Oakland Police Arresting About 300 'Occupy' Protesters.OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - About 300 people were arrested Saturday during a chaotic day occupy the protests which saw protestors entering the town hall and burned an American flag, as soon as the police with tear gas and beanbags to disperse hundreds of people after some threw stones and bottles and destroyed fences outside a convention center nearby.
Protesters Occupy Oakland say they will gather outside City Hall on Saturday from March to an undisclosed vacant building and requisition of space as a social center and political headquarters for the movement.
If the police to prevent the seizure, the protesters warned Wednesday, they will take further action. Possibilities include blockade Future of Oakland International Airport, the Port of Oakland or the City Hall, according to a letter to the City of Oakland Occupy.
The rally noon and 1:00 p.m. March "signal a new direction to take Oakland, with vacant buildings to serve the community, not banks," Leo Ritz-Barr, 21, said during a conference Press on the steps of City Hall.
Deputy Chief Jeff Israel said that his department will take its usual method of protesters, waiting to see exactly what they do.
"If their intention is to occupy a building with the owner's permission, which is legal and of course we would not get involved," said Israel. "Any other option would require a response from law enforcement, because they violate the law, and they know it."
Original Oakland hold camp was removed from the site outside City Hall on October 25 and again on November 14. Since then, activists have sought to establish a new home where they can meet and revive the dormitories, a kitchen, a library and an aid station, but they were booted from a series of vacant lots.
Some demonstrators began rallying antipolice weekly. City officials and some activists have criticized Occupy Oakland, saying that the conflict with the police looking drained local resources and disables people from the central theme of the Wall Street Occupy movement to counter the economic inequality.
Occupy the Oakland General Assembly approved the purchase of building Dec. 21. It is not clear if a site was chosen.
Each vacant building in the study, they said, is either a public building or is owned by a bank or an investor, and is empty because of the incompetence, corruption and greed.
"The city does not guarantee the 99 percent that we need for a healthy community, such as housing, education and basic health care," said Martha Lincoln, a graduate student of 34 years, reading a statement by a group of doctors occupy Oakland. "So we claim for ourselves."
Dozens of police remained on guard outside the town hall at midnight the day after the most turbulent protests since November, when the Oakland Police forcefully occupy a camp dismantled. An exasperated Mayor Jean Quan, who faced heavy criticism for the police action last fall, called the movement to occupy "stop using Oakland as his playground."
"People in the community and people in the movement occupy must stop making excuses for this behavior," said Quan.
MORE: Full coverage of the protests Occupy
Protesters clashed with police throughout the day, sometimes throwing stones, bottles and other objects of the officers. And the police responded by deploying smoke, tear gas and bean bag rounds, City Administrator Deanna Santanta said.
"These protesters have declared their intention was to provoke the officers and to engage in illegal activities, and that's exactly what happened today," said Santana.
Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan said about 300 arrests were made.
The group assembled outside City Hall in the late morning on Saturday and marched through the streets, disrupting traffic as they threatened to take over the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center.
The demonstrators marched to the convention center vacancies, where some have begun to demolish a perimeter fence and "destroy construction equipment," shortly before 15 hours, police said.
Police said they issued order dispersion and used tear gas and smoke after some protesters threw their bottles, stones, burning flares and other objects.
The number of protesters swelled as the day wore on, with estimates ranging from afternoon about 1,000 to 2,000 people.
The majority of arrests were made after police took dozens of protesters into custody as they marched through the city center, with some entering a YMCA building, said Sgt. Jeff Thomason, a spokesman for the police.
Around the same time police were taking people into custody near the YMCA, about dozens of officers surrounded City Hall, while others swept the interior of the building in search of demonstrators who had broken into the building, then ran out of the building with American flags before the police arrived.
The protest group has issued an e-mail criticizing the police, saying that "the occupation occupy the building in Oakland, an act of civil disobedience protected by the Constitution was disrupted by a brutal police response today."
Michael Davis, 32, a native of Ohio and was in the movement occupy in Cincinnati, said Saturday was an eventful day that originally started calm but escalated when police started using "flash bangs, and tear gas, smoke grenades and bags of beans. "
"It was very moving. I thought it was a very good day for the movement, because it brought us back together, "Davis said." We were all there in spirit and everyone was helping everyone today. "
"It could have been handled differently is the way the Oakland Police came to us," Davis said.”We were peaceful."
