City of Oakland Tear Gas Occupy Oakland Protesters Into Submission [Video]

The city of Oakland sent billowy plumes of searing tear gas into the eyes and determination of Occupy Oakland protesters tonight. Alas, when the gas settles by late evening, conversation will turn to a police vs. protesters debate. Which will be unfortunate, and misguided. The city of Oakland ordered the police to remove the protesters just like they did Tuesday morning. Also, as you can see, pictured here, a woman in a wheelchair tries to scurry away from the fumes after getting sprayed with the prickly gas. As did scores of others.

In summary, here's what went down: At around 7:30 p.m. or so tonight, police deployed canisters of tear gas at 14th and Broadway into a heated gaggle of protesters. With superfluous drama, Associated Press notes:

After scattering when police set off tear gas, protesters are marching again, heading down Broadway t on their way back to City Hall. Police are not following the crowd, but continue to stand sentry at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza ... Police continue threats as crowd grows again on Broadway Police are continuing to threaten to use chemical agents against the crowd that is refusing to disperse on Broadway.

Plucked from Bay Citizen, who are covering the dustup as well as loads of other outlets, here's footage of protesters and cops meeting before the gassing. A reported skirmish between the two groups goes down thusly:

Here's dramatic footage of OPD launching flashbangs at the crowds:

Also, Ericru510 captured this intense footage during the tear gas deployment. "
I'm worried... there are fucking kids in that crowd, says on bystander who escaped the poisonous fog. Behold:

According to SF Appeal, however, "Police said that as of 8 p.m., no injuries had been reported."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@sfist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Brock Keeling in News on October 25, 2011 9:49 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

chee1rs

nothing quite like the sound of a billy club cracking someone's skull

MoistPup

Nothing like the sound of a billionaire squealing like a stuck pig when their tax rate increases to what the rest of us pay.

chee1rs

your unemployment money run out yet , Billy Joe

Miles_Long

Uh Hi, reality here. The EFFECTIVE tax rate of the total cumulative gross income of rich is still much higher than the rest of us. That’s the cold hard truth. I provided a few links that disproves your talking point and helps you have a better understanding of your misconception . Enjoy the enlightenment.

“the effective tax rate paid by the rich has actually gone up in recent years, and now averages roughly 24 percent, compared with an average of 11 percent for all taxpayers.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/...

http://www.texasinsider.org/wp...

http://community.cengage.com/G...

http://www.taxfoundation.org/n...

Spysea

Occumorons where were you yesterday when Barry was in SF charging $5000 a plate for a lunch at the W Hotel ?

chee1rs

I guess they were smoking pot , banging drums and whining about hard-working people making money . . . typical day in the life of an art major with no job who sleeps in their parent's basement

TK

They were outside protesting.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/...

Mike Tattoo

Getting mad at the cops that are just doing their job is like getting mad at a waiter that’s serving you a shitty meal. Dude is just doing his job, if you have a problem take it up with the chef.

And I’m guilty of that too. Every 5 mins my phone has been ringing with some haggard zombie working a crappy job, painfully reading a script about how I should vote. I know it’s not that person’s fault but you instantly get pissed at them because this is the 3rd time they’ve called tonight and take a fucking hint, lady. Not interested.

Speaking of which,

“… cumulative actions can have an impact, if for nothing else, ousting leadership that makes these people feel disenfranchised.”

Last time I checked John Avalos was actually onsite to broker peace between #OSF and SFPD and even put forth some kind of city council measure or such to protect rights of protests like this. Like Avalos or really don’t trust any grown man over 30 sporting a goatee, he seems to be in the minority in trying to support you guys.

Oh, and he’s running for mayor in 2 weeks.

Dude’s bitches have been calling me every 5 minutes to remind me about that. Maybe that might somehow tie into your “Ousting leadership that makes these people feel disenfranchised.” theory from earlier.

Still connecting the dots on that one …

fizzandpop

You can't paint the plod as just being a bunch of dudes doing their job. They fucking love this kind of shit.

L_Mariachi

If a waiter’s job description involves serving customers poison and then beating them with nightsticks, the waiter really ought to reconsider his choice of career. For instance, I’m personally uncomfortable with carpet-bombing cities full of innocent civilians; so you know what I didn’t do? Become a B-52 crewman.

I’ll add that whoever is calling you up three times to influence your vote is most definitely not making anywhere near the $72,000 an OPD officer fresh out of the academy is making. As a matter of fact they’re most likely volunteers, who are working out of a sincere belief in the candidate rather than being bribed with a fat paycheck.

sfist_tips

Mike's point, I think, is that this is a broader issue than OPD. Focusing on the minutiae of OPD tactics last night (i.e., their rather forceful job) would do a disservice to the larger, more important picture.

Guest

SF Gate has a great quote from a lady who was there with occupy, begging rowdy dumbasses to stop provoking the hogs:

"They didn't have to force police into that situation," said Helen Walker, 46, a nurse from Albany. "It was totally provoked, and if I could have, I would have stopped those idiots from throwing paint.

It's bullshit from both sides. But it is more exciting than talking about pragmatic solutions.

