RSN Fundraising Banner
FB Share
Email This Page
add comment
Print

Lee Romney reports: "Officials surveyed damage Sunday from a volatile Occupy protest that resulted in hundreds of arrests the day before and left the historic City Hall vandalized after demonstrators broke into the building, smashed display cases, cut electrical wires and burned an American flag."

Occupy Oakland demonstrators shield themselves during a confrontation with police, 01/28/12. (photo: Reuters)
Occupy Oakland demonstrators shield themselves during a confrontation with police, 01/28/12. (photo: Reuters)



Is Oakland America's Fallujah?

By Lee Romney, Los Angeles Times

30 January 12

Occupy Wall Street: Take the Bull by the Horns

Saturday's daylong protest was the most contentious since authorities dismantled the Occupy Oakland encampment late last year.

fficials surveyed damage Sunday from a volatile Occupy protest that resulted in hundreds of arrests the day before and left the historic City Hall vandalized after demonstrators broke into the building, smashed display cases, cut electrical wires and burned an American flag.

Police placed the number of arrests at about 400 from Saturday's daylong protest - the most contentious since authorities dismantled the Occupy Oakland encampment late last year.

Mayor Jean Quan condemned the local movement's tactics as "a constant provocation of the police with a lot of violence toward them" and said the demonstrations were draining scarce resources from an already strapped city. Damage to the City Hall plaza alone has cost $2 million since October, she said, about as much as police overtime and mutual aid.

Oakland has logged five homicides since Friday, and Police Chief Howard Jordan said the law enforcement "personnel and resources dedicated to Occupy reduce our ability to focus on public safety priorities."

The Occupy action was publicized by the group as a planned takeover of a vacant building that would be "repurposed" as a "social center, convergence center and headquarters of the Occupy Oakland movement." In an open letter to Quan on Wednesday, the group warned that if police attempted to thwart the takeover, "indefinite occupation" of Oakland's airport, port and City Hall could follow.

Police prevented an afternoon attempt by protesters to enter the city's idled Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center. Demonstrators then headed to the nearby Oakland Museum of California, where arrests occurred after an order to disperse was ignored. One officer suffered a cut to his face when a demonstrator threw a bicycle at him, another suffered a cut hand and a third was bruised, Watson said. At least one demonstrator was injured.

Later in the night, marchers entered the downtown Oakland YMCA, where hundreds of arrests took place. The City Hall break-in occurred about the same time, officials said.

Throughout the action, some demonstrators threw bottles, rocks, burning flares and other objects at officers. In a tactic that officials said they had not previously encountered, protesters also moved in on the police line carrying elaborate shields. One, displayed at City Hall on Sunday, was about 6 by 4 feet and built of corrugated metal on wood panels, complete with multiple handles. "Commune Move In" was painted on the front.

Occupy Oakland's media committee issued a statement condemning the police response, saying officers did not give demonstrators enough time to disperse before moving in to make mass arrests.

"Contrary to their own policy, the OPD gave no option of leaving or instruction on how to depart," the group said in a news release. "These arrests are completely illegal, and this will probably result in another class action lawsuit against the OPD, who have already cost Oakland $58 million in lawsuits over the past 10 years."

The Police Department is under a federal consent decree stemming from civil rights violations by officers more than a decade ago. A federal judge this month ordered all administrative and policy decisions to first be cleared with a court-appointed monitor.

The department's heavy-handed initial response to last fall's Occupy protests did not help its reputation. The use of tear gas and other projectiles on largely peaceful demonstrators Oct. 25 made international news after a military veteran was struck in the head and seriously injured.

But Quan said Sunday she believed officers had modified their tactics to better single out troublemakers.

"We're tired of one faction using Oakland as their playground," Quan said of demonstrators intent on clashing with police.

Of the first 20 people arrested, she noted, only three were from Oakland. Prosecutors will seek stay-away orders for some of the demonstrators, she added. Such orders were given to a number of people arrested in previous Occupy activity, and Quan said it wasn't clear whether any of them were arrested Saturday.

