"Federal agents raid California marijuana university; IRS spokeswoman mum on purpose of Oakland sweep" by Terry Collins | Associated Press, April 03, 2012
OAKLAND, Calif. — Federal agents targeted one of the country’s leading marijuana advocates Monday in a raid on a San Francisco Bay area medical marijuana training school instrumental in pushing for ballot measures to legalize the drug.
The doors to Oaksterdam University in downtown Oakland were blocked by US marshals following an early-morning raid by agents with the Internal Revenue Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration. A museum connected to the school as well as a nearby medical marijuana dispensary operated by Oaksterdam founder Richard Lee were also raided.
Arlette Lee, an IRS spokeswoman, told reporters that agents were serving a federal search warrant but said she could not otherwise comment on the purpose of the raid.
“Clearly they’re trying to knock down one of the leaders in the cannabis reform movement,’’ Jones said.
Agents carted trash bags of unknown materials out of the school to a waiting van as protesters gathered to condemn the raids. Oaksterdam University offers classes to would-be medical marijuana providers in fields ranging from horticulture to business to the legal ins-and-outs of running a dispensary. The school does not distribute marijuana.
Demonstrators outside the multistory building, some openly smoking marijuana, held signs demanding an end to federal crackdowns on medical marijuana. A large mural on the side of the school makes the building one of the neighborhood’s most visible landmarks.
Ryan Hooper, 26, of Oakland, wearing an Oaksterdam hat and sweatshirt, said he had finished taking courses at the school in February. “This is not in the best interest of the city,’’ Hooper said. “If they close the dispensaries, all of this stuff is going to go back underground.’’
Oaksterdam University was founded by Richard Lee, who spent more than $1 million as the main backer of the California ballot measure, defeated in 2010, that would have legalized marijuana in the state for recreational use.
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"Dear Media, Please Ask Obama to Explain His Escalating War on Medical Marijuana
Scott Morgan
StopTheDrugWar
Monday morning's DEA raid of Oaksterdam University is making major headlines, but there's one detail missing from the coverage: why the f#$k is Obama at War with Medical Marijuana in the first place? Seriously, why is any of this even happening at all?
Under this administration, the idea of raiding state-approved medical marijuana facilities went from being "not a good use of our resources," to being a very popular pastime among federal police and prosecutors. They've been going completely berserk for the better part of a year now, and while they weren't exactly diplomatic before that, they've been acting lately like they won some kind of drug war lottery and are trying to spend all the money before they die.
Raiding Richard Lee is arguably the most audacious play the feds have ever made in the War on Medical Marijuana for a few reasons. He's in a wheelchair and exemplifies the image of a legitimate medical marijuana patient/provider. He runs a school that promotes professionalism in the medical cannabis industry. And most importantly, he was the driving force behind the Prop 19 campaign that nearly legalized marijuana in California.
If you're thinking all of this explains exactly why they want to take him out, well…yeah, but it isn't nearly that simple. Everyone knows who Richard Lee is, and almost everyone supports him. To go after him now, after everything he's done, is to manufacture the most perfect martyr ever to emerge in the increasingly ugly War on Medical Marijuana in America.
I could spend all afternoon speculating as to why the Obama Administration would choose to escalate a policy that's already so deeply unpopular with the American people. But I shouldn’t have to. It's Obama's turn to tell us what the hell happened here, and it's the responsibility of the press to demand an answer.
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Once again, the AmeriKan media FAILS!!
"7 dead, 3 hurt in California university shooting; Captured suspect is former student, but motive unclear" by Terry Collins | Associated Press, April 03, 2012
OAKLAND, Calif. - A 43-year-old former student of a small Christian university in California opened fire at the school Monday, killing at least seven people and setting off an intense, chaotic manhunt that ended with his arrest at a nearby shopping center, authorities said....
Myung Soon Ma, the school’s secretary, said she could not provide any details about what happened at the private school, which serves the Korean community with courses from theology to Asian medicine...
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What was cut from the web but appeared in my printed pos:
Angie Johnson, 52, told the San Francisco Chronicle that she saw a young woman leave the building with blood coming from her arm and crying: "I've been shot. I've been shot."
The injured woman said the shooter was a man in her nursing class who got up and shot one person at point-blank range in the chest before spraying the room with bullets, Johnson said.
"She said he looked crazy all the time," Johnson said the victim told her, "but they never knew how far he would go."
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More from Tennessee:
"Day of Insanity
In Oakland there was insanity today.
"Mass fatalities" are reported in a shooting at an Oakland religious nursing college.
A sick SOB enters the campus and kills 7. Cops may have caught the shooter but it's after the fact. The victims in the shooting gallery were unarmed and helpless.
Meanwhile across town, the feds, also being the sick SOB's that they are, raided Oaksterdam University, California's first cannabis industry training school. The victims in this were also unarmed and helpless. No casualties except for the Constitution and some green plant material.
"This is a calculated attack across the state on everyone who is trying to bring the cannabis industry out of the darkness and into the light," said Executive Chancellor Dale Sky Jones. "They're going after industry leaders one at a time."Travesty at two campuses. Both schools are very similar. They both taught people how to help others and become an integral part of the economy.
You can't blame the local and state law enforcement for the killings with the information we now have, although it is convenient the shooting story buried the illegal fed raid one. The cops can't be everywhere. But where are they for the federal medical marijuana 'Stalinist' purges? Jerry Brown could send in the state cops and tell the plutocrat goons they have no jurisdiction and to get the hell out of there and never come back. Oh yeah, the top boys are laying back and counting their federal bribes and putting a spit shine on their toys....
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Also see: Oakland gunman was angry, police say
Administrator says she was shooter’s target
"Occupy protesters take over church building" Associated Press, April 03, 2012
SAN FRANCISCO - Occupy protesters invaded a vacant Archdiocese of San Francisco building over the weekend, saying they will take it over permanently for use as a shelter for homeless people.
It was the first major action by Occupy San Francisco since dismantling of an Embarcadero encampment in December.
Activists were still in the building Monday and said they had no plans to leave. Police surrounded the property.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that police stood by as protesters entered the vacant building. One organizer estimated that about a hundred people joined the protest.
Archdiocese spokesman George Wesolek said Monday that church officials asked police not to take any action until they met with protest leaders, but he said the diocese wants the protesters to leave.
A police spokesman said the building, which has been vacant for about five years, is private property and police would not move in unless the owners filed a complaint.
Related: SF Occupy protesters evicted, arrested
Never saw a word in my Globe.
Across the bay in Oakland on Saturday night, windows were broken and graffiti were scrawled on downtown buildings during an Occupy antipolice march.
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The anti-Wall Street demonstrators held a rally and march on Sunday and about 100 of the protesters entered the two-story building near archdiocesan headquarters at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that police stood by as protesters entered the vacant building. One organizer estimated that about a hundred people joined the protest.
Archdiocese spokesman George Wesolek said Monday that church officials asked police not to take any action until they met with protest leaders, but he said the diocese wants the protesters to leave.
A police spokesman said the building, which has been vacant for about five years, is private property and police would not move in unless the owners filed a complaint.
Related: SF Occupy protesters evicted, arrested
Never saw a word in my Globe.
Across the bay in Oakland on Saturday night, windows were broken and graffiti were scrawled on downtown buildings during an Occupy antipolice march.
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