Protests in Oakland, California, involving arrests and vandalism have been planned and executed, occurring initially in connection with those in Ferguson, Missouri. Protest announcements from Occupy Oakland and related groups have also been tying in accusations of past alleged police misconduct in California.
A crowd exceeding 100 protesters made its way through the streets of Oakland and Berkeley and on the UC Berkeley campus Friday night under the banner of “solidarity” with protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and opposition to claims of police brutality there and in the Bay Area, according to the San Francisco Gate.
Reports relayed some protesters taking part in vandalism, anti-police graffiti, and altercations with police. Other protesters were reported as remaining peaceful.
Two arrests were reported in Oakland and two in Berkeley Friday in connection with the protest. Arrests were made on allegations of assaulting an officer, resisting arrest, obstructing police, and trying to remove a weapon from an officer. One officer was briefly hospitalized.
A post on an Occupy Oakland website from August 11 listed information for Friday’s protest event, giving instructions and information. Twice the heading “[expletive] the Police March” was used. A Twitter hashtag created under the same moniker reads #FTP. Another portion of the message referred to the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, blaming police for deaths in that and other incidents. The message wraps up with, “stay in the streets until we are totally victorious in all our demands.”
Video of the Oakland protest shows a large crowd moving together. Online posts such as the one mentioned above communicated detailed plans to protest days ahead of the event.
The Associated Press reported, “Another Ferguson-related protest was planned in Oakland Saturday evening.”
A similar protest has been planned for Sunday in Los Angeles and posted to an Occupy LA Twitter account, and an event page has been set up on Facebook that has received approximately 1,700 responses. This event will apparently be held in connection with an incident taking place between a man named Ezell Ford and police, echoing events in Ferguson.
Oakland was the site of Occupy protests in 2011, stemming from the Occupy Wall Street protests that saw hundreds of arrests. Protesters threw “threw chunks of concrete and metal pipes as well as lit roman candles and firebombs, police said,” reported Fox News. The protests shut down the port in Oakland for a period of time.
Breitbart columnist Ben Shapiro recently wrote regarding 2009 riots surrounding a police officer shooting a black transit passenger, Oscar Grant, in Oakland. “While Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 2010, rioters took advantage of the situation anyway, trashing police cars and forcing Mayor Ron Dellums to take shelter in City Hall. Local businesses were vandalized. In the end, some 120 arrests were made,” reported Shapiro.
The Occupy L.A. Twitter account also posted a call to protest the L.A. City Council last Friday for considering “A Resolution Supporting Israel.” Video of the demonstration showed a modest group of protesters with large anti-Israel signs.
The Occupy Oakland Twitter account has also been posting calls to block an Israeli ship from coming into the port, posting on Saturday, “Ship is Blocked for the day. It is now diverted. Too far from Oakland to reach port in time to unload tonight. Success. ?#Blocktheboat ?#gaza.” However, Breitbart Senior Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak reported on the incident, noting, “the ship was still far away from the port at the time of the protest.”
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