Dozens of police in riot gear and hundreds of protesters in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse in downtown Oakland on Tuesday, with authorities using tear gas to respond to demonstrators' repeated agitations.
The latest such skirmish came around 10:30 PDT as some protesters began throwing bottles among a crowd that had reconvened in front of City Hall, where a haze of chemical smoke still hung in the air following a similar clash about an hour earlier only blocks away. Police briefly dispersed a crowd heading back toward the downtown area where an Occupy Wall Street encampment was dismantled earlier in the day.
Helicopters scanned the area late Tuesday and scores of officers wearing helmets and carrying clubs patrolled the streets as protesters gathered only a few feet away. Authorities are denying reports that they used flash bang canisters to help break up the crowd, saying the loud noises came from large firecrackers thrown at police by protesters. |
Day of clashes
Oakland's City Hall was the site of conflict throughout the day. Authorities used a pre-dawn raid to dismantle an Occupy Wall Street encampment that had taken over a plaza outside the government headquarters for more than two weeks. Police removed about 170 demonstrators who had been staying in the area overnight after repeatedly being warned that such a camp was illegal and they faced arrest by remaining. City officials said 97 people were arrested in the morning raid.
In less than an hour, the 2-week-old, miniature makeshift city was in ruins. Scattered across the plaza in front of City Hall were overturned tents, pillows, sleeping bags, yoga mats, tarps, backpacks, food wrappers and water bottles. Signs decrying corporations and police still hung from lampposts or lay on the ground.
Later Tuesday, hundreds of protesters gathered at a library and marched through downtown Oakland. They were met by police officers in riot gear, and several small skirmishes broke out. The protesters eventually made their way back to City Hall for a game of cat-and-mouse as dusk approached. Police later threw flash bang canisters and fired more tear gas as the crowd dispersed up the street. "It's really, really tense and I think the cops are trying to walk a fine line, but I don't think they are going to back down and neither are the demonstrators," said Cat Brooks, an organizer. "We're on the move. For now." Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan told reporters at a late night news conference that authorities had no other choice, saying the protesters were throwing rocks and bottles at officers. ``We had to deploy gas to stop the crowd,'' he said, according to a KCBS report. City officials say that two officers were injured. At least five protesters were arrested and several others injured in the evening clashes. Protesters had stayed awake through Monday night, waiting for the expected raid. Officers and sheriff's deputies from across the San Francisco Bay area surrounded the plaza at around 5 a.m. Tuesday and closed in. Eighty-five people were arrested, mostly on suspicion of misdemeanor unlawful assembly and illegal camping, police said. |
By midmorning, city workers had started collecting the debris. Some would be held for protesters to reclaim, the rest would be thrown away, the city said.
The oakland site was among numerous camps that have sprung up around the country, as protesters rally against what they see as corporate greed and a wide range of other economic issues. The protests have attracted a wide range of people, including college students looking for work and the homeless.
In Oakland, tensions between the city and protesters escalated last week as officials complained about what they described as deteriorating safety, sanitation and health issues at the site.
City officials had originally been supportive of protesters, with Oakland Mayor Jean Quan saying that sometimes "democracy is messy."
But the city later warned the protesters that they were breaking the law and couldn't stay in the encampment overnight. They cited concerns about rats, fire hazards, public urination and acts of violence at the site, which had grown to more than 150 tents and included areas for health care, child care and cooking.
"Many Oaklanders support the goals of the national Occupy Wall Street movement," Quan said in a statement on Tuesday. "However, over the last week it was apparent that neither the demonstrators nor the City could maintain safe or sanitary conditions or control the ongoing vandalism."
There were reports of a sex assault and a severe beating and fire and paramedics were denied access to the camp, according to city officials, who said they had also received numerous complaints of intimidating and threatening behavior.
Protesters disputed the city's claims about conditions at the camp. They said the protest was dominated by a spirit of cooperation that helped keep the site clean and allowed disputes to be resolved peacefully.
"It was very neat. It was very organized," Richardson said.
Volunteers at the medical tent erected on the site said paramedics had not been kept away.
On Thursday, the city ordered the protesters to vacate, though they did not set a deadline. Protesters said the number of people at the camp had steadily dwindled since the city posted the letter, while those who remained understood they would likely face a confrontation with police.
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