village’s Main Street, they were greeted by the Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald, a professor at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, who pointed the way to the East Gate. He had on a black baseball cap with “Pastor” in white letters on the front.

“The prison system clearly reflects a part of the economic disaster we’re in,” he said. “We are the most imprisoned country in the world. What we’re saying is that we need to reorganize our priorities, because arresting people isn’t making us safer. It’s costing us economically and creating a new class of people who are disenfranchised.”) http://occupyoakland.org/2012/02/occupy-san-quentin-abc-news/

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--there's a 1:44-minute video there, too, which is pretty good and which is the ONLY source which says they had to walk "miles" rather than the official "three-quarters of a mile". Yes, it was 3/4 of a mile for those who knew about the "last Marin Exit" being closed, but for those who didn't know, it was a 7-mile hike across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

Can't find much about the police presence, obviously the MSM didn't find it important. Found this (also locally):

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Police presence was heavy, with freeway off-ramps and streets near the prison closed. Parking was also restricted. Protesters that were transported by bus from both Oakland and San Francisco were required to disembark over a mile away. Officers from multiple cities and the California Highway Patrol circulated around the area, with helicopters and correctional officers keeping watch. The event ended with a march out. http://www.fogcityjournal.com/wordpress/3412/occupy-groups-converge-on
-san-quentin-in-support-of-prisoners-protest-prison-conditions/ that for a peaceful, A commentor to this article bitched that this was about the rights of people who had broken the law, and got this reply, which those of you who don't live in California might find helpful:

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Danny R. misunderstands what Occupy San Quentin is all about. Occupy San Quentin State Prison protested prison conditions. Remember, the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Plata, ordered California to reduce its prison population to 137.5 percent, or to 109,805 from 143,436 prisoners within two years. (California’s prisons are designed to house a population of just under 80,000.) The decision was based on evidence that prisoners were being deprived of basic medical care caused by overcrowding. The Court noted, for example, that there were high vacancy rates for medical care (20 percent for surgeons) and medical health care (54.1 percent for psychiatrists). And the state had not budgeted for sufficient staff and, even if vacant staff positions were filled, there is not enough space for them. The Supreme Court ruled that the state had violated the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the infliction of “cruel and unusual punishments.” The protesters called for a number of reforms, including the end to the death penalty in California, the three strikes law, the practice of charging juveniles as adults and solitary confinement.

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"Some" here won't accept this one because it comes from OccupyOakland, but it's the only one I could find which mentions the snipersm helicopters, etc., which I heard about from our people who attended:

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As hoped for, it was safe for all, with nothing to justify any intervention by the police, who all seemed to be in good sprits and quite friendly. Many people remarked on how different things can be with the police when one ventures beyond Oakland.However, it did leave them looking a bit silly after mounting a huge presence including armed prison guards at the gate, snipers on the hills, the Marin County Sheriff’s Department, legions of riot police waiting at bay, and even the CHP closed freeway ramps for good measure. More at http://occupyoakland.org/2012/02/fantastic-day-on-f20-at-san-quentin/

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