HELP OAKLAND LOCAL REPORT ON OCCUPY OAKLAND
#OWS #OCCUPYOAKLAND #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Occupy Oakland was 2 weeks old when the Oakland police decided to clear the encampments at Frank Ogawa Plaza and Snow Park in Oakland, CA. During the evening's peaceful demonstrations, police clashed with demonstrators--some of whom threw paint and rocks--with such force that the first person accounts and photos made their way around the world and were a trending topic on Twitter (#Oakland PD). In the aftermath of the violence, the city learned that the police action plan had been crafted by the new city administrator, that the mayor was out of town, and the same police chief who told a press conference at 9:15 PM that the department was committed to a peaceful demonstration had officers pelting people with tear gas, bean bags and rubber bullets.
On Weds, October 26, demonstrations continued and as the Occupy General Assembly met in conference at 7PM, the Occupy Wall Street movement announced they were donating $20K to support the movement in Oakland. Reports tell us that a General Strike is being planned in the city for Wednesday, November 2nd. Meanwhile, it's hard not to wonder how the Mayor will resolve the anger and fury many residents are directing at her.
Will Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan be the sacrificIal lamb? Will Deanna Santana get the blame? Or will Quan just plow ahead without a look back at last night's melee?
In the past two weeks, Oakland Local has published multiple reports, first person stories, videos and photos of a local Oakland movement that the world is watching (see oaklandlocal.com/tags/occupy-oakland). We need support to continue to cover and do original independent reporting on this important story.
Our team of Eric Arnold, Susan Mernit and Kwan Booth will write, edit, curate and report on the #OccupyOakland movement; we'll be sharing and distributing our stories via The SFPublic Press, Yahoo! News, Google News, SF Gate, The Media Consortium and other outlets.
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