Peaceful protestor just released, beaten with baton during Mission protest. @Krea_Jones @EQUIPTO @BradleySA pic.twitter.com/uwh0nQ5Ksj
— Edwin Lindo (@EdwinLindo) July 16, 2016
A pair of small-scale protests last night in San Francisco and Oakland one in solidarity with teachers in the Mexican state of Oaxaca and the other part of a national call for Black Lives Matter rallies took different turns, with the Oakland event remaining mostly peaceful and the SF event turning weird.
In Oakland, a group estimated between 50 and 150 people according to KRON 4 gathered in Frank Ogawa Plaza Friday as part of the national Day of Solidarity and soon moved to attempt to block freeways and off-ramps. Per the Chronicle, they succeeded in marching onto the westbound lanes of 980 briefly, but left the roadway after police arrived. The determined group then spent the next four hours marching to various on- and off-ramps, attempting to disrupt traffic, and trying to climb onto the same section of 880 that a larger group of protesters succeeded in shutting down for several hours last week. Police successfully thwarted that attempt this time.
No arrests or injuries were reported, and the protest dwindled around 9:30 p.m.
Meanwhile in San Francisco, a similarly small group of protesters gathered on 24th Street Friday in solidarity with teachers who have been protesting across Mexico over education reforms that will change how they're evaluated protests which in the state Oaxaca resulted in the deaths of eight people in recent weeks. As Mission Local reports, protesters marched to 18th and Shotwell Streets, to the site of the police shooting of Luis Gongora in April, and at least one scuffle ensued involving a KTVU cameraman.
The scuffle appears to have begun on 24th Street, and Mission Local reports people were shouting "Fuck KTVU." The cameraman was reportedly shoved against the crowd near Mission Police Station, outside of which a further melee took place as the night wore on. Witnesses at Blondie's Bar saw police pepper-spraying and roughing up protesters, and ultimately a pile of trash was lit on fire in the middle of Valencia Street before the crowd fully dispersed.
The Chronicle says three people were arrested on suspicion of battery and resisting arrest. Activist Edwin Lindo posted the photo below of a protester's bruises from being hit with a police baton.
Peaceful protestor just released, beaten with baton during Mission protest. @Krea_Jones @EQUIPTO @BradleySA pic.twitter.com/uwh0nQ5Ksj
— Edwin Lindo (@EdwinLindo) July 16, 2016