Occupy Oakland PRESS RELEASE: Oakland Police Violate their Own Policies

[kpete]

PRESS RELEASE: Oakland Police Violate their Own Policies
JANUARY 29, 2012
by Scott
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 29, 2011 – Oakland, CA – Yesterday, the Oakland Police deployed hundreds of officers in riot gear so as to prevent Occupy Oakland from putting a vacant building to better use. This is a building which has sat vacant for 6 years, and the city has no current plans for it. The Occupy Oakland GA passed a proposal calling for the space to be turned into a social center, convergence center and headquarters of the Occupy Oakland movement.

The police actions tonight cost the city of Oakland hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they repeatedly violated their own crowd control guidelines and protester’s civil rights.

With all the problems in our city, should preventing activists from putting a vacant building to better use be their highest priority? Was it worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars they spent?

The OPD is facing receivership based on actions by police in the past, and they have apparently learned nothing since October. On October 25, Occupiers rushed to the aid of Scott Olsen who was shot in the head by police, and the good Samaritans who rushed to his aid had a grenade thrown at them by police. At 3:30pm this afternoon, OO medics yet again ran to the aid of injured protesters lying on the ground. Other occupiers ran forward and used shields to protect the medic and injured man. The police then repeatedly fired less lethal rounds at these people trying to protect and help an injured man.

Around the same time, officers #419, #327, and others were swinging batons at protesters in a violation of OPD crowd control policy, which allows for pushing or jabbing with batons, but not the swinging of them.

In the evening, police illegally kettled and arrested hundreds of protesters. Police can give notices to disperse, if a group is engaged in illegal activity. However, if the group disperses and reassembles somewhere else, they are required to give another notice to disperse. Tonight, they kettled a march in progress, and arrested hundreds for refusing to disperse. Contrary to their own policy, the OPD gave no option of leaving or instruction on how to depart. These arrests are completely illegal, and this will probably result in another class action lawsuit against the OPD, who have already cost Oakland $58 million in lawsuits over the past 10 years.

OPD Crowd Control Policy: “If after a crowd disperses pursuant to a declaration of unlawful assembly and subsequently participants assemble at a different geographic location where the participants are engaged in non-violent and lawful First Amendment activity, such an assembly cannot be dispersed unless it has been determined that it is an unlawful assembly and the required official declaration has been adequately given.”

“The announcements shall also specify adequate egress or escape routes. Whenever possible, a minimum of two escape/egress routes shall be identified and announced.”

“When the only violation present is unlawful assembly, the crowd should be given an opportunity to disperse rather than face arrest.”

At least 4 journalists were arrested in this kettling. They include Susie Cagle, Kristen Hanes, Vivian Ho who were arrested and then released, and Gavin Aronsen who was taken to jail.

One woman was in terrible pain from the cuffs. Dozens of fellow arrestees shouted at the OPD to check her cuffs. But, contrary to their own policy, the OPD refused and simply threw her in a paddy wagon.

OPD Crowd Control Policy: “Officers should be cognizant that flex-cuffs may tighten when arrestees’ hands swell or move … When arrestees complain of pain from overly tight flex cuffs, members shall examine the cuffs to ensure proper fit”

Numerous protesters were injured: some shot with “less lethal” rounds, some affected by tear gas, and some beaten by police batons. There are no totals yet for the numbers of protesters injured. One 19 year old woman was taken to the hospital with internal bleeding after she was beaten by Officer #119.

Cathy Jones, an attorney with the NLG gave the following statement to Occupy Oakland’s media team: “Through everything that has happened since September, from Occupy to the acceleration of “Bills” — NDAA, SOPA, PIPA, ACTA — never have I felt so helpless and enraged as I do tonight. These kids are heroes, and the rest of the country needs to open its collective eyes and grab what remains of its civil rights, because they are evaporating, quickly. Do you want to know what a police state looks like? Well, you sure as hell still do not know unless you were watching our citizen journalists.”

Today, Occupy Oakland events continue all day with a festival in Oscar Grant (Frank Ogawa) Plaza:

http://occupyoakland.org/2012/01/occupy-oakland-rise-up-festival-has-been-moved-to-oscar-grant-plaza-tomorrow/

Occupy Oakland is an emerging social movement without leaders or spokespersons. It is in solidarity with occupations currently occurring around the world in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. Occupy Oakland Media is a committee of Occupy Oakland, established by the Occupy Oakland General Assembly.

CONTACT:

Occupy Oakland Media Committee
[phone]
[email protected]

http://hellaoccupyoakland.org
http://occupiedoaktrib.org/2012/01/29/press-release-oakland-police-violate-their-own-policies/

[T S Justly]

1. K&R (nt)

[WillyT]

2. K & R !!!

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. K&R

[bigtree]

4. K&R!

[ProSense]

5. This is

fine, but is this movement going to become a standoff between the residents of a city and its police department.

The department's actions were deplorable, but it seems to me this movement needs to regain focus. I do hope Governor Brown weighs in and is able to allow peaceful demonstration to continue.

After the President's SOTU, there were any number of commentaries crediting OWS with the substance and tone of the President's speech.

From the OWS site:

----- BELOW THIS BRIEF INTRODUCTION is a numbered "LIST OF PROPOSED DEMANDS" we would make in DC. These would not be empty demands. They would be made in the context of engaging in non-violent direct action / peaceful non-resistance, proven tactics that produce real results. Clearly the language would need to be edited and certainly grow more specific (hoping you'll help with that), but you get the idea.


TACTICS: WHY DIRECT NON-VIOLENT ACTION?

It's pretty simple. It works. It's worked for MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. Non-violent direct action is what made the civil rights movement and Indian independence from the British possilble. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said: "The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation."

We should make the demands below very publicly at a press conference a few days after arriving in DC. When doing so, we should give a clear deadline of 3 days for a firm written commitment with signatures from at least 60% of members of House and 60% of the members of the Senate to pass these bills by the end of the year. If this commitment on the full slate of demands is not met by midnight on the 3rd day (which it won't be) we should be prepared to non-violently block access to all or part of the Capitol complex the next morning by traditional proven non-violent tactics. The purpose is to bring the leaders of the House and Senate to the negotiating table.

NOTE: There are always entrances because there is always a point where people who work there have to leave the public street and enter secure space. We should focus our non-violent direct action and civil disobedience on those entrances no matter where they move them because these are, by definition, always accessible.

- more -

http://occupywallst.org/forum/detailed-list-of-demands-overview-of-tactics-for-d/

Can OWS apply pressure to Congress
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002223279

[AnotherMcIntosh]

6. It would be nice to know what the attorneys for the NLG are doing other than issuing statements.

They must be filing or planning to file papers for restraining orders. Where are their press releases on this? Don't any of them know a judge that they can contact on a Saturday or Sunday? If they don't, can't they find somebody that does?

[Luminous Animal]

8. http://www.nlgsf.org/

[backscatter712]

11. They've got to keep at least some of their strategy under their hats...

But as one NLG lawyer represented me personally pro-bono, I can say that I owe them.

And I'm confident that they're looking for angles that can be used to make legal challenges against the City of Oakland and the Oakland PD.

[Starry Messenger]

7. k&r

[Bozita]

9. K&R ... Bigtime!

[slay]

10. K&R

people need to see what's going on there. the oakland police are mad with power it seems.

[sabrina 1]

12. K&R