Occupiers say 'Sentinel' Report on Human Feces is Full of It

Occupy Santa Cruz members are angry about a Santa Cruz Sentinel report connecting – but not exactly connecting – human feces found at the Veterans Hall with a report about complaints by Sheriff Phil Wowak about Occupy Santa Cruz.

"At least one incident on the county list wasn't noted by the Sheriff's Office: the discovery of an estimated 200 pounds of human feces near the county Veterans Memorial Building, just across the Water Street bridge from the camp, " the Sentinel wrote in its Sunday edition.

"The county called in a hazardous materials team to clean up the mess, and installed a security fence around the building, which is closed for renovations. There is no evidence that linked the excrement to the camp."

The feces story has spread around the world, although the last sentence hasn't always been picked up.

Occupiers say it is part of an orchestrated campaign to make them look bad, including false reports of diseases being spread through their camp.

"We've seen this tactic used at occupations all over the country in recent weeks," said Elizabeth Burchfield, in an email.  "Police and city officials exaggerate health and safety concerns, then use these claims as a pretext for attacking the occupations.  It's an attempt to portray protesters as homeless, hippies, drug users, violent people, and anarchists."

Burchfield said that the city department that should have taken care of the waste denied it happened.

"It is typically something our department would respond to," Tim Fillmore, program manager at City of Santa Cruz Environmental Health reportedly told the Occupiers.  "We have not had any recent complaints about human feces behind the Vet's Hall in Santa Cruz and we have not investigated such a complaint."

Burchfield's release denied other accusations by law enforcement officials:

"Early last week, Santa Cruz Police officials reported an outbreak of contagious disease at Occupy Santa Cruz, later admitted to be mere rumor.  After a visit by county health officers, no tests for scabies or ringworm were ordered or conducted."

The Occupy camp pays for portable toilets and people there would have no need to use land by the Veterans Hall, across a bridge over the river.

The blog Verum Serum has a graphic illustrating how ridiculous, it says, the link of the feces to the Occupy movement is.

Burchfield's press release continued:

"In this city where few public restrooms are available, human feces were frequently found in town long before Occupy Santa Cruz started their protest at the county courthouse in October.  This is likely the result of Santa Cruz city policies that close all public restrooms during the night.

"Finding adequate sanitation facilities are a constant challenge for homeless people," said Burchfield. 

"In an economy where unemployment is at record highs, homelessness in Santa Cruz County is up more than 18% since 2009. 

"According to the 2011 Homeless Census & Survey conducted by Applied Survey Research there are nearly 9000 Santa Cruz citizens who experience homelessness each year almost 3.5% of the county population.'