Occupy Oakland protest ends in 400 arrests
Demonstrators clash with police in bid to take over building
About 400 people were arrested and three officers injured late Saturday and early Sunday after a march to take over a vacant building by members of the Occupy movement in Oakland, Calif., turned into a confrontation with the police.
The clashes began just before 3 p.m. when protesters marched toward the vacant Henry J. Kaiser Convention centre and began to tear down construction barricades. The Oakland police said in a statement that the crowd was ordered to disperse when protesters “began destroying construction equipment and fencing.”
“Officers were pelted with bottles, metal pipe, rocks, spray cans, improvised explosive devices and burning flares,” the police said. Officers responded with smoke, tear gas and beanbag projectiles. Twenty people were then arrested.
Several hours later, some of the protesters broke into City Hall, the police said. On Sunday, Mayor Jean Quan planned to lead reporters on a tour to view the damage to the building.
Most of the arrests occurred late Saturday, when large groups were corralled in front of the Downtown Oakland YMCA on Broadway.
On a live broadcast on the website oakfosho.com, dozens of protesters could be seen sitting cross-legged in the darkness in front of the YMCA. Their hands appeared to be bound behind them while officers stood watch. The protesters occasionally sang or cheered.
The events were part of a demonstration dubbed “Move-in Day,” a plan by protesters to take over the vacant convention centre and use it as a commune-like command centre, according to the website occupyoaklandmoveinday.org.
“We were going to set up a community centre,” said Benjamin Phillips, 32, a member of the Occupy Oakland media team. “It would be a place where we could house people, feed people, do all the things that we have been doing.”
In an open letter to Quan on the Move-in Day site, the group also said it was considering “blockading the airport indefinitely, occupying City Hall indefinitely” and “shutting down the Oakland ports.” Occupy protesters did briefly shut down the city’s port in November.
In a statement issued before the march, Quan said that “the residents of Oakland are wearying of the constant focus and cost to our city.” On Saturday night, she added: “Once again, a violent splinter group of the Occupy movement is engaging in violent actions against Oakland. The Bay Area Occupy movement has got to stop using Oakland as their playground.”