Occupy Oakland strike vs tear gas, flashbangs, rubber bullets

03.11, 11:35

In the US, all eyes are now on Oakland, where anti-corporate protests see their first casualty after a young man was hit by a car. Thousands took to the streets in the Californian city and shut down operations in one of America's major sea ports.

Occupy Wall Street 02.11, 20:18

A 10,000-strong rally has blocked the entrances to the Port of Oakland, which has had to shut down its operations for the day. The port will lose roughly $8 million per day if the "blockade" continues.

Occupy Wall Street 31.10, 20:18

Protesters will go more violent! This is how conservative commentator Pat Buchanan sees the future of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Occupy Wall Street 07.04.2010, 08:45

America is facing a crisis of democracy because of the rising deficit gridlock in Washington and a possible war with Iran, political commentator and author Pat Buchanan told RT.

06.12.2009, 03:52

US President Barack Obama will face a tough political crisis in mid-2011 when troops from Afghanistan will begin coming home, political commentator Pat Buchanan told RT.

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Published: 03 November, 2011, 12:33
Edited: 03 November, 2011, 18:17

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TAGS: Protest, Politics, USA, Matt Trezza, Lucy Kafanov

New clashes have erupted in Oakland, California, between anti-corporate protesters and police, who have entered their camp. Up to 100 people have already been arrested, and the standoff at the camp continues.

According to unconfirmed reports, many police officers are not wearing badges and have tape covering their names.

Police officers are using tear gas and bullets which, basically, consist of heavy pellets of cloth, RT’s Lucy Kafanov reports from the site. She also added that the camp has been completely surrounded by police, whose numbers by far exceed those of the protestors – by approximately 200-300 to 100-150. Many police officers are wearing gas masks.

Occupy Oakland clashes

“People are attending to a man grimacing in pain on the grass. He was hit in the leg with a police projectile, I'm told,” eyewitness Gavin Aronsen tweeted in his microblog.

"The area of 15th and Broadway has been declared an illegal gathering, and chemical agent warnings given," another witness writes, while others report a US flag has been set on fire at 14th & Broadway.

According to the latest reports, the protesters’ camp, known as the “Occupation Plaza”, is police-free right now, while the crowd in the area is getting increasingly agitated, with people chanting "We are Oakland!"

RT photo

­Last night, thousands of protesters took to the streets of the city and shut down operations in one of America's major sea ports. They marched from downtown Oakland to the port area and blocked all the gates, sending a powerful message to the so-called 1 per cent – the corporate owners of the port – in an attempt to hurt the elite where it hurts them most: in the pocket. The events followed last week's violent police dispersal of a demonstrators' camp, which resulted in a former US marine being severely injured.

Follow RT's LIVE updates for more details.

03.11, 12:32

The UK is desperately searching for a cure to the spread of gang culture after the summer riots. But a proposed strategy of monitoring social networks and spying on teens may see potential troublemakers totally isolated – with uncertain consequences.

03.11, 13:04

The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) says his office will investigate alleged crimes committed by NATO during the civil war and intervention in Libya along with those of the Gaddafi regime and the rebels.

Libyan conflict

View the original article here

Occupy Oakland general strike: Blocked port, smashed windows (VIDEO)

02.11, 20:18

A 10,000-strong rally has blocked the entrances to the Port of Oakland, which has had to shut down its operations for the day. The port will lose roughly $8 million per day if the "blockade" continues.

Occupy Wall Street 01.11, 19:30

As thousands of protesters prepare to launch a city-wide strike in less than a day, Oakland, California officials are gearing up for what could come as a turning points in the Occupy movement as all eyes have turned to the Bay Area.

Occupy Wall Street 28.10, 03:06

Marine and Iraq War vet Scott Olsen shot in the head by a police tear gas canister. Sgt. Shamar Thomas confronting NYPD. Marines and other former vets join the Occupy Wall Street movement. RT reports on what this could mean for the revolution.

Occupy Wall Street 27.10, 21:38

A six-year veteran of the United States Marines has posted a powerful photo of himself on the Internet in which he shows his dissatisfaction with the police raid in Oakland, California that put a fellow vet in critical condition.

Occupy Wall Street 26.10, 23:50

Scott Olsen returned relatively unscathed to America last year after serving two tours of Iraq fighting a war he was opposed to. Now he lays in an Oakland, CA hospital in critical condition thanks to a projectile fired last night by police.

Occupy Wall Street //

Published: 03 November, 2011, 11:35
Edited: 03 November, 2011, 21:03

Occupy Oakland protesters gather at the Port of Oakland to shut down the facility as they call for a citywide general strike on November 2, 2011 in California (AFP Photo / Kimihiro HOSHINO)

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TAGS: Scandal, Protest, Politics, Human rights, Law, USA, Matt Trezza, Economy, Lucy Kafanov

In the US, all eyes are now on Oakland, where anti-corporate protests see their first casualty after a young man was hit by a car. Thousands took to the streets in the Californian city and shut down operations in one of America's major sea ports.

­This follows last week's violent police dispersal of a demonstrators' camp, which resulted in a former US marine being severely injured.

RT correspondent Lucy Kafanov has been at the center of events in the protest-locked port. As she explains, the port was effectively shut down after thousands of people marched from downtown Oakland to the port area and blocked all the gates, in this way firing a “warning shot” to the so-called 1 per cent – the corporate owners of the port – in an attempt to hurt the elite where it hurts them most: in the pocket.

One of the port workers reportedly attempted to speed through the crowd, almost running through the protesters. A large crowd then surrounded the car and blocked its owner from leaving. Many were furious at such an aggressive act being perpetrated against a peaceful march.

At one point, the RT crew was surrounded by the crowd, which wouldn’t let them pass either. Lucy Kafanov says protesters were voting on whether to let the team through.

“Half support us, half don't,” she wrote in her Twitter microblog. “The truck was surrounded. Some protesters wanted to let us pass [because] we are @RT_com but others got angry… They surrounded us, [wouldn’t] let anyone pass. I got out and tried to reason with the crowd.”

“To cut a long story short: we film the car plowing through the crowd. Attempt to get back to feed video. No way to get out of the port, so we hitch a ride with CBS,” the RT correspondent reported before the team finally managed to make its way through.

The RT correspondent notes the enormous contrast between the heavy-handed tactics employed by the Oakland Police Department (OPD) last week, when a tough crackdown resulted in several hundred arrests and injury to an Iraq war veteran, on the one hand, and the massive yet peaceful demonstration in the city port, with almost zero police presence, on the other.

Before this, the Occupy Oakland/Wall Street protest seemed to have got out of hand, with the windows of some banks smashed downtown, allegedly by people wearing black scarfs to cover their faces (watch the video below). Such destruction of property appears to be in sharp contrast to the behavior of OWS protesters in the Californian city, and many participants don’t approve such tactics.

“This is not what the movement is about,” one of the protesters told RT. “It’s about freedom and peace, and equality. And a few anarchists are behind all this [the destruction of property].”

03.11, 11:06

The ambitious experiment simulating a manned mission to Mars is coming to an end on Friday, when the virtual space travelers will “land” back on Earth. RT has spoken to the head of the project Boris Morukov.

03.11, 12:32

The UK is desperately searching for a cure to the spread of gang culture after the summer riots. But a proposed strategy of monitoring social networks and spying on teens may see potential troublemakers totally isolated – with uncertain consequences.

View the original article here