Defend Yvette Felarca, Mike Williams and Porfirio Paz:

Stop the Political Witch-Hunt!

Drop the Charges on Yvette Felarca, Mike Williams, and Porfirio Paz!

Build the Resistance Movement to Force Trump to Resign or Be Removed!

Drop the Charges on Yvette Felarca and All Anti-Fascist Demonstrators!

Below is the link to BAMN’s brief and declarations and exhibits on our motion to drop all charges against Yvette Felarca, Mike Williams, and Porfirio Paz. Included are eye-witness statements of anti-fascist protesters and pictures of identified Nazis.

Motion to Dismiss All Charges

Declarations and Exhibits

NEXT HEARING

Drop all charges against Yvette Felarca, Michael Williams and Porfirio Paz

Next Hearing November 14, 2019

Sacramento Courthouse

720 9th Street, Department 9

Sacramento, CA 95814

Trial anticipated on November 14, 2019

Drop the Charges against Yvette Felarca and All Anti-Fascist Demonstrators

Update Via Yvette Felarca:

To all our supporters,

Shamefully, all charges have been maintained for me and Mike Williams. The judge agreed to reduce Porfirio Paz’s felony charge from felony assault to misdemeanor assault based on a motion that his lawyer that his youthful age (he was 19 at the time of the protest) and first offense be taken into consideration for reduction. All 3 of us will be arraigned on Wed. Feb. 13 at 8:30 am at the Sacramento Courthouse, 720 9th Street, Department 9, Sacramento CA 95814. 

The charges are as follows:

Felarca: felony assault with great bodily injury, misdemeanor riot and misdemeanor inciting riot

Williams: felony assault with a deadly weapon, misdemeanor riot

Paz: misdemeanor assault, misdemeanor riot

This is a gross miscarriage of justice. The prosecutor’s case at the evidentiary hearing relied heavily on unauthenticated video and a single witness, the CHP officer, Ayres. His testimony made crystal clear the selective nature and bias of his “investigation” into the protest on June 26, 2016. He was loathe to even characterize the Traditionalist Workers Party as a Nazi or fascist organization. The prosecutor admitted that his “victims” and his witnesses were less than ideal from his point of view, and that his evidence against me for felony charge was lousy. Yet Judge Bulware Eurie refused to drop the charges, sanctioning the Sacramento District Attorney witchhunt in an effort to scapegoat and make examples out of us. We cannot let them succeed.

The defense team plans on bringing another motion to dismiss to stop this case from going to trial. As my attorneys wrote, “If the prosecution of Felarca, Paz, and Williams proceeds, then Donald Trump will have already achieved one of his central aims: the substitution of authoritarianism for constitutional due process rights and democratic norms. A policy of naked state discrimination and persecution of racial minorities and left-wing political activists would be a fact and reality.'”

Thank you everyone for the support you’ve given us thus far. Coming to Sacramento, raising your voices at pickets, your unions and organizations, it has meant the world to us. We are committed to standing up and fighting this out, because we know that we’re fighting not only for ourselves, but for generations to come. Now that this judge has ruled to maintain the charges, in the course of the next several weeks, it’s urgent that we redouble our education and outreach efforts for the defense campaign. Here are some useful media links on the case. A list of labor support and other organizations is below, too. If I missed any, my apologies, and let me know as soon as possible so I can modify the list. Please continue to reach out to organizations or unions that you work with. Below you can find a sample resolution you can bring to your organization. All support is welcome.

In Solidarity,

Yvette Felarca

Sacramento Defendant

BAMN National Organizer

What you can do to help and how you can spread the word:

1. Court Support Needed for the Next Hearing: Thursday November 14, 2019 at 8:30 am at the Sacramento Courthouse, 720 9th Street Dept. 9. 

