Occupy Long Beach Protester Sentenced to Garbage Duty & Probation
Photo via Facebook. Photo caption: Occupy Long Beach: Theater of the Oppressed at midnight, passing the time as cops regroup and get ready to kick us out of the park.
Jonathan Glen Davidson, a 42-year-old Cerritos resident, occupied Long Beach last month until his arrest on October 30. Davidson was sentenced today to clean local freeways and slapped with three years of probation.
At the time of his arrest, Davidson remained camped out in downtown Long Beach's Lincoln Park for more than 30 minutes after the 10pm closing time. A City of Long Beach release says that police asked Davidson to leave the park and warned him that he faced arrest if he failed to comply. Davidson refused to decamp and was arrested with two other protesters.
On Monday, a jury convicted Davidson "of camping in a downtown Long Beach park in violation of Long Beach Municipal Code section 16.16.010(k)," per the release. His sentence requires him to team up with CalTrans for 80 hours of community service involving picking up trash along local freeways. Superior Court Judge J.D. Lord placed Davidson on three years probation, and if he violates the order, he faces up to 180 days in jail.
Lord took Davidson's criminal record into consideration when sentencing the protester, which includes recent conviction for assault on an Orange County police officer and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Occupy Long Beach continues to occupy Lincoln Park, moving to the sidewalks after 10pm. Occupiers have demanded an allowance to keep the tents in the park overnight, a request that will be reported on by city staff to the council on December 6, says Press-Telegram.
Davidson and the two other protesters are not the only occupiers who have been detained. Police have made 15 arrests so far related to Occupy Long Beach.