Oakland officials also will seek monetary damages from protesters, Quan said. In addition, the mayor said she would pursue "restorative justice" by asking that those deemed guilty be put to work picking up garbage and removing graffiti in East Oakland.

In a morning tour of the damaged City Hall, Quan pointed out that a room with a smashed door and toppled soda machine is used for classes for low-income, first-time homeowners. Several flags that had adorned the grand staircase were missing.

City Council agendas and trash littered the floor in the building's grand lobby. Although some graffiti had already been removed, evidence of the previous night's mayhem was visible in broken display cases.

Near the door, a more than century-old architectural model of the regal structure was toppled in its case. Oakland's City Hall was built after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and restored after the 1989 Loma Prieta temblor.

"It's really a symbol of how resilient Oakland is," Quan said of the building. "And we'll survive this too."

e-max.it: your social media marketing partner
Email This Page

 

Comments  

We are concerned about a recent drift towards vitriol in the RSN Reader comments section. There is a fine line between moderation and censorship. No one likes a harsh or confrontational forum atmosphere. At the same time everyone wants to be able to express themselves freely. We'll start by encouraging good judgment. If that doesn't work we'll have to ramp up the moderation.

General guidelines: Avoid personal attacks on other forum members; Avoid remarks that are ethnically derogatory; Do not advocate violence, or any illegal activity.

Remember that making the world better begins with responsible action.

- The RSN Team

 
+10 # Dust 2014-09-12 15:16
Clean water
Clean air
Clean food
Freedom of information
Freedom of communication
Freedom of education
Freedom of/from religion

One world.
 
 
-13 # arquebus 2014-09-13 00:21
By golly that is a great idea. Let's eliminate fossil fuels from the face of the earth on the 21st. But, wait....the next day--the 22nd--how are people going to get to work? How are trucks going to haul food to the cities? Oh, that's right....they are going to use electricity from the non-existent solar grid.

Somebody ought to tell these yahoos that Rome wasn't built in a day...it takes time to move from one system to another. They need to relax....we are in a transition period...fossil fuels will be phased out...already are. Just takes a bit of time...the sky isn't falling.
 
 
+4 # Dust 2014-09-13 11:44
Seems like this protest is part of the phasing. Why object? Rome wasn't built in a day, but it sounds like if you had been on one of the seven hills when the first architects sat down and said "Heus quis similis locus urbis", you would immediately have started objecting. But your objections make no sense- if I said I needed to walk down the street to get a book from the library, you'd jump up and start screaming that it takes time to walk to the library, and first I need to put on a jacket, and make sure I have my library card, and can read, and most importantly - what will I read while I am walking there???
 
 
+6 # Floe 2014-09-13 13:37
Oh you think the sky is not falling? Well what if you're wrong? We've known about the dangers of burning fossil fuels for decades and what's been done about it? Practically nothing. Just token change. Don't be ridiculous to infer that it's going to be done tomorrow. But I can tell you one thing we can do tomorrow - and that is make the commitment to be off the demon's expectoration within ten years and you just watch the money flow in from investors waiting for some bold state to give the long-term go ahead. WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A LONG-TERM ENERGY POLICY. Doing what you suggest is kicking the can down the road. NO. We go for everything and we go for it NOW. We've given enough chances for governments and corporations to do something and they failed. Miserably.
 
 
+2 # bmiluski 2014-09-15 11:28
You're absolutely right arquebus....Rom e wasn't built in a day but at least it was built.
The Climate March just want's authentic participation by ALL nations to fight this very credible danger to all our lives.
 
 
+1 # NAVYVET 2014-09-13 07:29
Thank you! I love this acronym: CONG! My British friends would say CONG has pong!
 
 
+6 # born1929 2014-09-13 11:25
There is a Chinese proverb: There are two best times to plant a tree .... the first is twenty years ago and the second is now
stan Levin
 

THE NEW STREAMLINED RSN LOGIN PROCESS: Register once, then login and you are ready to comment. All you need is a Username and a Password of your choosing and you are free to comment whenever you like! Welcome to the Reader Supported News community.

RSNRSN