I. Unedited TV interviews on June 26, 2016 after the anti-fascist protest in Sacramento:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2dd1YoDULg

4. Labor Union and Organizational Support to Drop the Charges Against Felarca, Williams, and Paz:

Berkeley Federation of Teachers (BFT)

Oakland Education of Teachers (OEA)

United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA)

San Diego Education Association (SDEA)

California Faculty Association-Cal State Los Angeles (CFA-CSLA)

Los Rios College Federation of Teachers (LRCFT)

San Francisco Labor Council (SFLC)

Alameda County Labor Council (ACLC)

Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN)

Brown Berets de Sacraztlan

The Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality and State Repression

Freedom Socialist Party

Partisan Defense Committee

Women’s Empowerment at Diablo Valley College

Background and History

          On June 26, 2016 fascists affiliated with the violent neo-Nazi organizations Traditionalist Workers Party (TWP) and Golden State Skinheads (GSS) came to the State Capitol armed with knives, clubs, and improvised spears. Unarmed anti-fascist protesters had gathered that morning, and by that afternoon seven came away with knife wounds. Anti-fascist protesters were stabbed, bludgeoned, and had their bones broken by the fascists. Cedric O’Bannon, Vincent White and Nathan Van Dyke and several other anti-fascists were stabbed, taken away in ambulances, and hospitalized, some for weeks. Michael Yee was beaten and hospitalized with a fractured skull and broken arm. Defendant Yvonne Felarca was stabbed and bludgeoned, and taken to the hospital where she received 24 stitches to her head and arm. The fascists, whom Felarca and the other ani-fascist defendants are charged with attacking, walked away.

          The stabbings by the fascists were foreseeble: six KKK members had been arrested in Anaheim, California just a few months earlier on February 27, 2016 for stabbing anti-fascist protesters there. But on June 26, 2016, well over one hundred police officers stood by and did nothing to stop or protect the protesters from the Nazi assault. (Declarations of Melody Yee, Stephanie Bucknam, and Brian Lovato.) In the aftermath, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and Sacramento District Attorney (DA) have done nothing to prosecute the fascists who attempted to murder people in Sacramento.

          The cover-up began immediately with police interrogating and harrassing injured counter-protesters in their hospital beds while doing nothing to pursue charges against the Nazis who had stabbed them. The police released unsubstantiated public statements blaming anti-fascist protesters within twenty-four hours. Over a year later, only weeks before the murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Sacramento District Attorney (DA) Anne Marie Schubert charged and arrested three counter-protesters with unsubstantiated felony and misdemeanor charges.

          The CHP and DA’s cover-up and collusion with the fascists in Sacramento sent a message to TWP leader Matthew Heimbach, the main organizer of the Sacramento demonstration as well as the central organizer and participant in the August 11-12, 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that he and his racist thugs could commit murder in broad daylight and get away with it. The police policy of allowing the fascists to get away with their attack at the State Capitol in 2016 set off a chain of events that began with the near-murders in Sacramento and ended with the murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville.

         Although the Initial Discovery files supplied to Felarca’s attorneys contain hundreds of documents and videos, they do not include reports from police on the ground or eyewitness reports from June 26, 2016. The videos, pictures, and documents that were provided in Discovery are inadmissible. There are videos apparently copied from neo-fascist and alt-right Facebook pages and blogs, reports of decades-old political activities of Felarca in defense of women’s rights, reports on her union organizing, her lawsuit against Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD), and her activity in filing a union grievance as a site representative at Martin Luther King Middle School – documents that all point to the political targeting of Felarca.

         Based on the meager evidentiary content of the DA’s Initial Discovery release, the delay of over a year in the filing of charges, the open political targeting of Felarca and other anti-fascists evident in the police and DA’s discovery, and the failure of CHP leadership on the day to protect anti-fascists against attempted murder by armed fascists, or even make timely reports on the events of the day, the charges against Felarca should be dropped.

 

Nazis Present in Sacramento on June 26, 2016 from the Traditionalist Worker’s Party (TWP) and Golden State Skinheads (GSS) – All pictures shown are taken from California Highway Patrol (CHP) evidence.

California police worked with neo-Nazis to pursue ‘anti-racist’ activists, documents show

Officers expressed sympathy with white supremacists and sought their help to target counter-protesters after a violent 2016 rally, according to court documents

“This is a textbook case of a political witch-hunt and selective prosecution,” Shanta Driver, one of Felarca’s attorneys, said in an interview.

