Gente Organizada front of building Holt Ave

Pomona, CA — At 8:30 AM, representatives of Gente Organizada noticed artwork on the front of their building on Holt avenue had been stolen overnight. The artwork was an enlarged photograph taken by Julian Lucas during the 2020 protests in the city of Pomona, during the global Black Lives Matter uprising protesting the police murder of George Floyd.

The artwork was installed a year ago, but was stolen a week after the the ACLU released a press release announcing they were suing the City of Pomona over code enforcement fines that the City had leveled on Gente Organizada. The ACLU said the City was in violation of Freedom of Speech. ACLU Press Release

Gente Organizada released a statement on an instagram post stating, “Art is supposed to be provocative and political, not stolen off of our building this morning. It seems like pro-police folks are the ones committing the crimes in our neighborhood.”

The artist, Julian Lucas, who has captured Pomona street culture for the last 23 years, took the news as a anazed, but laughed and stated, “It sucks because artists make art and it costs money, time, and effort. It also sucks because what people don’t usually understand is photography creates history, it’s a slice of life that happened in 2020, during the time of the pandemic, which can’t be repeated. Therefore, the image can also be viewed as a part of Pomona’s history for the future to come. On the other hand I’m flattered, the city of Pomona can now stand up and pat itself on the back, because instead of bikes or porch thieves, they now have someone who steals art. I think that this is a step in the right direction when it comes to what we think is valuable, as opposed to an Amazon package from someone’s porch”.

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The City of Pomona is enforcing an unconstitutional sign ordinance against public art.

The Pomonan News

By The ACLU
Published August 24, 2023 4:13 PM PST

LOS ANGELES – Gente Organizada, a community-led non-profit, displays on its public-facing exterior walls pieces of art that say “end institutional violence” and “defund Pomona police.”

The City of Pomona, in a violation of the group's First Amendment right to free speech, has inappropriately cited and fined the organization under its zoning ordinance—an ordinance that is also clearly unconstitutional.

This week, Gente Organizada, represented by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, sued Pomona for its clear and gross violation of the group's right to free speech.

“The art and messaging they are trying to erase was a youth-led collaborative effort by Black, Indigenous, and Latinx organizers and artists,” said Jesús Sanchez, co-founder and economic justice director of Gente Organizada. “The City of Pomona is attempting to block our right to free speech, they have threatened our youth center, and have weaponized city code so we cannot exercise our right to artistic expression.”

Contact Sheet Courtesy of Julian Lucas ©2020

Gente Organizada displays three pieces of art on its youth center that convey political messages: (1) an image of a group of individuals marching with a sign that reads “defund Pomona police”; (2) an image that displays a contact sheet of the film which included photographs of protests against biased policing; and (3) an image of some of the group's community partners alongside the message “end institutional violence.” The building also displays a painted sign that includes the group's name and its role as: “A home for: community organizing, youth & parent leadership, wellness, education & arts programs.”

“Free speech is the bedrock of our Constitution and includes the right to display public art that calls for the reallocation of city resources away from police departments,” said Alyssa Morones, legal fellow at the ACLU SoCal. “Pomona’s actions constitute an obvious violation of fundamental constitutional rights and the effect in this case is to silence members of the public who wish to communicate messages with which city officials disagree.”

The decision to cite and fine was erroneously upheld in an administrative hearing conducted by the city.

“We’re proud to work with the ACLU and Gente Organizada on this important case defending the Constitutional right to free speech and free expression,” said Andrea Feathers, associate at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.

The suit challenges the city's sign ordinance in its entirety and asks that the court dismiss the citation against Gente Organizada and require the city to repay the group for unconstitutionally administered fines.