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Subscribe to RSSFollowing a mainly peaceful day-long protest by thousands of anti-Wall Street demonstrators, several hundred rallied through the night with some painting graffiti, breaking windows and setting file to garbage cans. Yesterday demonstrators shut down the Port of Oakland.
Stephen Lam / Reuters
A demonstrator waves a flag as rubbish burns at the Occupy Oakland demonstration in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 3.
Noah Berger / AP
Protesters help an injured Occupy Oakland demonstrator after a police-fired projectile struck his leg in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 3.
Oakland Police said they received a late night call that protesters had broken into and occupied a downtown building and set several simultaneous fires. The department said protesters began hurling rocks, explosives, bottles, and flaming objects at responding officers.
Noah Berger / AP
Sheriff's deputies advance on Occupy Oakland protesters in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Nov. 3.
Noah Berger / AP
Occupy Oakland protester Mike Clift runs from tear gas in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 3.
Noah Berger / AP
Occupy Oakland protesters pass a burning garbage heap during a confrontation with police in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 3.
Police also reported that several private and municipal buildings sustained heavy vandalism.
More than 200 officers, some of them ferried in aboard buses, lined up shoulder to shoulder and donned gas masks, then declared the crowd to be an unlawful assembly and fired volleys of tear gas as protesters turned and ran.
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Looks like Watts Riot all over again...irrational people using any excuse to create chaos, instead of common sense!
Nice Going Occupy Oakland! You have managed to give a black eye to the Occupy movement!
If their message is valid - why resort to violence?
Don't know if it's the case here, don't know all the details BUT, generally people with valid messages resort to violence if they feel they are not being listened to. Violence can some times be the only way to draw attention.
Also if you're attacked by authority the violence can be a reaction to that.
Expect more of this if we re-elect Obozo--it's the stock-in-trade of the loony spoiled left.
Busted! Occupy Oakland police infiltrators exposed on video.
Oakland Police have been infiltrating the Occupy movements nationwide- illegally inciting violence and guaranteeing that otherwise peaceful protests would become a danger to the community.
Non violent demonstrations HUH? Looks more like a band of crazed Iranians to me. Some people have called the Tea Party rallies violent and insane but they sure never looked like these radicals. The Obama movement at it's best. Chaos and overthrow are their goals. Socailism - Communism as the end product.
That's bull. The movement is inspired and well planned by socialists/communists. The Socialist who set up occupywallst.org has now hidden his name at godaddy, but the date it was established, months before the protests began is still visible at:
spx?domain=occupywallst.org&isc=ALEXADOM it was set up by a man named Kalle Lasn, who decided to try and distance himself from the website by hiding his name after I first looked it up.
The anti-war radical who established the sister movement, october2011.org, established his website in May 2011. Just a little bit of lead time for a radical movement to take root. He still lists his name, which you can link to his blog (which is just his name). You can view the website registration for yourself at:
spx?k=HqIObAuKWM+tnegsMZWMPw%3D%3D&domain=october2011.org&prog_id=GoDaddy
David Swanson and Kalle Lasn established the two websites months ago. The like-minded socialists link their donations to Alliance for Global Justice. You can read about their support for the Sandinistas on their website:
Keep trying to spread your lies. Use the "commie" pejorative all you want. The last time I heard that "communists and socialists" charge was in El Salvador when the "conservatives" were shooting raping catholic nuns because they were "communists". Get a life.
Um revmrf, what time warp do you live in.Perhaps you've been snorting a tad too much baby powder.
Wise up sunshine the Communist Bull Sh it Thing when it comes to this this, is just that Bull Sh it.
Lay off the Baby Powder!
There is a widely held belief here that these thugs were police agent provocateurs. They certainly do not represent the majority of the movement, which is global. They are acting as agents of the 1% rather than the 99%. Whoever they were, they're knowingly discrediting the efforts of the majority of middle class and working class people who demonstrated today. It saddens me. This DID happen after 1am, when nearly all of the occupy folks had returned home.