Officers also worked with TWP member Derik Punneo to try to identify anti-fascist activists, recordings revealed. Officers interviewed Punneo in jail after he was arrested for an unrelated domestic violence charge. Audio recordings captured investigators saying they brought photos to show him, hoping he could help them identify anti-fascist activists.

The officers said, “We’re pretty much going after them,” and assured him: “We’re looking at you as a victim.”

Ayres’s report noted that Punneo was armed with a knife at the neo-Nazi rally and that one stabbing victim told officers he believed Punneo was responsible. Using video footage, Ayres also noted that Punneo was “in the vicinity” of another victim at the time he was injured, but the officer said the evidence ultimately wasn’t clear.

Punneo and McCormack, who could not be reached for comment, were not charged. Ayres’s report included images and names of three other TWP-affiliated men who he said were armed with knives, but who also have faced no charges.

The CHP declined to comment.

In a response filed on Thursday, prosecutors said “every assertion” in the motion to dismiss is “inaccurate or fabricated” and accused Felarca’s lawyers of using the filing to “make a political statement”. The response also repeatedly blamed the stabbing victims for ignoring the district attorney’s inquiries: “Despite the fact that we have not gained the cooperation of these victims, the investigation to hold their attackers responsible continues forward.”

Prosecutors also said the charges were based on video evidence and argued that “no one is beneath the protection of the law, no matter how repugnant his or her rhetoric or misguided his or her ideals”.

Allegations of police bias and collusion with neo-Nazis have emerged in similar cases across the US. Last year, US prosecutors targeting anti-Trump protesters in Washington DC relied on video evidence from a far-right group with a record of deceptive tactics.

At an Oregon “alt-right” event, police allowed a member of a rightwing militia-style group to help officers arrest an anti-fascist activist.

Police in Charlottesville were widely accused of standing by as Nazis attacked protesters, and a black man who was badly beaten by white supremacists was later charged with a felony.

Sam Menefee-Libey, an activist who advocated for protesters charged for Inauguration Day rallies last year, said the government has repeatedly gone to great lengths to target anti-fascists: “We have patterns of acknowledged and unacknowledged overlaps between the interest of ultra-right nationalist organizations and the police and prosecutors’ offices.”

–The Guardian

Identified Nazis with the Traditionalist Worker’s Party (TWP) and Golden State Skinheads (GSS) that were present and armed in Sacramento

Transcript of Police Interview with TWP Member

Douglass McCormack (got permit for TWP)

 7/6/2016 at 5:10 pm

McCormack (Min 0:13): Hello

Officer Ayres (Min 0:14): Hi,I’m calling for Mr McCormick this Officer Ayres with the California  Highway patrol at the state Capitol.

McCormick (Min 0:15): yes

Officer Ayres (Min 0:20): (Min Hello sir, hey..uhm.. I’m uh.. i wanted to find out uh.. if you’d be willing to talk to us about uhm..the event and how it went down. If you have any information that would help our investigation.. uhm. we’re trying to track down the folks that were..uhm.. that were assaulted.. uhm.. and the victims.. that.. uhm.. as well as the suspects. So that’s what.. that’s why I’m calling for. Uhm.. is there.. is this a good time for you?

McCormick (Min. 0:46): Uh.. yeah now is a good time. I really don’t.. know.. who all.. who all attacked us.

Officer Ayres (Min 0:53): ok

McCormick (Min 0:55): Uhm.. I Know we didn’t bring any weapons to that.

Officer Ayres (Min. 1:02): ok

McCormick (Min 1:03): so.. I know there’s reportedly uh..five of them that were attacking us got stabbed.. but I don’t know who stabbed them and we didn’t bring any weapons.

Officer Ayres (Min 1:15): ok. What.. Did you get any other uh.. I’m sure there’s been conversations after the fact uh.. any of that stuff that would be useful for me uhm.. to try and untangle this uh.. and figure out what happened?

