Gosh there seems to have been a national outburst from the blac block

[Luminous Animal]

33. The cops were definitely in the position to make arrests of many of the vandals.

Last reported, they may have arrested only 1.

The Mission is one of the most heavily policed area of town. The cops just stood there in front of their police station and did nothing while witnessing the paint bombing of the station.

They maintained a contingent of about 40 cops that remained in formation... no advance, to call for additional back-up, no show of force. Occupiers themselves tried harder to keep the peace than the cops did (and were threatened with physical violence for their efforts).

I've witnessed 100 cops and more called out to surround a GA on a moments notice. At the 888 Turk St. occupation there were more cops AND the SWAT team called in within 15 minutes of the occupation (and keep in mind, the cops were taken by surprise) than the total who stood by and watched the thugs wreak havoc on Valencia.

There are a few things I know for sure (#8 is, as far as Occupy is concerned, the most important):

1) The Dolores Park gathering was presented as a pre-party for May Day events (Dolores Park is a daily gathering place to hang out for practically everything.)

2) Within 20 minutes of what was supposed to be a party, a march was called. (There was a lot of, "Oh what? Now we're marching?)

3) The vandalism started pretty quick with the vandals knocking over trash cans and recycling bins on the edge of the park.

4) The Occupiers witnessed this and started chanting, "Peaceful protest!" Occupiers who tried to intervene were physically threatened. Sometimes with baseball bats or metal rods.

5) Livestreamers were threatened, as well. As far as I can tell at this time, all complied.

6) The majority of the people dropped back. Some left, some followed to pick up trash.

7) The police stood back and watched. Some were laughing.

8) This has put in jeopardy months worth of coalition work that Occupy has been doing with long-time Mission advocacy groups, the gentrifying new businesses and the traditional and still mostly Hispanic population of the Mission.

Quite simply, it is a clusterfuck and not an Occupy clusterfuck but a clusterfuck created by a group that has been a bane of existence for San Francisco peaceful movements (ACT UP!, Homes Not Jails, Roots Against War....) for decades.