You hit it right on the money Sir.It's called SABOTAGE!
"These thugs were police agent provocateurs." hmmm. So, these "thugs" worked for the "police agent"s? Should be easy to find out Seamus if they were in fact lawless thugs aligned with you or working for the local fascist government! Just get the names of the "agent provocateurs" who were acting thuggish, when and where they were arrested, and the rest is easy. FOI with your lawyers will eventually determine if they are really "police agent provocateurs."
the Pink Panther is waiting fot your response
Right, the Occupy Portland group were just engaging in intimidation, threats, and extortion against businesses in Oakland, they wouldn't resort to violence.. that would be wrong.
But the threats, intimidation, and harassment? Yeah, that was all part of the publicized plan, how could that lead to violence? It must have been planted agents set to start the violence, we couldn't ever get violent or break the law.
Harassment, intimidation, threats, and extortion are legal, right? And the plan of forcing everyone to lose a day of work and wages; that'll hurt the rich... somehow, but the guy living day-to-day won't be hurt at all, or something. How many poor people do you need to damage in order to mildly inconvenience your real target? Do you even care?
Claim to be shocked that someone used violence as part of your lawless intimidation if you like... I'm not buying it.
If you truly intended to stage a peaceful protest, why would you pick Oakland. People die in parking lots after football games in Oakland. As for police infiltrating the crowds, ever been to Mardi Gras? Crowd control comes from within the crowd. Putting down violence after it starts can only come from outside the crowd.
If this truly was the action of the occupiers (which I doubt given the recent footage of the undercover officers trying to infiltrate the movement) You have to expect that some people are not going to let the police literally crack more of their skulls, put more innocent people in the icu for the crime of 'standing there'. You cant expect everyone to turn the other cheek. This probably would not have happened here if the police did not do what they did earlier.
I am more suspicious of thugs being encouraged to participate by the police to change the image of what is going on in the media and justify their own criminal actions.
That's right Bill,look at the way these Cops dress, like some kind of Goons out of a Science fiction movie.They go dressed like they were going to a battle in a War.Only this battle is against their own citizens.Nothing like turning on your own people.Yes in dee dee kind of reminds me of Syria right now.
Goons vs. American Citizens.
By the way another way this could of happened was as what Seamus said above, the cops sent in infiltrators to try and discredit these protesters, and by the way that's the oldest trick in the book.People better be wise to this also.
Right, these violent protesters and planted police officers, who are then being beaten senseless by other police officers... for some reason.
You protests couldn't be involved in violence, you were too busy with the threats, intimidation, and extortion trying to shut down all business and force all the workers to lose a day's wages... because anyone with a job isn't the 99% now I guess.
Who could expect a group involved in extortion harassment, intimidation, and threats to be violent? It couldn't happen, it'd be like the Mafia being violent... clearly someone set you up Bill. Just like Al Capone, the peaceful protesters that he was...
Gloria, I think that you need to come back to the real world and leave yours. The police are just dressed in riot gear. Reading the article, I noticed that the fires were already started and people from the occupy movement were breaking in to buildings and painting on the walls. I don't know about you but it sure doesn't seem peaceful to me. I also don't buy the crap that the cops were doing it. The police don't have to be nice to people. The can tell you to leave and if you don't they can use force. If they don't want the cops to get physical the occupy folks shouldn't do stupid crap like starting fires and breaking in to buildings. When I was in the military, we were told to increase the force needed according to what is shown to you. If they have a fist, you have a night stick, they have a knife you have a gun. You act like the cops should just show up and use a Mr. Rogers voice and tell folks that they should calm down and go home. Doesn't work that way. I tell you also that if it was Syria, the cops wouldn't of used tear gas. There would be a lot of dead folks around. Sometimes, I think that is what is needed. I sure wouldn't want a bunch of unwashed thugs sitting in front of my business.
There's always a fringe in every movement, even Gandhi had to deal with them.
C'mon, revolutions often involve violence. We didn't send King George singing telegrams. Has the fluoride in the water actually made people subservient?
