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"There were a series of safety conditions, including numerous reports of fighting, assault and threatening/intimidating behavior. Medical responders (AMR Ambulance Company) were denied access on at least two occasions to provide medical care. Furthermore, the Oakland Fire Department and Police Department
were denied access to the Plaza to respond to calls for service. Sanitation conditions worsened with frequent instances of public urination and defecation, as well as improper food storage. The existing rodent problem on the Plaza was exacerbated and vector control was unable to implement measures to control the rat problem due to the presence of overnight campers..."
Which is valid, to some degree — the camp was fairly squalid, there was a rat problem, etc. — but the consensus down here seems to be that Mayor Quan and the OPD mishandled the situation, especially when it came to teargas and beanbag guns. Right now, there are a lot of questions and not many answers out here.
"Do you have information about a breaking news event and want to call it in? Please contact 404.827.1500 and select option 1, or text CNN (space) and your news tip to 772937 (don’t forget the space after CNN). Include your cell phone number if you’d like a call back"
Maybe a few texts and calls might help to get thier attention?
This also needs to be called in, tweeted, e-mailed, etc., to BBC News, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, etc. It needs to be on the freaking morning talk shows everywhere, I'd like to see the police chief interviewed on camera and try to explain this. I'd like the lady in the wheelchair tell everyone what tear gas feels like. If the police in Oakland get by with this, how long before these tactics are used on other Occupy protests?
"Dial
(212) 664-4444
to speak to someone at MSNBC news if you have important information and can't wait for a response to an email or letter."
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10…
I'll stop now, but seriously, consider calling or texting CNN and MSNBC till we see some coverage.
Yes, please do read the stories that are now up all over the internet (including CNN). You'll find that there's a little more to this story than Paul would like you to believe.
That is NOT a photo of police teargassing a woman in a wheechair. That is a photo of a woman in a wheelchair with a rather thin disbursement of tear gas BEHIND her. There aren't even any cops in that photo!
The way you and "Mother Jones" (such an unbiased objective source LOL) write it, you make it seem as if the cops are right there actively spraying a wheelchair-bound woman in the face, and that's just NOT TRUE.
They are not telling the truth, they are making up blatant lies, like "police teargas woman in a wheelchair".
Nasty. These people want us to support them and they can't even shit properly? Gas 'em.
Fact is, these camps are becoming magnets for trouble. THe Portland camp has raw sewage flowing down the street (stay green!) and averages 10 police calls a day, and have requested mental health experts to come in a help. Say what you will about the Teabaggers but at least they were toilet trained.
you do realize that no one gives a shit about your pretencious little protests, don't you?
and that when they finally do, city by city, send in the cops with truncheons and teargas to beat the shit out of the smelly hippy-wannabes that Real America is going to howl with delight?
we can't wait......
"we prioritize the involvement of indigenous sovereign people in the redesigning and rebuilding of a new way of living on their ancestral land in the context that there is one mother of us all, our earth mother"
Oh, and just in case you didn;t think this was the usual campus communists and socialists running this thing (you know, the 0.5% of the electorate:
"Socialist Equality Party in the United States and its sister parties around the world are spearheading this struggle, and we urge all workers and youth who want to take up this fight to join the SEP."
http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/08/d…
I have started my letter writing campaign already, to show solidarity with the protesters.
Imagine waking up to this: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10…
Oakland Police Department, Interim Chief Howard Jordan manages and oversees the planning, development and implementation of all law enforcement and crime prevention programs for the City. .
OCOP Administration
Chief of Staff
Sgt. Christopher Bolton
Phone: (510) 238-3131
Fax: (510) 238-2251
Interim Executive Assistant to the Chief of Police
Ms. Kiona Suttle
Phone: (510) 238-3367
Adminstrative Assistant
Ms. Yolanda Morris
Phone: (510) 238-3132
The best way to contact the Chief's Office is via email: ocop@oaklandnet.com.
Good luck selling putting the Indians back in charge of decolonized America, with the Earth Mother in charge, to The other 99% of the 99%.
As far as rocks, bottles, paint, vinegar, urine and firecrackers being thrown at police, (while I certainly don't condone it) what the hell do you expect when you start shooting, gassing, and grenading protesters?
And out of curiosity, if armed and trained protesters are asking to get their heads cracked, where are all the teabaggers with police-cracked heads?
LOL!!!!
You guys ever check out Youtube comments???
Democracy looks stupid.
I dont get paid. I just see a group of pissed off people (who I can relate to) who were being asked nicely to leave, because what they were doing is illegal. You have the right to peacefully assemble and protest what you feel is unjust, but not 24/7 in a public park. I understand how you can justify these actions as being legal, but thats maybe for a judge to decide, until then the police have a legal right to remove a group of squatters on public lands who refuse to move or even respond to reasonable demands by the police.
You are fighting the police and mayor at this point, a group that has NOTHING TO DO with the reasons why you started this protest to begin with. You are making the situation worse for you and your friends, the message you want people to hear will be skewed. You are far better off, taking the camp to Washington DC and occupy the mall of america.
Democracy looks stupid.
Once they got away with mass attacks by the cops in one city, it started spreading.
What is the source of your information? The Oakland Police? They also said that they didn't use flash grenades, but we've seen video of them doing so.
Not at all, I get my information from users here.
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…
"What you are describing sounds very much like what seems to be happening with Occupy Oakland. Many of the original campers there have left, citing fear from the thuggish element which has taken over, occupants have armed themselves with wooden staffs and are holding classes in how to wield them in confrontations with the police, I saw video of their "security" folks threaten to break a news crew's camera if the crew tried to enter the area.
I would not be at all surprised if some of this is fomented by agents provocateur. I know a lot of this went on back in the day that this old fart was on the front lines, and really expect to see it now in order to discredit the movement."
Naturally I have not verified if what PaulBarwick said was correct, I dont live in Oakland.
But I hope people can agree that regardless of reason to break up the camp, the city of Oakland did it with a very HEAVY hand.
Watch this video. It saves the "best" for the end (@ ~3 min).
http://www.ktvu.com/video/29587714/index…
I would be a fool to suggest that all of the protesters are peaceful, there is anger in this movement (in my experience though, at least here in Seattle, it is overall a very peaceful movement)
The action from the city of Oakland, however, does not help. It does not make people safer.
It did not prevent people from being hurt.
It did nothing to help public [esp mental] health.
It did nothing to help public stability.
This is fucked up.
I do understand criticisms of the media when there are failures of coverage, but please check to make sure your accusations are valid before hurling them. It damages your credibility for when you really do need to call out a news agency.
Another problem is that the OPD called in sixteen(!) other local and regional law-enforcement agencies, so they don't necessarily have a handle on who's using what. (For example, the OPD went on record saying they themselves didn't use any rubber bullets — but other sheriffs or cops clearly did, as they're still all over the ground in the plaza.)