Live Blog: Google I/O Protest

Sign outside of Google I/O protest in June 2014. Photo by Leslie Nguyen Okwu.
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Google I/O, the tech titan’s largest conference for developers, is underway at the Moscone Center. As with all things tech these days, such an event does not go on without a good helping of dissent.

We’ve received word that housing activists and union members will be on hand outside Moscone to challenge Google to the task of living up to their infamously tricky credo, “Don’t Be Evil.” In activists’ minds, that means helping San Francisco mitigate the impact of Silicon Valley on housing affordability.

We’ll have live updates aggregated below and reported first-hand from our on-the-ground reporter Leslie Nguyen-Okwu. Keep refreshing your browser!
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Update: We spoke with Claudia Tirado, who confirmed that she was, in fact, the protester who interrupted Google I/O. Tirado is currently a resident facing eviction from 812 Guerrero, which is owned by Google lawyer Jack Halprin.

According to Tirado, an I/O conference employee gave her a badge and let her in, so she was able to sneak past security and the guards and into the conference onto the stage.

“I just want to play, Google played, and I just want to play,” Tirado said.

Tirado claims that upon being escorted from the stage, she spoke with Google’s senior VP of communications, Rachel Whetstone. Whetstone apparently gave Tirado her contact information and said that she’d talk to Halprin directly about the issues at 812 Guerrero.

We’ll work to confirm this account as soon as possible. Another update: Whestone confirms promise made to Tirado.

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Protest is dying down…

Apparently, another protester got into I/O. This time about totalitarian death robots:

There are about 40 protesters gathered and, in a nod to the Google’s slogan, they are dressed as good and evil characters from Star Wars. There’s drumming and chanting. Here are some tweets from Leslie in the field:

Residents from 812 Guerrero are present at the event to protest their eviction and draw attention to their conflicted relationship with their landlord, a Google lawyer named Jack Halprin. Read past coverage for details.

Protesters apparently have hacked the conference, and are inside Moscone Center. One woman directly called out Jack Halprin, the landlord at 812 Guerrero. We’ve confirmed that this protester is Claudia Tirado, who we spoke to in April about her conflict with Halprin.

Some more photos of the scene outside:

Apparently 10 were arrested in a related protest outside Google HQ in Mountain View this morning. TechCrunch has some more details about this group of activists:

9:53 a.m. Things are heating up inside the Moscone Center:

Here’s the call to action from yesterday:

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2 Comments

  1. Mike K
    June 26, 2014 at 9:06 pm

    Did Erin McElroy have one of the masks on? We can only hope. She should dress as superwoman savior of all the downtrodden.

  2. Alexander Peabody
    June 28, 2014 at 6:03 pm

    All of this is so misdirected….

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