Occupy Oakland Devolves into Bigger Cesspool; is Mayor Guilty?

Occupy Oakland has officially devolved into a much larger cesspool than it had been previously. Two weeks ago, Mayor Jean Quan issued a directive, ordering protesters to clear the area or they would be removed. On October 25, police began enforcing that directive. On October 26th, Quan allowed protesters to re-occupy the city. On Friday, October 28th, Quan issued a letter to all city employees and instructed them to take the day off and support the November 2nd protests in the city. Police were all ordered to report for duty.

Well, as you might guess, November 2nd was an ugly day for the City of Oakland and Mayor Quan is directly responsible for much of it. HERE is the letter from the OPOA, dated November 1st.

Store windows were broken, buildings and ATM's were defaced, and dozens of protesters were arrested. Yet, the Mercury News reports that the protests were 'largely peaceful.' No, seriously:

OAKLAND -- As many as 40 people were arrested in downtown Oakland early Thursday after what was mostly a peaceful day during the general strike Wednesday turned heated.

Late in the evening, protesters temporarily took over a vacant building, started fires in downtown and used homemade bomb launchers to fire M80s at police.

At 1 a.m. police had used tear-gas and flashbang grenades in attempts to clear the crowd from downtown streets. Some protesters tried to calm the situation by chanting "Don't throw (crap)" and yelling "Stand still the world is watching" but others continued to stand off with police and refused to leave despite police calling an "unlawful assembly" at midnight.

Shortly after 1:30 a.m. police were ready to move in on the Occupy Oakland camp at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza and announced that arrests would be made. At least 100 tents are housing hundreds of people there.

Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said there are about 70 people "determined to cause trouble and instigate a confrontation with police." They plan to release their photos at some point. Jordan said officers intended to separate the troublemakers from the rest of the campers. He said around 2 a.m. that between 30 and 40 had been arrested, although he could not confirm the exact number.

They may have been some of the same vandals who trashed Whole Foods on Wednesday.

"We are aware of people bent on causing problems, and we're taking steps to address those problems," Jordan said.

Oh, and the Mercury News place one paragraph in bold type. Here is the paragraph it apparently wanted people to really read:

Police are reporting no injuries to officers, although some protesters were hurt. Witnesses said one man was hit in the leg with a projectile fired by police, and earlier Wednesday, two protesters were struck by a car on their way to a rally at the Port of Oakland. Early reports are false that one of those struck died; all injuries are believed to be nonfatal.

Maybe if these whackos would stay home and avoid situations that are increasingly becoming violent, they wouldn't get hurt.

Check out these 'largely peaceful' protesters:



I submit that Jean Quan is more responsible for any injuries at Occupy Oakland than are any police officers.

Big Government has photos.