“Prosecutions such as this one can serve to chill speech even if they do not result in a conviction…” wrote Michael Risher, ACLU attorney.

Community members gathered at the Santa Cruz Courthouse for a press conference and rally to demand District Attorney Bob Lee drop the charges against the Santa Cruz Eleven.

On May 4th, over a hundred people gathered at the Santa Cruz Courthouse for a press conference, march, and rally organized by the Watsonville Brown Berets to demand District Attorney Bob Lee drop the charges against the Santa Cruz Eleven.

The accused journalists work for alternative news sources such as Indybay and Free Radio Santa Cruz and argue that they were covering the occupation as a newsworthy event.

Participants held signs bearing slogans like “Journalism is not a crime”

District Attorney Bob Lee said Indybay photojournalists Bradley Allen and Alex Darocy, two of those charged and not acquitted, "effectively served as the media arm of the organization; the group's propagandists."

On Tuesday, May 15th and Friday, May 18th, supporters of the Santa Cruz Eleven held banners above the slow-moving southbound traffic on Highway 1 in Santa Cruz.

Judge Burdick, who previously expressed that he would rather not have to preside over this case anymore, stated, "Once again, we are stuck with each other Ms. Young."

A police cruiser was parked in the street as two officers stood over a young man seated on the curb with his hands cuffed behind his back.

The seven remaining defendants in the 75 River Street case will have a preliminary hearing before Judge Burdick on August 20th.