At their meeting last night, the Oakland City Council rejected a proposed resolution which we discussed yesterday that would have authorized Oakland police to use "whatever lawful tools" necessary to prevent another shutdown of the Port. Though it took little debate for councilmembers to postpone the resolution, asking for further study before they consider anything similar, dozens of Occupy supporters and protesters used the opportunity to create a bit of mayhem in the Council chambers.
Council members were interrupted several times by commentary from the floor, including one moment, as the Tribune reports, when someone "us[ed] the so-called "mic check" to recite the First Amendment." Multiple pro-Occupy voices stood up to express the fear that any such resolution by the Council would invite further police brutality. (It should be noted that there are multiple lawsuits already pending against the OPD for brutality, including one by the ACLU on behalf of reporter Scott Campbell, who stood up at last night's meeting to say, "It's clear that police brutality is an institutionalized fixture of the Oakland Police Department.")
Councilwoman Jane Brunner was wary of the resolution on the the basis of cost, saying, "I don't want to protect the port when [it means paying out the OPD at] $1.5 million a shot, but I do want to protect the port."