Miles_Long

But throwing paint at the cops and camping down town will end the social and economic disparity that only the 1% control. Duh, can't you see that?

I got a speeding ticket once. I thought it was unfair because my car was cheap, so I spit in the officers face. He said I was right and he was wrong, then let me go. Now cheap cars never get speeding tickets. It's just that easy.

snapshotist

Massive disobedience has brought about change in this and many other countries. You are correct. It's not throwing paint that creates change, just like it wasn't the daisy pushed down the barrel of gun that ended the Vietnam War. But cumulative actions can have an impact, if for nothing else, ousting leadership that makes these people feel disenfranchised.

Miles_Long

A revolution has a defined end goal and the support of the masses. #Occupy has neither.

After a month they can't even come to a consensus on how to solve the problem they have yet to define.

Yes, cumulative actions can have an impact, but to what ends? They don't know, you don't know, it's all speculation untill these kids get their shit together.

MrEricSir

A revolution has defined end goal and the support of the masses. #Occupy has neither.

NYTimes says they have support from almost half the public.

So they may not have YOUR support, but your views are in the minority in the first place.

MrEricSir

I can see those comprehension skills haven’t improved in the past 7 minutes.

To the ironic accusation mobile!

Miles_Long

Seriously? I just addressed everything in your reply. I can
see those comprehension skills haven’t improved in the past 7 minutes.

MrEricSir

If you don't know what they're in favor of, how can you be against it?

If you're against it, don't you have to know what they're in favor of?

Miles, it's time to stop being dishonest.

And yes, calling someone an "angry retread hippie" is most certainly an ad hominem. Come up with a real argument.

MrEricSir

If my views were to be placed, they’d be under “No,” and “I don’t know.

Right, you hold two mutually exclusive views. Nice try, Miles, but lying is lying.

Second, are you implying that the #Occupy encampment wants revolution?

I never said anything of the sort.

They are unorganized, unified, and undefined. That’s not a movement it’s a collection of lost, angry retread hippies.

Use all the ad hominems you want, it doesn't make their complaints less valid.

Miles_Long

When #Occupy isn’t unified in the message or posted anything official, what am I supposed to believe is their goal and what they are all about? Well then I have to listen to the folks that are in that encampment don’t I. I agree with very little, disagree with most, and don’t know on some. When the whole of #Occupy is disorganized then the message is going to be broken into thousands of varying ones that cover a broad range of topics. That makes the question of “do you agree with the views of OWS,” a question that is open for interpretation, thus making the answer NOT mutually exclusive. You really can even anser the question. I’ve talked to the campers down there , some of their ideas are completely diametrically opposed to each other. How can you agree with OWS when some of the views are contradictory?

Please look up the word “ad hominem,” You are using it wrong. If I had said they are angry retread hippies so therefore they are wrong, then that would have been ad hominem, but I didn’t. I said they are unorganized, unified, and undefined that also happen to be angry retread hippies. You really need to work on those comprehention skills. Good luck buddy.

Miles_Long

First, 43% is not a majority. If my views were to be placed, they’d be under “No,” and “I don’t know.” So Eric my dear lad, my views are in the majority of this particular poll. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-50...,

Second, are you implying that the #Occupy encampment wants revolution? Really? I don’t think that was in the poll, nor is it in any list, goals, declaration, manifesto that #Occupy has yet to be brought for the public to read. #Occupy is just a collection of broadly mad people then.

“Asked specifically what they think about "Occupy Wall Street" as a movement - as opposed to the ideas behind it - Americans were more reticent to offer an opinion: 25 percent said they had a favorable impression of the movement, 20 percent said they have an unfavorable impression, and 53 percent said they were undecided or haven't heard enough.”

Third, if #Occupy has not defined their message, exact problem, goals, or a solution, then what does that 43% support? Do they support the nugget at the heart of this broad anger which is economic disparity? Great, that’s so obtuse, it’s like being angry that food is not good enough. That could mean anything.

Fill in the other blanks. I can’t even debate about #Occupy views until they define themselves. Are they mad about not having enough money, YES. OK, ask them why that is and you’ll get a thousand different answers and a thousand different solutions. They are unorganized, unified, and undefined. That’s not a movement it’s a collection of lost, angry retread hippies.

MrEricSir

I never said "almost half" wasn't a minority. I was replying to Miles, who said they didn't have the support of the public. Clearly, they do.

As for the sentiment, it's pretty obvious that the protesters are against getting fucked over by the people on Wall Street who mess with the economy for their own benefit. If you haven't been able to figure this out, you're not really paying attention.

Buffalobleu

"Almost half of the public thinks the sentiment at the root of the Occupy
movement generally reflects the views of most Americans." - this is the quote you are basing your comment on?

For one thing, almost half is still less than half - i.e. a minority.

For another thing, this is a poorly worded question, since it leaves up to the person answering what exactly the "sentiment at the root of the Occupy
movement" is. Is that sentiment "the country is on the wrong track (god only knows what the right one is)?" or is the sentiment "this country needs a revolution (one where my demographic comes out on top)?" It's like that mirror in Harry Potter where you see whatever you most desire or whatever.

