Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Ché Café sit-in is a bust

“No pun intended, but I think it’s kind of a cop out.”

Ché volunteers gathered inside the venue before dawn on Tuesday and blacked out the windows. - Image by Jordan Krimston
Ché volunteers gathered inside the venue before dawn on Tuesday and blacked out the windows.

“We won’t go easily.”

Raquel Calderon and about 50 other Ché Café volunteers were on hand at 5 a.m. for a meeting at the Ché building to discuss Miranda rights, anticipating the arrival of the sheriff deputies to possibly arrest them before they are permanently locked out.

As of noon the sheriffs hadn’t arrived but a handful of Ché loyalists stuck around waiting for what they thought was the inevitable.

“No pun intended, but I think it’s kind of a cop out,” says Jordan Krimston of the band Big Bad Buffalo, who were part of the Ché’s pre-dawn demonstration. Members of La Bella and KIDS were also on hand.

“There were rumors that UCSD [administration] said they didn’t even know about it when they were the ones who had it posted,” Krimston tells the Reader.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Four TV news teams showed up to record the crowd walking around the building at 6 a.m. carrying “Save the Ché” signs and chanting, “Whose community? Our community!”

After the march, the crowd went inside for breakfast. Some played board games waiting for the deputies to arrive.

While it was unclear how many would have been arrested, Krimston says he thought most of those who were there would have subjected themselves to arrest following a sit-in.

“I’m told that there will now be someone there 24/7,” says Krimston.

Calderon notes the irony that such a progressive institution as the University of California would clamp down on the Ché Café.

“It seems like the [UC administration] is opposed to anything that is not homogenous. They painted over Graffiti Hall. It’s the same situation now with the Ché. I think we should be wary of a university that says it cares about diversity. We should not necessarily take what it says about diversity at face value.”

Calderon says the administration misled the public saying the building was unsafe and saying the Associated Students supported the eviction. “The Student government voted the opposite of this. The administration said if you don’t leave they will evict you, but the [AS] intention was to renegotiate an agreement.”

Calderon also tells the Reader that the AS voted that the famous murals on the exterior of the building not be painted over but she fears that will be ignored.

“The AS also asked that the space not be altered. That we would enter into an interim period. The university took advantage of their resolution…. It is very hurtful that they would come down so hard and heavy-handed.”

The Tuesday-morning turnout included people in their late teens and 20s to some in their 50s.

“The people behind the Ché are a diverse group of graduates, undergraduates, and others who care…. These people are intelligent, critically thinking, creative people. You have to be very passionate to give your heart to this kind of place.”

But while the Ché Collective may be passionate, it is still a group of volunteers without a clear governing structure.

One Collective member said two members almost came to blows, and that one member started crying over the disagreements between the volunteers.

Update
Captain Frank Turner of the San Diego Sheriff department explains why his force did not show up at 6 a.m. on March 24 as was indicated on the posted eviction notice taped on the Che Café on March 17: “Evictions are executed on a first-come, first-served basis,” Turner tells the Reader, adding that his department has 180 days from the day it is posted to send his people in to clear the space and allow the locks to be changed. “It goes in our stack and we will serve it when he can.... We serve between 15 and 20 evictions a day.”

In the name of efficiency, he says that he will serve this eviction when he has other evictions to serve in the area.

But Turner says there are considerations as to when this particular eviction will be served. He says he will need to coordinate it with the availability of the onsite police force, which would be the UCSD on security. Also, he says that because it his understanding that there might be as many as 100 people who might be resisting, he could not administer this particular eviction with his regular two-man crew. “We are hearing that there will be people who are willing to be arrested for the cause.” Turner adds that he also will have “buses and vans” available in the event there would be a need for mass arrests. “Of course, we hope that does not happen.”

Turner says it is his understanding that pepper spray would not be needed, but that if his officers are attacked, they will use “whatever means necessary” to protect themselves. He says there have been cases where officers enforcing evictions have been killed. “But we do not expect that in this case.”

Turner says the way it works is that once his officers arrive, they instruct all those on the property to leave. He says if they do not comply they will be immediately arrested. “We don’t just pick them up and move them.”

When asked, Turner says he could not even provide a “ball park” estimation of when it would be served.

A press release sent out Wednesday by the Ché Collective says: "...the building remains in the hands of the students, faculty, alumni and community members who had helped to defend it. The Ché Café Collective considers these events a victory."