McCormick (Min 1:32): Uhm.. the only thing I can suggest is look on the uh.. Antifa Sacramento page. From what i understand there is a lot of talk going on  on there.

Officer Ayres (Min 1:44): ok. Are they uhm.. are they making more threats? are they.. are they planning on taking more action? Or do you guys have any events coming up the’re.. where they’re gonna be trying to get involved?

McCormick (Min 1:57): you know we don;t have any events coming up but I mean. we do wanna plan future events, but with that kind of stuff going.. what.. what’s the point? I mean, we didn’t even get to make it to the uh.. make it to the steps.

Officer Ayres ( Min 2:14): Yeah..uhm.. Did you make it that day? Were you.. uhm.. Did you come out as a group?

McCormick (Min 2:22): Yeah, I was there.

Officer Ayres (Min 2:23): ok.Do you know.. are any of your other guys.. uh.. are they willing to help out? uh.. I know you guys do business a whole differently uh…. at times.. and you don’t.. uh.. probably seek out cultural relationships with law enforcement, but uh..under the circumstances uh.. do you think there’s uh.. any possibility that uh..any of the other guys would talk to me?

McCormick (Min 2:47): I highly doubt it.

Officer Ayres (Min 2:49): yeah, fair enough. I get it. uhm.. th.. th..

McCormick (Min 2:55): I’ll probably be able to help you out. But I mean.. I don’t even know whats going on. I know.. I’m pretty sure you’d probably saw a lot of the videos.. and I mean.. they were attacking their own as much as they were attacking us.

Officer Ayres (Min 3:08) : I noticed that a little bit of that.. yeah, it was interesting there was ..of uh Everyone, no one, on everybody else.. I think there was strict fooling around.

McCormick (Min 3:20): Yeah.. They were like fucking animals.

Officer Ayres (Min. 3:24): Uhm.. so Mr. McCormick here’s another reason for my call.. is that there’s been request for uhm..like public information request regarding the permit and, which you’d be the main party on there.. when you coordinated with officer Nelson..uh.. to take the permit out uh.. you know your name goes on that and uh.. I know you guys talked about the rules for the permit and all that stuff you agreed to it.. so.. you know we don’t have any issue with that, but for the public record request..uh.. We don’t have a reason to.. uh.. deny it..then..

McCormick (Min 3:59): Request from the public record?

Officer Ayres (Min 4:00) Yeah, so they’re gonna request a copy of the permit.. uh.. and that permit is gonna have your name on it.

McCormick (Min 4:06): Who Antifa?

Officer Ayres (Min 4:07): I don’t know exactly.. and if I did I would tell you. A lot of the times is like.. you know.. the news or uh.. I mean anybody can do a  public records requests. It can be the lawyers..uhm.. so.. you know knowing wh.. I’m gonna take this back to my boss.. knowing that uh.. you were part of the group that was present and that uh.. technically the investigation is still ongoing, then uh.. I’m gonna suggest that we hold that or redact your name or something.. uh.. until this thing gets resolved.. but..

McCormick (Min 4:45): Yeah, I’d appreciate it. Any.. any information we have of course law enforcement is welcome to it, but any..any.. anybody from outside.. that I’d appreciate it if my name was kept from that. ’cause they’re causing.. trying to cause.. uh.. serious problems for people.. uh.. as far as.. uh.. finding out where people are working and uh.. calling the bosses..

Officer Ayres (Min 5:08): Yeah I saw that.

McCormick (Min 5:10) And.. all that stuff.. I mean.. thy’re.. they’re trying to cause problems any way, shape or form.

Officer Ayres (Min 5:17) Now are you.. uh.. are you local guys? Do you live near the valley somewhere out here?

McCormick (Min 5:21): No, I live in Ventura.

Officer Ayres (Min 5:22): Ok.. uh.. then.. uh.. yeah.. that’s gonna be my suggestion. So, hey I appreciate you picking up, if I have any questions, can i call you back?

McCormick (Min 5:33) Of course.

Officer Ayres (Min 5:33): Ok Thanks so much

McCormick (Min 5:36): No Problem

Officer Ayres (Min 5:36); Have a good day.