Every five minutes I see someone post a video or quote or picture saying THIS is exactly why we need #occupy and it;s something different every time.

brokenbrooklyn

Miles,
It seems as though you, as well as a majority of other human beings, suffer from the delusion that all things are meant to be put into a box and filed away in memory somewhere. ie I eat meat or I don't eat meat, I'm gay or I'm straight etc. The problem with making decisions like this for your life and for our world is that we are both individually and collectively living organisms. To claim that our collective problems are either this or that reduces our lives to sound-bites and scenarios we are unable to compromise, as if all of us, our thoughts and emotions, our surging blood and aging bodies, are nothing more than paintings on a wall, mere representations of life instead of life itself. The occupations and all of us participating and/or talking about them as well, are all living beings. By occupying public space we are opening up the doors to an ongoing conversation that we all should have been having from the beginning. To what end will all of this lead? Who knows. What is important is that you and I, two total strangers on two opposite sides of the same country are having this conversation and a month ago, before any of this started, we most likely wouldn't be.

Mike Tattoo

“What is important is that you and I, two total strangers on two opposite sides of the same country are having this
conversation and a month ago, before any of this started, we most likely wouldn't be.”

Um, actually most of us have had the Internet and all of our message boards turned on for a while now so it’s not like this
conversation about how The Man is screwing us and third world countries over just started last month.

But hey, if you want to believe that #OWS just created this conversational topic a month ago I hear you.

You ever hear of Star Wars?

That was all my idea.

Fucking George Lucas …

MoistPup

SF Sheriff Michael Hennessey sent SF Sheriff officers to participate in this.

So let's figure out the tactical merits of this police action. Occupy Oakland people have taken over a park, where their presence is for the most part NOT disruptive to the businesses and day to day life of the people in the area.

So what do the police do? Close the camp, forcing a confrontation between Occupy Oakland and the police. Now the entire downtown is disrupted, rather than just a park.

So, who's interest are OPD really catering to by breaking up these peaceful (until tonight) protests?

Midnight Fapper

These hippies/communists ARE disrupting the lives of everyday citizens. What about the guy that wants to relax in the park and unwind? Who wants to see the dregs of society congregating in an otherwise peaceful environment?

I STILL don't understand what these kids are bitching about.

Miles_Long

Or maybe #OcuppyOakLand can change their name to #ProtestOakland. The protesters would then organize around a common define cause and get the proper permits to hold such a protest. The protesters would then protest while conducting themselves in a respectful and peaceful manner without breaking any laws and following police instructions. After they have aired their grievances to whom ever is willing to listen, they would all go home so that the public square can once again be available for all of the public to use. The public would then digest thier message and decide if they agree or not. WA-LA civil discourse. SIMPLE!

Camping out on public land and remaining there is a violation of that law, it is therefore not a peaceful protest. It's really simple, why not follow it? All those so called inbred knucle dragging racist tea partiers where able to do it. Why can't the hyper intelligent progressive activists do it too?

MrEricSir

Camping out on public land and remaining there is a violation of that law, it is therefore not a peaceful protest.

Violating a law has nothing to do with not being peaceful.

L_Mariachi

Camping out on public land and remaining there is a violation of that law, it is therefore not a peaceful protest.

Breaking a (arguably unconstitutional) law is not antonymous to “peaceful.”

snapshotist

Because the tea party stuff was a political deke and I think these people want something more akin to revolution. Civil disobedience is one of the quivers in their bow. Just my guess.

Amanda

How could that video have been taken 'protesters and cops meeting moments before the gassing'? It gets dark before 7:30PM in Oakland, CA this time of year. See how the woman in the wheelchair scurrying away from the teargas in the dark? The video is clearly from earlier. I was in that minor dustup. I don't think you were, so I'll tell you, the police were out in numbers, and they were not being jostled or surrounded like they were in the video you chose to show. Also, teargas leaves a lasting headache.

sfist_tips

So, the video is lying? It's one of three we've chosen (ahem) to show.

Amanda

Hey Brock. When I posted my comment there was only one video. It was of police being surrounded and jostled and it was inaccurately said to have been taken moments before riot police unleashed teargas. I pointed this out. Later other videos were added. You are right if you think I should have given your writing the benefit of the doubt. It is more likely that instead of trying to mislead people, you simply did not know that the information on which you based your conclusions was faulty. I would like to help you have a more well rounded picture of what happened last night. This video best illustrates that when the police chose to use teargas, they were not being threatened or molested. Good job KTVU. http://www.ktvu.com/video/2958...

Amanda

"So, the video was lying?" What are you, twelve?

sfist_tips

I only look 12.

I've already added the video (as well as others) to this post as the night went on. I do not, for the record, try to mislead people and my information is accurate. Of course. Also, I thank you, as a witness, for adding to the discourse and for your help. We all appreciate that, Amanda.

Our own SFist Jay was there last night, too. Be sure to check out his account of the activity as well!

snapshotist

Would have been nice if they closed off BART stations before deciding to gas the hell out of the place. People waiting for trains got hit too when it wafted into the station. This aggression was better than peaceful protestors why exactly?