Courtesy of TIME, by Jason Motlagh
About 3000 protesters gather at Frank Ogawa Plaza to organize the future actions of Occupy Oakland on Oct. 26, 2011 in Oakland, California. Peter DaSilva / EPA
The downtown area felt vacant as usual on Wednesday afternoon, with scant evidence of the overnight clashes between Occupy Oakland protesters and riot police. Municipal workers mowed the empty grass in front of City Hall and officers stood with crossed arms behind a line of barricades, parted to allow employees out for their lunch break. The scores of protesters who had lived on site for more than two weeks were gone. But a handful of stalwarts — showing off tear gas canisters and beanbag rounds — stuck around to remind media and passersby that while the proverbial battle may have been lost, the confrontation was just underway. "Yeah, look away you pig," Mike, 24, a contractor who took off work, shouted at an officer. "Think you can shoot at us and that’s it? We’re f—– coming back." An "emergency re-convergence" had been scheduled for 6 p.m., with a pledge to retake the square.
The ante has been upped in Oakland. And while there is some dispute over who was responsible for the Tuesday melee, the escalation is poised to cast the avowedly non-violent movement against corporate greed and economic inequality in a different light. Early Tuesday morning police officers drawn from 18 area law enforcement agencies dismantled an encampment that had sprawled out across the square and a second, smaller camp. Close to a hundred people were arrested. When protesters attempted to re-occupy the area after nightfall, scuffles broke out and some police officers were doused with paint before a warning was issued that "chemical agents" would be used, according to city officials. Over the next three hours, police fired multiple volleys of tear gas rounds and are accused of using flash-bang grenades to clear the square. Protesters fought back with bottles and rocks. Several were injured, including an Iraq veteran turned anti-war activist, who suffered a skull fracture from a police projectile that left him in critical condition. (See "Police Use Tear Gas on Protesters at Occupy Oakland.")
When the smoke settled, interim Oakland police chief Howard Jackson said in a press conference that authorities had no choice but to respond with tear gas after the agitated crowd had swelled to more than 1,000 and several officers were wounded by the paint thrown at them. He maintained that his men did not use flash-bang grenades as many witnesses have alleged, but would not rule out the possibility that other agencies involved had used them, vowing to carry out an investigation.
Protesters dismiss the claims as absurd. "They were trying to bait us — these are riot police in full gear — they didn’t come to talk. And then when they had the slightest excuse, of course they all move in and drop the hammer," says Vale, 26, an unemployed Oakland resident. Although some fringe elements may have acted out of line by throwing bottles, he added, the reaction was "grossly disproportionate" and "what do you expect when people are coming under heavy attack like that?" Still, there was nascent concern among members of the Occupy group that some "occu-poseurs" are trying to take advantage of the volatile situation, showing up to stir trouble and then leave. "There are some anarchists out there, and I’m not sure if they are planted or just here to mess this up," says one protester, who asked not to be named.
"They are nihilists, not anarchists," disagrees Claiborne, 24, who arrived from Brooklyn, New York, two weeks ago and hangs around Snow Park, a nearby satellite camp in the shadow of the Bank of America office building, one place in the city where protesters have regrouped even after authorities cleared it. He says the "so-called violence" is blown out of proportion, but conceded that it’s tricky to manage a leaderless movement without a well-defined agenda. "It’s a matter of how can we focus the legitimate anger of people in the right place," he says. "I don’t think [violence] is a problem, yet." Added Dee, 21, another protester who spent afternoon seated in a lawn chair painted with an American flag, facing a barricade: "The consensus among people here is that this would be non-violent. But there are some people who want to clash with police, that’s for damn sure… This is Oakland." (See " ‘Occupy Wall Street’ For Sale.")
The East Bay, and Oakland in particular, has had a fraught relationship with law enforcement, which is often accused of being too heavy-handed. Take the 2009 New Year’s Day shooting of Oscar Grant, an unarmed African-American male, by a city police officer, which was captured on cell phone video and widely distributed. Alternately called an involuntary manslaughter (which was what one police officer was found guilty of) or execution, depending on who’s asked, the incident triggered a wave of peaceful and violent protests and remains an emblem for the hardened mistrust that persists in a community gripped by poverty and crime. (Occupy protesters have renamed the central plaza Oscar Grant Square in his memory.) A recent study by a federal court monitor revealed, moreover, that Oakland police are far more likely to draw their weapons against minorities in the line of duty, a pattern that may help explain locals’ reluctance to cooperate.
By 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening, city officials reopened the plaza in an ostensible gesture of good faith. Police were nowhere to be seen, the atmosphere charged and uncertain. News helicopters hovered overhead while a gathering crowd listened to speakers decry the police tactics of the night before, saying there could be no peace until there was justice. On the fringes, some played music and meditated. Tensions surged as a group of young men wearing black bandannas tried to rip down the fence around the off-limits lawn. Mike, the loudmouth who had harassed police earlier in the day, spoke right up. "You’re the punks who are gonna mess this up for everybody and get us gassed again," he said. "Stop or get out of here now!" He was quickly challenged by a comrade. "Don’t create divisions in the movement, man! This is how you dissolve a power structure." But his effort was in vain: within the hour the fence came crashing down for good.
It was then a countdown to 10 p.m., the city’s stated cut-off for the assembly and the time people whispered that riot police would come marching around the corner. Gas masks were in evidence, and makeshift medic stands were being set up. For whatever reason, though, the authorities held back. The protesters went marching instead. The chant, "These streets are ours," went up as they filed down Broadway Avenue, waving posters and upside down flags. For this night, anyway.
See "What Occupy Wall Street Can Learn From Occupy Tel Aviv."
See "How Occupy L.A. May Get the City to Go After Banks."
See photos of Occupy Wall Street going global.
See "A Canon Quits After St. Paul’s Cathedral Flip-Flops Over Occupy London."