Quan blamed the destruction on a small "very radical, violent" Occupy small group in Oakland.
"It's not a situation where we had one thousand peaceful people and a few violent people. If you look at what is happening today in terms of property destruction, and throwing the burden of police, c ' is almost as if they are begging for attention and hoping that the police will make a mistake. "
Quan said that at some point, many broke into the town hall, where they burned flags, broke an electrical box and damaged several structures of the art, including an art exhibition Recycled created by children.
"City Hall is closed for the weekend. There is no excuse for behavior that we saw tonight," City Council President Larry Reid said Saturday at a news conference. "It is simply unacceptable and has absolutely no meaning for the type of behavior we saw in the streets of the city of Oakland today."
Councilor Oakland Ignacio De La Fuente, echoes the feelings of Reid and said that what was happening on the amounts of "domestic terrorism".
"It's domestic terrorism and we cannot allow this to continue because something even worse could really happen," said De La Fuente.
The demonstration comes after protesters occupy said earlier this week they planned to move into a vacant building and turn it into a center of social and political center. They also threatened to try to close the port, occupying the airport and take over the town hall.
Oakland officials said Friday that since the camp Occupy Oakland was created in late October, police arrested about 300 people.
Nationals occupy Wall Street movement, denouncing inequality and economic excesses of companies, started in New York in the fall, but have been largely dormant in recent times.
Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities where the most important events and voice occupy soon. The protests ebbed after these cities used force to move hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.
In Oakland, the police department has received strong criticism for the use of force to disperse demonstrations earlier. Among the critics was Mayor Jean Quan, who said she was not informed of the plans of the ministry.
On Saturday, Quan seemed to have changed its height about how the police were handling the demonstrations and protests.
"Our officers were very measured," said Quan. "Are there some mistakes made? There may be. I would say that the Oakland Police and our allies, to a small percentage of errors. But frankly, a majority of protesters who are in charge of the police were clearly not be peaceful. "
Earlier this month, a monitor appointed by the court submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the handling of the Ministry of events occupy.
Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan said Saturday night that he was in "close contact" with the federal monitor during the demonstrations.
Quan said: "If the protesters believe that because we work more closely with the monitor, now that we will not do what we have to do to comply with the law and try to keep people safe in this city, they are wrong. "
Protesters Occupy Oakland say they will gather outside City Hall on Saturday from March to an undisclosed vacant building and requisition of space as a social center and political headquarters for the movement.
If the police to prevent the seizure, the protesters warned Wednesday, they will take further action. Possibilities include blockade Future of Oakland International Airport, the Port of Oakland or the City Hall, according to a letter to the City of Oakland Occupy.
The rally noon and 1:00 p.m. March "signal a new direction to take Oakland, with vacant buildings to serve the community, not banks," Leo Ritz-Barr, 21, said during a conference Press on the steps of City Hall.
Deputy Chief Jeff Israel said that his department will take its usual method of protesters, waiting to see exactly what they do.
"If their intention is to occupy a building with the owner's permission, which is legal and of course we would not get involved," said Israel. "Any other option would require a response from law enforcement, because they violate the law, and they know it."
Original Oakland hold camp was removed from the site outside City Hall on October 25 and again on November 14. Since then, activists have sought to establish a new home where they can meet and revive the dormitories, a kitchen, a library and an aid station, but they were booted from a series of vacant lots.
Some demonstrators began rallying antipolice weekly. City officials and some activists have criticized Occupy Oakland, saying that the conflict with the police looking drained local resources and disables people from the central theme of the Wall Street Occupy movement to counter the economic inequality.
Occupy the Oakland General Assembly approved the purchase of building Dec. 21. It is not clear if a site was chosen.
Each vacant building in the study, they said, is either a public building or is owned by a bank or an investor, and is empty because of the incompetence, corruption and greed.
"The city does not guarantee the 99 percent that we need for a healthy community, such as housing, education and basic health care," said Martha Lincoln, a graduate student of 34 years, reading a statement by a group of doctors occupy Oakland. "So we claim for ourselves."
Dozens of police remained on guard outside the town hall at midnight the day after the most turbulent protests since November, when the Oakland Police forcefully occupy a camp dismantled. An exasperated Mayor Jean Quan, who faced heavy criticism for the police action last fall, called the movement to occupy "stop using Oakland as his playground."
