On August 9, 2007, Martin Frederick Cotton II was brutally beat to death- and then refused medical treatment -by Eureka Police and Humboldt County Sheriff "Correctional Officers" (in the jail).

Since August of 2008, there has been a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Martin Cotton's baby daughter (through a legal guardian) and by his father, Martin F. Cotton.

There is a trial scheduled in the Federal Court in Oakland in front of Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong and a jury beginning October 4, 2010, 8:30am.  There will be at least fourteen cops exposed and on trial for killing Martin. Please begin organizing where you live to be there and make sure that it is known what these cops have done, what violence this system inflicts, and we want it to be understood- We will not tolerate intimidation, beatings, and murder by the police!!

We will be organizing people to travel to the Bay area to witness the trial.  If you are in the Bay Area (or anywhere somewhat close), please organize support and presence in your area.   And if you can help folks from Humboldt get there, let's talk.

Details soon. 

If you are interested in organizing for August 9th [Cotton Day] or in hanging up and handing out fliers for August 9th, please call Redwood Curtain CopWatch at (707) 633-4493.

The word is that raids will begin on Monday, July 19th.  Cops hunt down outside-sleeping people every night, but these raids will be broad-sweeping and perhaps more orchestrated.

These raids will violate the rights of the houseless people.  There are no legal, free-of-charge places to sleep in Eureka (or Arcata), so there are no options for almost all people who have no shelter except to sleep where they can find a hidden piece of ground.  Then ya gotta be able to protect yourself from the rain, wind, cold, dew.

This is not a new situation.  But all too often, people who are housed dismiss the reality of the situation by simply saying, "Well, there are homeless shelters for them to go to."  That is completely INACCURATE.

The City of Eureka proves itself again to care more about pushing its weight around, stealing, towing, searching, seizing, than it does about YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO PLACE TO LIVE.

July 6, 2010  2:58am

Open Letter To Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen, Eureka City Council members, Eureka Mayor,
Eureka City Attorney, Sheryl Schaffner:

Re: EPD Sergeant Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez punches a young man in the side of the head and threatens teenage witness if he testifies to seeing the punch

From: redwood curtain copwatch  
Date: Tue, Jun 8, 2010 at 9:35 PM
Subject: Preserve and Return Property Taken by EPD today
To: gnielsen@ci.eureka.ca.gov

Chief Nielsen,

J and R, a married couple, own the following property which was taken by EPD officer(s) between the hours of 3:00pm and 8:15pm today, June 8, 2010:

Grey and Blue Tent and Rainfly (new, cost $50.00)
Five blankets
1 large Stoker's tobacco can
10 smaller cans of chewing tobacco
Full purple backpack
Full green backpack
Full long black bag with wheels
Two Mickey Mouse pillows
Two Flashlights
Prescription Medications (prescribed to R)
About 5-6 dollars in change
Clothes, feminine items, flag, other personal items
Orange and Black Daypack

A few days ago, a young man made this complaint to the Eureka Police Department:

I am a college student in Alaska, my home state. I am currently taking some time to travel through the continental states. Today (April 23, 2010), my friend and I sat down for a moment with our heavy backpacks near the St. Vincent de Paul's cafeteria. After a few minutes, Officer Reyna-Sanchez walked past many people and approached us. A third person who had stopped to rest saw Officer Reyna-Sanchez coming at us and said “Don't shoot.” The officer then smugly told us that he had shot and killed someone last month. He then told us that we were trespassing, though there were no signs indicating such. Officer Reyna-Sanchez verbally harassed me, telling me, for instance that he could take away my rights and “You better leave Eureka... You and I will bump heads if you stay around.” 

On Wednesday night, March 31, 2010, Officer Justin Winkle of the Eureka Police Department [EPD], once again, went too far and hurt someone.

Winkle was one of the cops who killed Martin Cotton II in August of 2007- beat him to death. The other night, he abused a 20 year old woman who was happily skipping down the street. He stopped her and said that he was looking for a woman in particular (a “suspect”). He demanded ID, and when the woman gave him her name, he called it in. The EPD voice on the other end of the police radio informed Winkle that she was not the one- not the person the police were looking for. Nevertheless, Winkle continued to detain the young woman. She told him that she had done nothing wrong and wanted to leave, that there is no law against skipping, and she knew that she had a right to continue on her way.

March 23, 2010
Open Letter To Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen and all entities listed below:

It is unfortunate that we must write to you again about yet another series of violent incidences, one of many, wherein Eureka Police Officer Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez is targeting, physically abusing, and threatening the life of a vulnerable Eureka resident. The City's lack of response to any of our prior letters and its failure, to date, to expel dangerous officers such as Sanchez from the police force exhibits your unwillingness to protect the people of Eureka. However, with this explicit notice of severe threats and abuse by Sanchez against a specific person, you have a moral and legal obligation to take whatever actions to prevent further abuse or even murder by Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez.

