Econintersect: Oakland California authorities attacked and closed down two overnight encampments near the center of the city in the small hours of the morning Tuesday, October 25. The mayor, Jean Quan, was out of town, but City Administrator Deanna Santana authorized the move. She and police chief Howard Jordan made statements indicating the city had to take the action to correct unsanitary conditions and prevent vandalism.From KGO-TV San Fransisco:
‘Occupy Oakland’ protesters moved dumpsters in front of their camps entrance at Frank Ogawa Plaza when they heard police would be moving in overnight to clear out their camp. But the dumpsters did little to prevent police from walking in to the tent city around 4:30 this morning and start making arrests.
“We had about 30 people that left on their own without any incident. As the officers moved in, we ended up arresting about 75 people,” said Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan.
At one point in the confrontation, smoke and a chemical filled the air and an officer was overcome by the fumes. Police at the scene said protesters unleashed what appeared to be tear gas, not officers. That claim shocked the demonstrators.
“The protesters don’t have gas masks on. Why would they tear gas themselves?” asked a protester.
But later at a news conference, police said they used tear gas and fired beanbags and rubber pellets at the crowd. Police said they did it in self defense.
“They had already thrown bottles at us. They were going back into a garbage can to retrieve more bottles and by policy we are allowed to use less lethal rounds to neutralize that person and take him into custody,” said Chief Jordan.
Reports indicated that 750 police participated in the action and around 100 protestors were involved at Frank Ogawa Plaza and a smaller number at another encampment that was broken up two hours later at nearby Snow Park.
Here is a video summary from Channel 7 KGO-TV San Fransisco (ABC):
The action in Oakland came after police and state troopers in Albany, NY refused over the weekend to carry out orders from the mayor and governor to remove protestors encamped in that city. (The Raw Story)
Sources: ABC Television KGO-TV San Fransisco and The Raw Story
