First plaza occupation The first occupation lasted for 15 days from October 10 to October 25.
Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, was symbolically renamed "Oscar Grant Plaza" by the protesters, referring to Oscar Grant, an Oakland man
shot and killed by
BART police officer
Johannes Mehserle in 2009. The occupation of Frank Ogawa Plaza officially began at 4 p.m. on October 10, 2011, with a rally attended by hundreds of supporters that was also held in tandem with a rally for
Indigenous People's Day. The first general assembly, based on
Occupy Wall Street's New York general assembly, was held in the plaza amphitheater at 6 p.m. and several dozen protesters set up tents that evening. The following weekend, around 2,500 people, including actor and activist
Danny Glover, came out for a Saturday march and rally to show their support for Occupy Oakland. On October 17, the
three American hikers recently freed from an Iranian prison made their first West Coast speaking appearance at Occupy Oakland, drawing an audience of around 300 people. The camp grew to roughly 150 tents that were used for both camping and to provide services to protesters and visitors. A "miniature city" evolved with a kitchen, library, a
bicycle-powered media center, and children's village. The grass was strewn with straw and walkways were created using wooden pallets and boards. There were tents dedicated to arts and crafts, medical attention, supplies, and conflict resolution. Activities were scheduled throughout the day including committee meetings, discussion groups, and yoga classes. Actor and activist
Danny Glover spoke at a rally on October 15. Hip hop artist
Lupe Fiasco donated food, supplies, and tents to the protesters the night he played a concert in town. The grandnephew of labor leader and civil rights activist
César Chávez, Mateus Chávez and his fiancé Latrina Rhinehart, got married at the site on October 20, 2011, to show their support. On October 22, protesters held a rally at the plaza, marched from the plaza to Snow Park and protested outside a branch of Wells Fargo.
October 25 police raid and evening protest At 4:50 a.m. on October 25, 2011, police in riot gear arrived to clear the plaza encampment. The raid was conducted by 392 officers of the Oakland Police Department along with 202 personnel from 15 local law-enforcement agencies under a mutual aid agreement. Officers were from the police departments of
Berkeley,
UC Berkeley, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Newark, Palo Alto, Pleasanton,
San Francisco,
San Jose, and Santa Clara, as well as the
Alameda County Sheriff's Office,
San Francisco Sheriff's Department,
Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, and Solano County Sheriff's Department. Additionally, the
California Highway Patrol assisted in traffic management and security of the freeways, but was not involved with clearing the camp. About 200 protesters attempted to stop the police from clearing the camp with a makeshift barricade consisting of crates, metal police barricades and dumpsters. Police stated that loud bangs that were heard when the raid began came from M-80 and M-1000 firecrackers hurled at officers by protesters. Police said that they used tear gas in order to effect an arrest after officers who were pelted with rocks and bottles, and that police used a beanbag non-lethal rounds after a protester threw a garbage can at officers. During the raid police arrested a total of 75 people, mostly for misdemeanors. At 4 p.m. between 1000 and 1500 protesters gathered at the downtown
Oakland Public Library for a rally and march back to the plaza to try and re-occupy the plaza. On their way, they headed to the Oakland Police Department Headquarters to protest, and were blocked by a line of police in riot gear. There was a brief standoff and after a police officer attempted to arrest a woman, 50 or so protesters surrounded the officers and some protesters threw paint on the police. At 6 p.m. riot police began firing tear gas at the marching protesters. The protesters continued to regroup and, at one point, sat down with linked arms in the intersection of 14th and Broadway near the plaza. The march continued around the city until about 9:30 p.m. when the protesters returned again to the plaza which was barricaded and guarded by 100 police officers in riot gear. Oakland police chief Howard Jordan denied the use of flashbang grenades and said that the explosions came from
M-80 firecrackers thrown by protesters. The grassy area of the plaza was empty and surrounded by chain link fences. The general assembly voted to organize a
general strike for November 2. The plaza was occupied for 18 days, from October 26 to November 14, and the "miniature city" grew to about 180 tents. A medical tent staffed by members of the
California Nurses Association and an interfaith tent were added to the new "miniature city". Documentary filmmaker and activist
Michael Moore visited the site on October 28, 2011, and made a speech to encourage the crowd of protesters. That same day, protesters in Egypt marched from Cairo's
Tahrir Square to the U.S. Embassy in solidarity with Occupy Oakland. On November 10, a man was fatally shot about 25 yards away from the encampment. Occupy Oakland medics responded to the victim until police and paramedics arrived. Initially, there were mixed reports about whether the people involved in the shooting were connected to Occupy Oakland. Police later found that the victim, 25-year-old Kayode Ola Foster, was indeed an Occupy Oakland participant, but only for the previous few days, as was one of two possible murder suspects. In response to the shooting, demonstrators observed silence, prayed, and held a candlelight vigil for the victim led by one of the camp chaplains. On November 15, Occupy Oakland protesters joined the
Occupy Cal demonstrations at UC Berkeley.