Eureka Police Sgt. Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez (badge#13) and Patrick Bishop (badge #60) are the cops who fired their guns resulting in the murder of David Sequoia.  Brian Stephens of EPD was the other cop on the scene.

Redwood Curtain CopWatch was just about to send off a letter about Sanchez when we learned this info.

The letter is about Sanchez repeatedly THREATENING a houseless Eureka resident- saying he will SHOOT HIM IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD.

We will also be updating our officer profiles with photos and more info soon.

The cops got to Kris Coon.

That first story apparently didn't work- the one about the cop (so far name undisclosed) who shot David in the head at close range, fearing that David would keep reaching for the gun on his hip. Now, it's a whole different story- much more scary sounding... The cops and Coon would have us believe this killing was HEROIC. Coon probably believes he won't have any trouble for a while with EPD if he keeps participating in this cover-up....

'I could have been killed so quickly'; Thursday shootings in Eureka believed to be linked

Thadeus Greenson/The Times-StandardPosted: 03/20/2010 01:32:25 AM PDT

Authorities now believe that the Eureka man killed in an officer-involved shooting Thursday was on the run, having just fired two shots at an acquaintance in an apartment complex parking lot about a block away from the fatal shooting.

Shot him in the head?

The guy who tackled David because David was on his property, Kris Coon, said that David was on the ground when the cop shot him.

Which cop we don't know.

Wrestle someone because they walk onto your property?

David's body needs to be preserved.  After every other killing by local cops, the families were contacted and rushed into cremating their loved ones body (by the crooked coroner).  Then there is no body for an independent forensics investigation or for the civil rights cases that are brought by the families.  David Sequioa's body must not be destroyed!! 

What is he was facing down?  What if he was shot in the back of the head? 

"Stop reaching for the gun"? (see Times-Standard article below) As if someone could reach for a gun more than once in front of a cop.

And then the Times-Standard criminalizes David by commenting on some other shooting that happened in Eureka and pondering whether David was involved!

To Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen,
Eureka City Council members,
Eureka Mayor Virginia Bass
Eureka City Attorney Sheryl Schaffner:

We, of Redwood Curtain CopWatch, receive report after report of unprovoked, vicious behavior by Sergeant Michael Quigley toward houseless people. With this letter we intend, once again, to alert you to Quigley's regular practice of abusing his authority and abusing people whom he apparently perceives to have little to no political power. As exhibited by his indecent and cruel behavior, Quigley believes he has absolute impunity to blatantly and repeatedly violate peoples' human and constitutional rights. This open letter goes out to hundreds of individuals and groups to call attention to Quigley's ongoing unacceptable behavior and to publicly call on you to correct it immediately and prevent any such misconduct and abuse in the future.

Eureka City Hall False Arrest, Harassment of Houseless from we watch on Vimeo.

Eureka City Hall False Arrest, Harassment of Houseless People

Video Transcribed- What are they saying?:

Officer Aubochon: We gotta advise you guys of a trespassing ordinance over here...'cause you were standing in the parking lot.

These are only a few of things we have been told that Eureka PD's Sanchez has said to people:

"No one will miss you if I shoot you in the back of the head"

"Do you go to this church? Well I am Catholic and I do go to this church [not true], and I don't want you sleeping at my church"

"If I see you again sitting anywhere with your blanket, I will take you to jail."

"You'd be better off in prison" [to homeless and disabled woman]

"You wrote a letter calling me a liar. That's why I'm giving you a ticket."

"If I see you here again with that sign, I'm gonna arrest you."

"You'd be better off dead."  [to homeless, middle-aged woman]

"My child was beaten by (a police officer) in front of Eureka High School."

Excessive force against child

Letter to the editor

My child was beaten by (a police officer) in front of Eureka High School. Before numerous witnesses, (the officer) slammed my son's head against the pavement and against the door of his patrol car. My son is recovering from retinal reattachment surgery. We don't know whether his vision will recover.

This amount of force was unnecessary,since my son's offense was trespassing, roughly a half-block from the front door of our home, at 3:30 p.m. when school let out). In addition,(the officer) outweighs my son by at least 60 pounds and already had my son in a painful hold.

I have filed a formal complaint with EPD, but is it really possible for the Eureka police to investigate themselves fairly?

911 Call for Ambulance Help Only Brought Grief and Arrest for Injured Victim

On Thursday afternoon (June 18, 2009) in Eureka, near the Blue Heron motel, a woman of color (possibly Asian or Native American) was observed being held against her will by a large man, while a smaller man was repeatedly antagonizing her and spraying her in the face with something (pepper spray, mace?)

The woman was struggling to get away.

Gabriel Cuevas-Maldonado was shot with assault rifle by EPD officer Gary Whitmer on September 15, 2005. Mr. Maldonado was in a house when he was killed by Officer Whitmer and spoke no English.

The media and officials kept it quiet so people would not get upset.  They criminalized Mr. Muldenado in the brief newspaper mention.  This death was the first in a 2 and a half year killing spree by the Eureka police Deparment.