Oakland police clash with Occupy protesters
More than 300 arrested as anti-foreclosure demonstrators attempt to take over city’s vacant convention centre.
Police have fired tear gas and flash grenades while arresting more than 300 people as anti-Wall Street protesters tried but failed to take over downtown buildings, including the city hall, in Oakland, California.
Protesters from Occupy Oakland - the local offshoot of Occupy Wall Street - first targeted the empty Henry J Kaiser convention center on Saturday, before trying to take over the city hall, but were forcibly removed from each area by police.
Police spokesperson Johnna Watson told the AFP news agency that throughout the day’s events three police officers had been injured, police vehicles vandalised and shop windows shattered. “We will be dealing with this into the evening, for as long as it takes,” she said.
The bulk of arrests occurred in one incident when protesters were kettled by police into a city block.
Activists told Al Jazeera that they entered the YMCA building on that street in order to find an escape from arrest.
Some managed to escape through back doors before police entered and detained those who were left.
The Oakland Police Department already faces numerous lawsuits for excessive force during protests, including for a mass arrest incident in late 2010 in which 148 people were arrested “unconstitutionally”, according to the lawsuit.
Occupy Oakland had earlier announced a weekend “rise up festival” to be held in an unspecified empty building.
It threatened the city, saying that activists would indefinitely shut down the airport, stop business at the port and take over city hall, if the city would not allow them to move into a building as planned.
The protest group had been ousted for the first time from its camp in a park outside the city hall building on October 25 after clashes with police, but has maintained regular protests ever since.
“Amazing day,” read one entry on Occupy Oakland’s Twitter feed late on Saturday. “We didnt get in the building, but fought like our future depended on it.”
“Yesterday, Occupy Oakland moved to convert a vacant building into a community center to provide education, medical, and housing services for the 99%. Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, beanbag rounds and mass arrests. The state has compounded its policy of callous indifference with a ruthless display of violent repression. The Occupy movement will respond, as we have always reponded: with an overwhelming show of collective resistance. Today, we take to the streets. Across the country, we will demonstrate our resolve to overcome repression and continue to build a better world grounded in love and solidarity for one another. All eyes on all Occupies.
SOLIDARITY SUNDAY starts at 7 p.m. EST, Sunday, January 29. Check your local Occupation for convergence points.”
