Oakland cops eye Occupy camp after Ore. arrests

A line of police stand staged at an Occupy Oakland encampment in Oakland, Calif., Nov. 14, 2011. / AP Photo

Updated at 9:15 a.m. ET

OAKLAND, Calif. - Police drove hundreds of anti-Wall Street demonstrators from weeks-old encampments in Portland and arrested more than 50 of them, as hundreds of officers in Oakland, Calif., gathered before dawn Monday for what looked to be a similar crackdown.

Tension in Oakland has been building since Sunday night when police issued a fourth cease and desist order telling demonstrators they couldn't camp in the plaza. The order said the protesters faced immediate arrest.

Helmet-wearing officers from Oakland and several other San Francisco Bay area cities encircled the encampment at about 4:30 a.m. PST. Some held long sticks while others clutched white zip-ties.

Portland police moved in shortly before noon Sunday and forced protesters into the street after dozens remained in the camp in defiance city officials. Mayor Sam Adams had ordered that the camp shut down Saturday at midnight, citing unhealthy conditions and the encampment's attraction of drug users and thieves.

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More than 50 protesters were arrested in the police action, but officers did not use tear gas, rubber bullets or other so-called non-lethal weapons, police said.

After the police raid, the number of demonstrators swelled throughout the afternoon. By early evening, dozens of officers brandishing nightsticks stood shoulder-to-shoulder to hold the protesters back. Authorities retreated and protesters broke the standoff by marching through the streets.

Demonstrators regrouped several blocks away, where they broke into small groups to discuss their future. The Oregonian reported that numbers began to thin out by mid-evening.

Warnings from Oakland authorities were similar to those issued before officers raided the encampment on Oct. 25 with tear gas and bean bag projectiles. More than 80 people were arrested.

A day later, Mayor Jean Quan allowed protesters to reclaim the disbanded site after facing criticism for her handling of the city's response, as protesters highlighted that an Iraq War veteran had suffered a serious head injury during the police raid.

On Sunday, friends confirmed that the veteran, Scott Olsen, has been released from the hospital. Olsen, who suffered a skull fracture, became a rallying point for protesters nationwide.

Dottie Guy of Iraq Veterans Against the War said Sunday Olsen was released last week. He can now read and write, but still has trouble talking, she added.

The camp has grown substantially since the Oct. 25 raid, although city officials said on Sunday the number of tents has dropped by about 30 to 150 since Nov. 8.

Officials across the country have been urging an end to similar gatherings in the wake of three deaths in different cities, including two by gunfire.

Demands for Oakland protesters to pack up increased after a man was shot and killed Thursday near the encampment site.

Protesters had said that there was no connection between the shooting and the camp. But police Sunday night identified the slain man as 25-year-old Kayode Ola Foster of Oakland, saying his family confirmed he had been staying at the plaza.

Police officer Johnna Watson said witnesses have told police that one of two suspects in the shooting had also been a frequent resident at the plaza. The suspects are being sought and their names haven't been released.

Investigators suspect that the shooting resulted from a fight between two groups of men.

In the hours after the midnight Saturday eviction deadline in Portland, the anti-Wall Street protesters and their supporters had flooded the park area. At one point, the crowd swelled to thousands. As dawn arrived, riot police had retreated and most of the crowds had gone home, but protesters who have been at the two parks since Oct. 6 were still there, prompting one organizer to declare the night a victory for the movement.

"We stood up to state power," Jim Oliver told The Associated Press.

It didn't last. Police moved in later. An officer on a loudspeaker warned that anyone who resisted risked arrest and "may also be subject to chemical agents and impact weapons." Demonstrators chanted "we are a peaceful protest."

"We were talking about what we were going to do and then they just started hitting people. Seems like a waste of resources to me," protester Mike Swain, 27, told the AP.

One man was taken away on a stretcher; he was alert and talking to paramedics, and raised a peace sign to fellow protesters, who responded with cheers.

Choya Adkison, 30, said police moved in after giving demonstrators a false sense of calm. They thought they had time to rest, relax and regroup, she said

City officials erected temporary chain-link fences with barbed wire at the top around three adjacent downtown parks, choking off access for demonstrators as parks officials cleaned up.

Police Chief Mike Reese told KGW-TV it was his plan to take the parks in a peaceful manner and that's what happened.

"Our officers have performed exceptionally well," he said.

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[thomasmc1957]

So much for the myth of freedom in America.

[noloyalisti]

The Occupy Movement craps bigger than Oakland or Portland. It craps bigger than the failed Western culture in fact.

Check out this awesome song and send to the 99%.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/13/1036083/-AWESOME:-Artist-Performs-99-er-Song-in-Front-of-Obama-World-Leaders-at-APEC-Conf-(W-Video)?via=siderec

[seeingterra]

Funny how many of these articles by the corporate media subtly distort the truth.