McCormick (Min 5:36): You too

McCormick Pictured Below

Partial Transcript of Police Interview of TWP Member Derik Punneo

Officer 1 (15:39): “We have just a few things um I’m going to show you a couple photos of some people, uh, if you don’t know ’em you don’t know ’em. Uh, (snorts) lets see uh…”

Officer 2 (15:49): “They’re, we think they’re kinda they’re, maybe, key leaders or whatever…organizers so we’re trying to figure out who their main players were to get ID’d cuz like I said we’re trying to, or he said, we’re trying to ID as many of them as we can. We’re pretty much going after them, to try to…”

Punneo (16:08) “Right.”

Officer 1 (16:09) “It’s, it’s kind of unfortunate but uh, uh, we have a lot of ’em, well over a hundred, probably a hundred…twenty five, a hundred and fifty identify that we’re…[cut off by Punneo]

Derik Punneo Pictured Below

Anti-Fascist Protester Vincent White in hospital after suffering multiple stab wounds. Police interviewed him in the hospital right after undergoing surgery.

Below is the link to BAMN’s brief and declarations and exhibits on our motion to drop all charges against Yvette Felarca, Mike Williams, and Porfirio Paz. Included are eye-witness statements of anti-fascist protesters and pictures of identified Nazis.

Motion to Dismiss All Charges

Declarations and Exhibits

Donate to Yvette Felarca’s Legal Defense Fund!

Yvette needs your support for her legal defense. These bogus charges would not have been brought if it weren’t for Yvette’s critical role in the movement, and we can not let this political attack succeed in scaring our ranks or forcing us into submission. Leadership is essential to victory. Donations can be made anonymously. Thanks to everyone who has donated to Yvette’s defense so far. Donations are essential to supporting Yvette and defeating this attack. They are greatly appreciated. Let’s spread the word and continue building the campaign to defend Yvette and our movement.

To Donate, Go to FundRazr and Search “Drop the Charges Against Yvette Felarca” Or Click HERE

Contact Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert and demand she drop the charges against Yvette Felarca, Mike Williams, and Porfirio Paz:

Schubert’s office can be reached at (916) 874-6218

(After hours, press 1 for Directory. Then S-C-H-U to get to the list of staff. Schubert is the 1st of 6 choices.)
Email daoffice@sacda.org.

Sample email and message below:

Dear Anne Marie Schubert,
I am writing to urge you to reverse your decision to prosecute Yvonne (also known as Yvette) Felarca on false, scapegoating charges of assault, riot, and incitement to riot. She was the one beaten and stabbed by neo-Nazis who went on a rampage over a year ago stabbing multiple anti-fascist protesters. The whole world is watching, and this will be one among many letters you will receive. In the interests of justice and in opposition of the Trump administration’s many attacks on freedom of speech, immigrants, and civil rights, I implore you to drop all charges against Yvonne Felarca and the other anti-fascist protesters Michael Williams and Porfirio Paz.

In Earnest Hope,
Your Name
City, State

Update: Press Conference from Preliminary Hearing held on Dec. 6th.

DROP THE CHARGES Against Anti-Racist and Anti-Fascist Protesters: Felarca, Williams, and Paz

Pack the Hearing November 14, 2019 at 8:30AM
Lorenzo Patino Hall of Justice
720 9th Street. Department 9 Sacramento, CA 95814

Defend Immigrant, Latina/o Black and Muslim Communities from Trump and His KKK/Nazi Supporters

Trump Must Resign or Be Removed

Attorney Shanta Driver for defendant Yvette Felarca leads press conference and is joined by co-defendants Mike Williams and Porfirio Paz in the latest on the fight to drop the charges against Felarca, Williams and Paz, for defending the black, Latino, Muslim, LGBT, and immigrant communities of Sacramento and California against violent fascist attacks. Drop the charges now!

www.bamn.com/DefendYvetteFelarca
email@bamn.com

BAMN Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary   www.bamn.com/DefendYvetteFelarca

       california@bamn.com     Bay Area BAMN Hotline: 510-817-2617

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