But Captain Turner says there was no intervention on the part of the UCSD administration delaying the service of the eviction. And that it was only expediency from his department that delayed the eviction. He says it his understanding the eviction absolutely will proceed.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Next Article

Seals hook up with Beaver

Salty’s Escape is a Mexican-Style cerveza brewed with corn and puffed Jasmine rice
Ché volunteers gathered inside the venue before dawn on Tuesday and blacked out the windows. - Image by Jordan Krimston
Ché volunteers gathered inside the venue before dawn on Tuesday and blacked out the windows.

“We won’t go easily.”

Raquel Calderon and about 50 other Ché Café volunteers were on hand at 5 a.m. for a meeting at the Ché building to discuss Miranda rights, anticipating the arrival of the sheriff deputies to possibly arrest them before they are permanently locked out.

As of noon the sheriffs hadn’t arrived but a handful of Ché loyalists stuck around waiting for what they thought was the inevitable.

“No pun intended, but I think it’s kind of a cop out,” says Jordan Krimston of the band Big Bad Buffalo, who were part of the Ché’s pre-dawn demonstration. Members of La Bella and KIDS were also on hand.

“There were rumors that UCSD [administration] said they didn’t even know about it when they were the ones who had it posted,” Krimston tells the Reader.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Four TV news teams showed up to record the crowd walking around the building at 6 a.m. carrying “Save the Ché” signs and chanting, “Whose community? Our community!”

After the march, the crowd went inside for breakfast. Some played board games waiting for the deputies to arrive.

While it was unclear how many would have been arrested, Krimston says he thought most of those who were there would have subjected themselves to arrest following a sit-in.

“I’m told that there will now be someone there 24/7,” says Krimston.

Calderon notes the irony that such a progressive institution as the University of California would clamp down on the Ché Café.

“It seems like the [UC administration] is opposed to anything that is not homogenous. They painted over Graffiti Hall. It’s the same situation now with the Ché. I think we should be wary of a university that says it cares about diversity. We should not necessarily take what it says about diversity at face value.”

Calderon says the administration misled the public saying the building was unsafe and saying the Associated Students supported the eviction. “The Student government voted the opposite of this. The administration said if you don’t leave they will evict you, but the [AS] intention was to renegotiate an agreement.”

Calderon also tells the Reader that the AS voted that the famous murals on the exterior of the building not be painted over but she fears that will be ignored.

“The AS also asked that the space not be altered. That we would enter into an interim period. The university took advantage of their resolution…. It is very hurtful that they would come down so hard and heavy-handed.”

The Tuesday-morning turnout included people in their late teens and 20s to some in their 50s.

“The people behind the Ché are a diverse group of graduates, undergraduates, and others who care…. These people are intelligent, critically thinking, creative people. You have to be very passionate to give your heart to this kind of place.”

But while the Ché Collective may be passionate, it is still a group of volunteers without a clear governing structure.

One Collective member said two members almost came to blows, and that one member started crying over the disagreements between the volunteers.

Update
Captain Frank Turner of the San Diego Sheriff department explains why his force did not show up at 6 a.m. on March 24 as was indicated on the posted eviction notice taped on the Che Café on March 17: “Evictions are executed on a first-come, first-served basis,” Turner tells the Reader, adding that his department has 180 days from the day it is posted to send his people in to clear the space and allow the locks to be changed. “It goes in our stack and we will serve it when he can.... We serve between 15 and 20 evictions a day.”

In the name of efficiency, he says that he will serve this eviction when he has other evictions to serve in the area.

But Turner says there are considerations as to when this particular eviction will be served. He says he will need to coordinate it with the availability of the onsite police force, which would be the UCSD on security. Also, he says that because it his understanding that there might be as many as 100 people who might be resisting, he could not administer this particular eviction with his regular two-man crew. “We are hearing that there will be people who are willing to be arrested for the cause.” Turner adds that he also will have “buses and vans” available in the event there would be a need for mass arrests. “Of course, we hope that does not happen.”

Turner says it is his understanding that pepper spray would not be needed, but that if his officers are attacked, they will use “whatever means necessary” to protect themselves. He says there have been cases where officers enforcing evictions have been killed. “But we do not expect that in this case.”

Turner says the way it works is that once his officers arrive, they instruct all those on the property to leave. He says if they do not comply they will be immediately arrested. “We don’t just pick them up and move them.”

When asked, Turner says he could not even provide a “ball park” estimation of when it would be served.

A press release sent out Wednesday by the Ché Collective says: "...the building remains in the hands of the students, faculty, alumni and community members who had helped to defend it. The Ché Café Collective considers these events a victory."

But Captain Turner says there was no intervention on the part of the UCSD administration delaying the service of the eviction. And that it was only expediency from his department that delayed the eviction. He says it his understanding the eviction absolutely will proceed.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.