In solidarity with Black people and protestors across the country

The Central Coast Coalition for Undocumented Student Success (CCC-USS) is a collective of advocates and educators that challenges anti-immigrant and oppressive ideologies, institutional practices, and everyday actions that threaten undocumented and historically marginalized communities. 

We are in solidarity with the Black communities leading the protests against police brutality locally and across the country. We are in solidarity with those who are undocumented and Black, as they face oppressive policing from both law enforcement and I.C.E. We call for Justice for George Floyd, beginning with the arrests of all four officers involved in his murder. 

On Monday June 1st, 2020 hundreds of community members took to the streets of San Luis Obispo to call attention to police violence against Black people. Many of our local high school and college students were among these marchers. Soon after the march began, they were confronted not only by the San Luis Obispo Police Department but also by police forces called in from cities across the Central Coast, county sheriff deputies, county correctional officers, and Cal Poly University Police. Some officers were accompanied by police dogs.

Members of the Coalition were present the moment police forces used tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, and flashbangs on unarmed protestors who were  assembled on the street and sidewalk. In an effort to support the safety of the protestors, Coalition members were in attendance to provide food and water. Due to police escalations and attacks, members proceeded to inform protesters of their rights and provided medical aid to those harmed by tear gas and pepper spray. This scene has played out nationally as supporters and allies engaged in non-violent strategies against the police brutality and violence that Black communities continue to experience. 

We are angered by actions taken against Black communities and allies engaged in non-violent strategies throughout the nation. Locally, we demand transparency in the decision making from state and local agencies, elected city officials and city administrators who authorized the use of force on unarmed protesters. The people who made this decision should be held accountable.  
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CALL TO ACTION FOR LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS

• Contact the SLO Chief of Police, Deanna Cantrell at [email protected] and 805-781-7020 to express your feelings about Monday night’s use of force and request the SLO PD deescalate all future interactions with protestors by focusing on traffic control and not impede on the direction of all future marches or demonstrations.  
  
  
• Contact Mayor Heidi Harmon at (805) 540-4137 or [email protected]. Tell Mayor Harmon that the San Luis Obispo City Police Department escalated the situation. Find out Harmon’s role in the decision to utilize tear gas and flashbangs against protesters engaged in non-violent strategies. If Mayor Harmon wasn’t involved, ask her why. Ask her how she is accountable to the people of San Luis Obispo who were threatened by her police force last night. 
  
  
• Contact Derek Johnson the Manager for the City of San Luis Obispo (805) 781-7114 to ask for the public dissemination of City Public records and communication related to the authorization of the use of city resources that supported any and all activities related to the events of June 1, 2020.
  
  
• Allan Hancock College, Cuesta College, Cal Poly, and all local school districts must individually release a statement publicly condemning the use of force on protestors engaged in non-violent strategies and commit to racial justice which includes identifying and dismantling systemic barriers for Black students and all marginalized students, and reviewing both campus police mutual aid agreements with local law enforcement (as applicable) and the role of non-campus police forces on our campuses.

• Organize with people in your city to establish community member oversight boards for local police throughout the Central Coast. Local police must be accountable to these oversight boards. Local police serve the local community. Local police serve us.
  
  
• Donate to RACE Matters SLO https://www.racemattersslo.org/donate and NAACP http://naacpslocty.org/donate/
  
  
• Begin saving $20 or more a month to contribute towards legal fees for protestors arrested locally and encourage others to do the same.

In solidarity,
The Central Coast Coalition for Undocumented Student Success
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