Note: This article is inspired by selective enforcement of our city ordinances and laws. This article shows the mentality of not only police officers [because they are merely being directed by those corrupt a**holes above them] and average folks and how they view some citizens over others, when we all have the same rights, even if some are poor or have nothing to their name; they have the same rights as you. As I have written in the past, I go to North Beach and sit in the park there. I watch as police summarily ignore certain-type people drinking in said park. They treat them like adults, and don't really have a problem with that thinking.
Just wish it were applied to everyone, because, if you are going to enforce an ordinance or law, you should do so evenly, as to not appear playing favoritism, as that action is unconstitutional and unlawful, itself. So when I see those folks in North Beach able to drink alcohol in public, and when I see dozens of folks, who seem to have cash, getting gassed and leaving establishments like 'Jupiter' and 'The Hotel Shattuck,' and not get stopped and made to empty their pockets, I have to write a column about it.
I have to really thank the Berkeley Police Department. Okay, not really. They are just an extension of why I have to thank them. The reason I have to thank them is because of what the Downtown [Berkeley] Business Association (DBA) and city hall (who are in bed together) is because I was "slippin'," and now I am not, and it's all due to them sending a guard dog my way and buzzing me, twice.
And the reason I have to do this is because, for the past couple weeks, I have been on a "bender." A bender is a drinking binge. I have been slamming vodka, after work (I am professional; I do not drink while working.). I do not have to pay, as my friend pays, nightly. So, if you are thinking, "Why does a 'homeless guy' drink when he panhandles money from folks?," I do not pay for it.
Some nights I am cool... when I drink, slowly, and do not slam it. However, there are nights, like a few nights a go, when I get a little gassed, and then walk off the boulevard, screaming at people to not vote on measure S, and telling them I will find them and beat them up if they do... you know, stupid sh*t like that.
So, a few nights ago... a bicycle police officer cruised me and my friends and told us, "That's enough for tonight fellas. Wrap it up." So we did. And I was happy for that. Because, that's responsible. That's what is supposed to happen. There's no reason to have everyone empty their pockets and sit down... well, not until the next evening, that is.
Then, the same police officer saw me where the old Walgreen's sat. I saw him, too. Sure, I had a good buzz going, but I wasn't hammered; I was in control, the entire time. The light was just about to turn green, so I started crossing. I was about a second too early, and he used that to mess with me a bit.
He shouted, "Hey! Over here! Now! Empty your pockets and sit down."
So, I ask, "What for? What's the charge?" He says, "J-walking." I laughed and said, "What, for being a half-second early?" He said, "You jumped out earlier than that." I continued, "Yeah, you're right... it was about a full second."
So I pull out my knife and my two pain killers (for my knees and back) and sit down... on the curb, where he told me to sit in the first place. He then says, "No, not there. Sit on the circle thing." Now, the man told me to "sit down." He never stipulated where, other than I figured it was right there, on the sidewalk, where he was standing, because he was nonspecific about where; he was playing games, and I knew it.
So I get up... I go over... he runs my name. He gives me my identification back, and asks me if I had been drinking. I told him yeah, but I wasn't drunk. I also told him he never does this to Yuppies who come out of Jupiter or the Hotel Shattuck, gassed worse than I was... he disagreed; he told me he does if he sees them. I told him I know about the "selective enforcement" that is going on in town... he was cool, in the end. I did yell at him a little, but did point out that I was on the side of the police department and their union.
(Block By Block is just an extension of SMS Holdings, which is a union-busting corporation, hiding behind 'faith-based initiatives' and other obfuscation. Their [SMS Holdings] is to 'Trojan Horse' Blue State cities, and states, and infiltrate them during a political season. And the police unions and city worker's unions need to be on alert. These 'Christians' are none of the sort. I act more 'Christian' than them and I do not espouse to any organized religious thought process.)
I believe he was put on to me by the DBA and city hall. I run my mouth about their business a lot, which makes me a viable target for such harassment tactics.
And, that's cool... but it's not cool, either. Because that is systematic harassment by a governmental agency, through the wielding of power from business... that's fascism.
Yeah, I was drinking... but being intoxicated is not a crime, just as long as you are not causing any trouble. Because, if that were the case, there would be a ton of people breaking the law in downtown Berkeley on a daily basis, and those people are the "respectable people." Those are the ones who can afford six-dollar beers... us homeless people cannot afford those prices.
Oh, and it's not illegal to be drinking or drunk on game days on the Cal Campus, just so everyone knows... apparently this drinking and drunk thing is subjective to WHO is doing it.
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