Go on feeding your machine, we are not even using it any more..

[noloyalisti]

We needed this to happen RIGHT NOW, check it out.

A very talented and famous singer/songwriter played this song at the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Hawaii. Obama and other world leaders were there. Is this the new ballad for the Occupy Everywhere Revolution? Simple and good. Awesome and powerful!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/13/1036083/-AWESOME:-Artist-Performs-99-er-Song-in-Front-of-Obama-World-Leaders-at-APEC-Conf-(W-Video)?via=siderec

[Mike_in_USA]

So the Oakland protesters deposited about $20,000 in Wells fargo bank. So, what is wrong with this picture? Hint-many things.

[twodm]

Hodge-Podge = OWS
Totally Unfocused Protests are Useless
1. Close the port = Useless tactic proves nothing.
2. Include Pro-Palestinian/Anti-Zionist "Activists" = *** ?
3. Set Cars on fire (but do not denounce violence?) = Losing Media/ Image battle
4. No Known Specific Goal except "occupy" = definition of a hobo

[KnowerseekerReturns]

"One man was taken away on a stretcher; he was alert and talking to paramedics, and raised a peace sign to fellow protesters, who responded with cheers." -- Or it may have been a V for "Victory" sign.

[mulberryflorida]

while the economic is in the sh iter, our government the men and women that we elected into office can do insider trading legality. we the people of the USA need to tell our government; (no you cann't!) You cannot use secret information to make a profit. You cannot make trillions of dollars at the cost of American Families! Many without homes, food or a hot shower. When our children go to bed HUNGRY. In American the government works for the People! I ask that the President Obama Veto this Law ASAP. To insure The Honesty of All GOVERNMENT Elects.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

Nothing will change this but a Second American Revolution! The first liberated the rich from the feudal aristocracy; the second will liberate the working man from the rich.

[piercetheval]

Damn Skippy...

[KJeroH]

The level of violence that Occupy Wall Street is being met with is more than disturbing. These are all part of a worldwide demand that the policies of a century ago be junked once and for all and that the world - the West included, step to the present so we can all march into the future. Just as Soviet style governance has totally failed, the last two or three boom/bust cycles have proven that western capitalism has failed as well. Neither gave proper respect to the Middle Class which makes everything possible. This is the demand. This is the change. In the US, that means bringing an end to purely political jockeying of the two-party system and the establishment of open elections. By bringing political power back to the grassroots level, then and only then can changes be made that put the true concerns of the people first. The mayors of these US cities are beating and arresting the protesters, a la Qaddaffi and Assad, are doing so to maintain the status quo which has given them their jobs and which upholds wealth and the corporate elite over the Middle/Working Class. That is what America should be concerned with, that these local henchmen are going down the same road as the despot.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

louiville12, nice red herring there. The types of people that are showing up to the Occupy protests (and not all are criminals) are those who have the *time* to be there: college students, the unemployed, retired people, and yes, the homeless. However, even if it were talking goats out there chanting and protesting, the *message* is bullet-proof: It's high-time for the 1% to stop taking from the 99%.

[Smail_Buzzby]

Maybe these protesters have made a mess and maybe they are not the best voice for reason, but they have a very valid point about the system being rigged against 99% of us. And the system is Wall Street AND Washington - the 99% do not have representation. Our voices are not being heard. Our needs not met. If you have a lot your are encouraged to grab a whole lot more, there is no sense of responsibility. No acknowledging that you are only so stupid rich because you live here where greed rules.
I fail to see how they are hurting anyone and if they are peacefully assembled (with some exceptions, to be expected) then coming in with cops in riot gear is a horrible way to proceed. Essentially these (mostly) young people are trying to get involved and what they will remember is that the people with money sent armored thugs down to beat them up and arrest them. This is not the way to defuse a tense situation. I understand mayors thinking they have to do something and I am certain that the chief of police thinks this is big fun, but these actions will only embolden the most fervent protesters. It might even turn a number of them into violent jerk-offs out of spite.
The fact that large protests have broken out across America and no politicians have stepped in to try and provide these people with some sense of progress is perhaps the most shameful thing I am aware of in America. At least for the moment.
We should all demand a new government, the idea that ours works for us is a very bad joke. Electing more bozos from this party or that party will only give us more of the same.
The system is broken. Let the 1% take their awesome wealth and flee to somewhere else. We will create real wealth without them.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

I agree, though let's grab the assets of those 1% *before* they can escape and kick them out penniless. Then we can turn said assets over to a new generation of entrepreneurs who are willing to play under new rules that enforce social responsibility from a new government. Furthermore, I am hoping that Occupy is just the start of something bigger, and that the next group of protests will be much more mainstream and involve many more of the 99%. The goal is to reign in "free trade" and replace laissez-faire capitalism with social democracy capitalism.