Man Shot Dead Near Occupy Oakland

I think we can officially say that the Occupy protests have devolved to a new and despicable low. There have been assaults, rapes, robberies, and even tuberculosis in Atlanta. It appears that we can now add murder to the sordid laundry list. None other than Occupy Oakland gets that distinction. Remember, Oakland has been the most out-of-control Occupy location to date. The mayor there - Jean Quan - has been handling it terribly badly. She seems to be more interested in presiding over clashes between protesters and police than in making sure her city is safe.

Though the shooting happened just outside the Oakland encampment, protesters insist it had nothing to do with their movement. No one has identified a shooter and a woman claiming to be a spokesperson for the Occupy Oakland - Barucha Peller - is actually going into all out damage control by saying the only thing Occupy Oakland had to do with the entire incident was being responsible for providing assistance to the victim.

Via CBS:

A man has died after being shot just outside the Oakland encampment that anti-Wall Street protesters have occupied for the last month.

Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan says the victim was pronounced dead at a local hospital Thursday evening, less than two hours after two groups of men got into a fight near the Occupy Oakland camp on a plaza near City Hall.

Jordan says no suspects have been identified. He asked members of the public participating in the protest who may have taken photographs or video that captured the shooting to contact authorities.

The chief says investigators do not yet know if the men in the fight were associated with Occupy Oakland. But protest organizers say they weren't.

The shooting happened just before 5 p.m. on the edge of the plaza outside Oakland City Hill. The Occupy Oakland encampment sits in the middle of the plaza.

Paramedics on the scene were tending the bleeding man, whose condition wasn't immediately known as it was earlier reported. Police were interviewing witnesses and trying to contain a crowd of protesters who had tried to prevent television cameramen from taking video.

A woman from the encampment, Barucha Peller, told CBS station KPIX San Francisco: "The only direct Occupy Oakland involvement was in order to provide emergency first-aid services."

Last week, millions of dollars of damage were done to the city. An Iraq war veteran suffered a critical head injury that's looking increasingly like it was sustained as a result of projectiles hurled by protesters. There have been countless arrests and we're to accept Peller's claim out of hand that these protests had NOTHING to do with this murder?!

The last sentence of the CBS report ends with this line:

Earlier Thursday, a man was shot and killed at the Occupy Burlington protest in Vermont. Fellow protesters indicated that the gunshot appeared to be self-inflicted.

One suicide and one homicide. There have also been people found dead in tents at various #Occupy protests.

h/t Hot Air