Oakland police attacked the Occupy Oakland camp at 4:30 a.m. Pacific time this morning:
Hundreds of protesters at “Occupy Oakland” were facing arrest in the early hours of Tuesday morning as dozens of SWAT police closed in on their location. We’ve seen reports of rubber bullets, beanbag shotguns, sonic cannons and injuries, but the situation remains unclear.
Local media reports indicated that hundreds of police showed up wearing riot gear around 4:40 a.m. and proceeded to surround the small tent city at the Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. They closed in on the camp within 20 minutes after donning gas masks and firing tear gas into the protest. “Dozens” were arrested, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
The Okaland Tribune reported that police successfully demolished the camp and cleaned out all their tents, a medical desk, a makeshift kitchen and more, after having declared the whole site a “crime scene,” even though no other crime than an “unlawful assembly” had occurred.
Democratic Mayor Jean Quan ordered this police action. That’s Democratic Mayor Quan. Democratic Representative Barbara Lee, who represents this area, has lots to say about all kinds of things, yet has had no comment about the Democratic Mayor’s police action against the people’s constitutional right to free assembly this morning. How odd.
Reminds me of the storm-trooper mentality utilized during the Civil Rights Era. It appears that the same type of police action is being planned under Democratic Mayor Kasim Reed here in Atlanta. I hope the Greens, or another viable third party, begin to make some noise now.
I sometimes watch a show called “Wild West Tech” on History Channel #2. This morning the show was about a number of massacres that took place in the West. The first one presented was the Rockefeller/Government action at coal mines owned by Rockefeller in and around Ludlow, Colorado. The presentation also focused on the machine guns of the time and how they were used by government militia to break up the union.
Whether army or police the plutocrats have used them to put down protests. It seems like nothing ever changes.