I don't remember any Tea Party protesters acting this way. All they wanted was less government spending and a return to the founding fathers Constitution as it was written. They carried their flags, peacefully assembled and cleaned up their litter. The Occupy bunch is an angry mob that thinks they are entitled to everyone else's money. And, if they don't get their way, watch out. The filth and lawless mobs are just getting started.
If some police officer cracked the skull of a tea partier with a tear gas canister, you know you would see a much more violent response by their movement. Most of them are probably already strapped at their protest movements and just waiting for this to happen so they can start shooting back in the name of their revolution.
I really don't get this constitution reference. Populations, technologies ideologies evolve over time, so should government. If it didn't we would still be burning witches, trading slaves and women would not be able to vote.
"Populations, technologies ideologies evolve over time, so should government."
Yes, if only there were a way to change the Constitution, AMEND it somehow to allow it to change over time.. some sort of AMENDMENT process maybe?
Oh well, clearly that doesn't exist so we should scrap it and ignore all the rules that it has that have worked for so long. Good call Bill, the Constitution can 't be changed so it must be ignored... brilliant.
Oh, and by the Constitution women can vote... not sure how they got that one in there, but it is in the Constitution. It's like someone did change it at some point... wish we could figure out how so we could keep it and maybe just AMEND it somehow.
Oh well, can't do it. Throw the whole thing out. Too bad the Founding Fathers didn't put an AMENDMENT process into the Constitution, maybe we could add it as Article 5 (Article V if you're old school) as there ins't any text at all in that article... weird that it's blank like that. How about:
"The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate."
Just spitballing some text we might add... it could work. Or we could follow Bill's idea and scrap the whole thing as there is no way to change it.
I think the revolution is well underway. You can bet that the U.S. Governmental agencies will do everything they can to infiltrate the movement and sabatoge it in order to control public opinion. Their biggest nightmare is an American public that is united, not divided by race, class, or political party.
Exactly, that's why we the people need to rise up against the evil rich, the corporations and their workers, the conservatives, those too religious and socially conservative, and of course the JEWS to take back the country.
Because dividing people by class or race or party is wrong; just like those rich people, conservatives, and other people you're opposed to?
Seriously Chaz? the whole point of this is divisions based on politics and class... it's designed to foment class warfare. That's the main goal you're fighting for, and it has been since day 1. Why pretend that it isn't?
Try to keep an open mind here...it could have gone violent for a number of reasons. They could have been reacting to police-initiated violence. They could have been infiltrated by people that want to sabotage the movement. It could have been over-zealous protesters that got out of control. It could have been thugs from the street that got involved hoping to turn it into a riot so they could loot some stores and businesses.
There is no way of telling how it happened or what the reason for it was. We'll probably never know for sure but whatever it was doesn't take away from the fact that the original purpose of the movement was and IS to call attention to the fact that some things are going on in our society that need to be changed and corrected.
These things happened to the founders of our country, to Ghandi and to Dr. King, too. They ultimately did affect change for the better. Stay the course, Brothers and Sisters.
Who can tell? I mean the goal for the day was peaceful enough. Go around to businesses that didn't shut down, and the port. Use threats, intimidation, extortion and harassment to force them to shut down, and get a big mass of people together to engage in this activity.
Clearly nobody engaged in threats, intimidation, extortion and harassment would engage in violence of any sort... I mean that's just crazy talk. When the Mob came to ask for protection money, they could never be violent; extortion can never result in violence...
It must be the police or something setting you up; I'm sure you guys were as peaceful as any group extorting protection money have ever been.
Really? I didn't see any reports of such things going on. What's your source, Ertdfg? The goal of ANY protest is to call attention to the problem and try to affect the desired change. I'm sure you are not happy about what's going on and do not agree with the goals but that does not mean that it's all wrong and people were being threatened and harrassed, etc...
Violoence does one thing and one thing only, begets more violence. Really ... you're going to blame this on the police ...