Oakland Police Block Path Of Occupy Protest March
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Amid lingering anger over clashes with police and a mass arrest last week, Occupy Oakland protesters held an anti-police march Saturday night, which has become a weekly tradition in 2012.
Oakland police said that around 100 protesters took off from Frank Ogawa Plaza shortly before 9 p.m. The march wound through the streets of downtown and West Oakland until around 11 p.m., police said.
Despite that the action had been described as a "militant, radical march" police said the protest was peaceful overall.
KCBS' Mark Seelig Reports:
Police said that the only incident reported was that before the march left Frank Ogawa Plaza, several masked protesters hurled bottles of what was believed to be urine at media parked on 14th Street.
For previous marches, which have been held weekly since Jan. 7, organizers have said on social media sites that for the purposes of the march, police and media property can be targeted for destruction and encouraged participants to set fires in the streets. But no such incidents were reported Saturday, and police said no protesters were arrested.
The march was a stark contrast to last Saturday, when protesters attempted to take over a vacant building near Lake Merritt and were deterred by police using tear gas and smoke grenades. Protesters clashed with police throughout the day, eventually culminating in over 400 arrests that night.
Protesters have decried what they call police repression of the Occupy movement in Oakland, and are planning another protest supporting arrestees due in court on Monday.
Out of the over 400 arrests on Saturday, only 12 have been charged so far, but the Alameda County District Attorney's office has sought stay away orders for those charged to keep them away from Frank Ogawa Plaza and other central locations for Occupy protesters.
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