A man enters the building early in the December 2nd occupation at 10th and Union (Image: CHS)
A Seattle judge has ruled 16 activists were not trespassing after
they occupied a vacant Capitol Hill building in December. Some 200
activists occupied the Union Cultural Center at 10th and Union for about
10 hours before they were
forced out in a pre-dawn SWAT raid by Seattle police.
According to court records, Judge Judith Hightower ruled
the building was abandoned, incapable of being trespassed. The building
had been empty for more than a year and was scheduled for demolition
two weeks after the activists moved in.
Hightower dismissed the trial May 24; it
was slated to start this week. The 107-year-old building had since been
demolished to make way for
new mixed-use development.
Kimberly Mills, spokesperson for the City Attorney's office, tells CHS the judge denied the prosecutor's request to reconsider the ruling.
Braden Pence, who represented some of the UCC 16, says the ruling calls into question how and why Occupy crackdowns were carried out.
“Politically, there's pressure to keep
things the way they are," Pence said. "Occupy was theoretically about
transformative change and addressing institutional inequality, so there
was a bias against it and that was evident in the media coverage and the
prosecution.”
Pence said he's frustrated that media coverage has disappeared now that some protestors are being vindicated in their actions.
The dismissal comes on the heals of
the Chase 5 being found not guilty in their occupation of
Chase Bank's
Broadway brach. Pence, who left his clerk post with a Seattle judge to
represent Occupy activists, also served as co-counsel for the Chase 5.
Revelry -- and discussion of what to do next the night of the occupation (Image: CHS)
Pence says that while some Occupy activists engaged in illegal
activity, it's important to note how many cases are being dropped.
“The legal system is a reflection of a
community and I think seattle is a liberal community and one that
embraces political discourse,” he says. “Our society likes individual
freedom and political speech. If this case was in a different part of
the country, we could have very different results.”
Babylonia Aivaz was one of the UCC 16. You'll remember she garnered national media attention after holding
a “gay-wedding” with the UCC building last year. She says she was indifferent about the dismissal.
"I just felt in the core of my being that what was happening in there was true justice."
–Babylonia Aivaz |
“Honestly, it didn't make a difference.
Either way I knew we were right and we were going to win … I knew I live
with pure intentions in this world, I have no intention for harm, only
positive social change.”
Aivaz said what she remembers most about
the night in December is the positive energy and good nature of the
participants. She says the occupiers immediately got to work, cleaning
and removing debris in order to hold a meeting to discuss how to best
use the space for the community.
“I just felt in the core of my being that
what was happening in there was true justice,” she said. “I would have
taken a bullet for what we were doing that night.”
Aivaz tells CHS she's hard at work
planning her next wedding to Yessler Terrace. The 71-year-old public
housing development is slated for
a massive overhaul.
According to
occupyseattle.org,
the movement is still alive and kicking with a slew of summer events
planned. Seattle activists are organizing a cross-country Occupy caravan
with other west coast cities to end in Philadelphia July 4th. A free
music, arts, and politics festival, dubbed Everything for Everyone
Festival, is slated for August 11-12.
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