"People in the community and people in the movement occupy must stop making excuses for this behavior," said Quan.
MORE: Full coverage of the protests Occupy
Protesters clashed with police throughout the day, sometimes throwing stones, bottles and other objects of the officers. And the police responded by deploying smoke, tear gas and bean bag rounds, City Administrator Deanna Santanta said.
"These protesters have declared their intention was to provoke the officers and to engage in illegal activities, and that's exactly what happened today," said Santana.
Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan said about 300 arrests were made.
The group assembled outside City Hall in the late morning on Saturday and marched through the streets, disrupting traffic as they threatened to take over the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center.
The demonstrators marched to the convention center vacancies, where some have begun to demolish a perimeter fence and "destroy construction equipment," shortly before 15 hours, police said.
Police said they issued order dispersion and used tear gas and smoke after some protesters threw their bottles, stones, burning flares and other objects.
The number of protesters swelled as the day wore on, with estimates ranging from afternoon about 1,000 to 2,000 people.
The majority of arrests were made after police took dozens of protesters into custody as they marched through the city center, with some entering a YMCA building, said Sgt. Jeff Thomason, a spokesman for the police.
Around the same time police were taking people into custody near the YMCA, about dozens of officers surrounded City Hall, while others swept the interior of the building in search of demonstrators who had broken into the building, then ran out of the building with American flags before the police arrived.
The protest group has issued an e-mail criticizing the police, saying that "the occupation occupy the building in Oakland, an act of civil disobedience protected by the Constitution was disrupted by a brutal police response today."
Michael Davis, 32, a native of Ohio and was in the movement occupy in Cincinnati, said Saturday was an eventful day that originally started calm but escalated when police started using "flash bangs, and tear gas, smoke grenades and bags of beans. "
"It was very moving. I thought it was a very good day for the movement, because it brought us back together, "Davis said." We were all there in spirit and everyone was helping everyone today. "
"It could have been handled differently is the way the Oakland Police came to us," Davis said.”We were peaceful."
Quan blamed the destruction on a small "very radical, violent" Occupy small group in Oakland.
"It's not a situation where we had one thousand peaceful people and a few violent people. If you look at what is happening today in terms of property destruction, and throwing the burden of police, c ' is almost as if they are begging for attention and hoping that the police will make a mistake. "
Quan said that at some point, many broke into the town hall, where they burned flags, broke an electrical box and damaged several structures of the art, including an art exhibition Recycled created by children.
"City Hall is closed for the weekend. There is no excuse for behavior that we saw tonight," City Council President Larry Reid said Saturday at a news conference. "It is simply unacceptable and has absolutely no meaning for the type of behavior we saw in the streets of the city of Oakland today."
Councilor Oakland Ignacio De La Fuente, echoes the feelings of Reid and said that what was happening on the amounts of "domestic terrorism".
"It's domestic terrorism and we cannot allow this to continue because something even worse could really happen," said De La Fuente.
The demonstration comes after protesters occupy said earlier this week they planned to move into a vacant building and turn it into a center of social and political center. They also threatened to try to close the port, occupying the airport and take over the town hall.
Oakland officials said Friday that since the camp Occupy Oakland was created in late October, police arrested about 300 people.
Nationals occupy Wall Street movement, denouncing inequality and economic excesses of companies, started in New York in the fall, but have been largely dormant in recent times.
Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities where the most important events and voice occupy soon. The protests ebbed after these cities used force to move hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.
In Oakland, the police department has received strong criticism for the use of force to disperse demonstrations earlier. Among the critics was Mayor Jean Quan, who said she was not informed of the plans of the ministry.
On Saturday, Quan seemed to have changed its height about how the police were handling the demonstrations and protests.
"Our officers were very measured," said Quan. "Are there some mistakes made? There may be. I would say that the Oakland Police and our allies, to a small percentage of errors. But frankly, a majority of protesters who are in charge of the police were clearly not be peaceful. "
Earlier this month, a monitor appointed by the court submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the handling of the Ministry of events occupy.
Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan said Saturday night that he was in "close contact" with the federal monitor during the demonstrations.
Quan said: "If the protesters believe that because we work more closely with the monitor, now that we will not do what we have to do to comply with the law and try to keep people safe in this city, they are wrong. "
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