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03 Nov 2011 21:51

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U.S.: Oakland demonstrator questions violence and vandalism

  • I didn’t destroy any property yesterday, but destruction of property is not violent.
  • Derek Winslow • A demonstrator with the “Occupy Oakland” movement who was arrested early Thursday morning after overtaking a building in downtown Oakland. Winslow admitted that the occupation of the building, along with the ensuing fires that were set around the property to deter police, “wasn’t the best reaction, but we are frustrated.” More than 80 people were arrested after police deployed tear gas in the area.  source

03 Nov 2011 10:16

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U.S.: Occupy Oakland devolves into chaos after successful protests

  • We put together an ideological principle that the mainstream media wouldn’t talk about two months ago.
  • The Coup’s Boots Riley • Discussing Occupy Oakland’s big day yesterday, in which thousands of people showed up and made their voices heard, stopping the operations of Oakland’s major port in the process. It didn’t remain non-violent however, with riot police showing up to arrest dozens of people as windows were shattered and buildings were broken into. It was something Riley himself, prior to the incident, didn’t want to think about. “If they do that after all this …” he said with a pause, “They’re smarter than that.” (Edit: As Boots Riley himself says below, the quote was taken out of context. More info here.) source

27 Oct 2011 15:36

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Politics: Occupy Oakland calls for general strike

  • We mean nobody goes to work, nobody goes to school, we shut the city down. The only thing they seem to care about is money and they don’t understand that it’s our money they need. We don’t need them, they need us.
  • Occupy Oakland organizer Carl Brooks • Very much obeying the will of the Occupy Oakland protesters, as reports indicate the general assembly last night voted 96.9% in favor of the idea. What effect this will have is yet unclear — it depends on a lot of things, such as how many protesters there actually are, what percentage of them are employed, and whether non-participants will get on board with the idea. That said, this was the primary issue on the tongues of nearly everyone we heard from last night (Editor’s note: The author of this piece, Chris Tognotti, was at Frank Ogawa Plaza to see the protests in action), even moreso than any reflection on the brutal police crackdown the night before. For those who criticize the Occupy movement for lacking coherent plans or goals, this is pretty demonstrative action. source