November 14 police raid The city of Oakland distributed notices of violation to protesters for three days from November 11 through November 13. The notices stated that the protesters were in violation of the city code by lodging overnight, obstructing the use of a public park, and making fires in a public park. In the early hours of November 14, approximately 700-1000 police dismantled the camp while supporters protested peacefully around the encampment. Police made about 20 arrests in total.
General strike of November 2 on Nov. 2, 2011 Thousands of protesters gathered at the plaza on November 2 to participate in rallies, marches, and teach-ins designed to draw attention to economic inequity and corporate greed as part of the
2011 Oakland General Strike. The
Port of Oakland, the fifth busiest port in the United States, was shut down after several thousand protesters blocked entrances to the port. Official estimates put the number of people attending the general strike at 7,000, while organizers say there were between 20,000 and 30,000. Most of the protesters were peaceful, but some protesters smashed windows at Whole Foods and Wells Fargo, looted an art store, and plastered downtown businesses with graffiti.
Snow Park and Veterans Memorial camp Snow Park, a small park beside Lake Merritt, was occupied on October 18 by about two dozen protesters after Frank Ogawa Plaza had filled up with tents. The Snow Park protesters initially spent time maintaining the grounds of the park. The encampment grew to about 20 tents by November 13. On November 21, 100 campers peacefully left Snow Park after law enforcement arrived. After the encampments at Frank Ogawa Plaza and Veterans Memorial were removed by law enforcement, protesters briefly occupied a vacant lot in the
Uptown neighborhood in downtown Oakland from November 19 to November 20. Demonstrators took down fences and set up tents, hung banners, and had an impromptu dance session in the rain, powered by a sound truck. Some nearby residents were opposed to the new occupation location due to noise issues.
Port shutdown of December 12 On December 12, the Port of Oakland was again shut down as Occupy Oakland protesters participated in a West Coast shutdown of ports. At the Port of Oakland, hundreds of protesters stayed overnight and successfully stopped the 3 am shift of ILWU workers from entering the Port to work. The crowd eventually dispersed peacefully with no arrests or even police presence.
Anti-police Saturday evening marches of 2012 Starting the first Saturday of January, some supporters of Occupy Oakland began a series of what they called "Fuck The Police" (FTP) protests. Officials estimated that policing each FTP in January cost the City about $50,000. A statement issued prior to the January 14 "FTP" march read, in part: IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you identify as peaceful and are likely to interfere with the actions of your fellow protesters in any way (including telling them to stop performing a particular action, grappling, assaulting or holding them for arrest), you may not want to attend this march. It is a militant action. It attracts anti-capitalists, anti-fascists and other comrades of a revolutionary bent. It is not a march intended for people who are not fully comfortable with diversity of tactics. The move to a "diversity of tactics" worked to undermine public support, which some non-violent Occupy participants alleged was the work of infiltrating 'agents provocateurs'."
"Move-in Day" (January 28) On January 28, Occupy Oakland protesters had planned a 'move-in' day to take over a vacant building and establish it as a social center. The target for occupation was the long-vacant
Kaiser Convention Center. Organizers kept the building targeted for takeover a secret, so the exact route was a mystery to most of the marchers. After winding through Laney College, the crowd ended up at the vacant Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, where police had established a line. Some protesters carried plastic garbage cans cut into shields in preparation for confrontation with police. Police first attempted arrests near Telegraph Ave and William St. This attempt failed when protesters were ordered to disperse. As police attempted to clear the protesters, the marchers overturned a chain link fence and fled across a vacant park. The march continued heading up Telegraph towards 20th. Three officers were injured in the skirmish between Occupy protesters, as protesters threw bottles, metal pipe, rocks, spray cans,
improvised explosive devices, and lit flares, police said, in a large skirmish on the front steps of the Oakland Museum of California. The most seriously injured officer received a cut to his face that required stitches after a protester hit him with a bicycle. The other two injured officers received bruises, and one injured his hand. Police again stopped the march on Broadway between 23rd and 24th. Police announced over loudspeaker to the kettled crowd: "Marchers, you have failed to disperse after several lawful orders. You are now under arrest". There were 409 arrests at Occupy Oakland on January 28, but only 12 of those arrested were charged. Critics alleged that police engaged in kettling and failed to issue the required audible dispersal order prior to arrests. Several journalists reported being arrested or placed in restraints. In response,
The Newspaper Guild released a letter protesting Oakland Police's actions that day. Over the course of the day, the Oakland Police Department received more than 1,700 calls for service elsewhere in Oakland that were delayed or not responded to because of the strain on resources dealing with protesters. More than 480 of those were 911 calls.
"Aquapy" Lake Merritt On December 15, police evicted a floating encampment, "Aquapy Lake Merritt". Subsequently, a second "Aquapy encampment" returned to the Lake. On January 31, 2012, eviction warnings were served on the second Aquapy. The police foreclosed Aquapy 2.0 on the evening of February 1. ==
Occupied Oakland Tribune ==