KTVU Reporter: Oakland protesters NOT violent

[RandySF]

A reporter on the scene for KTVU Ch. 2 made a point to state that there was NO looting or violent behavior on the part of Oakland protesters.

[sakabatou]

1. And yet the police went juggernaut.

[RandySF]

2. They went apeshit

They did not even respond like this during the Oscar Grant protest.

[EFerrari]

12. Mill Valley, Palo Alto, SFPD on the scene.

[XemaSab]

28. Fuckin' Mill Valley PD

Tell them to go the fuck home and deal with racially profiling people driving through their town.

(Angel, I love ya, but that's what your force is all about.)

[salin]

37. On the live stream I think I also heard Freemont and Hayward police

[EFerrari]

38. You're right. nt

[Fire Walk With Me]

3. K&R!

[burrowowl]

4. K&R

The Cops are amok! Damn the Mayor!

[Starry Messenger]

5. k&r

[Arctic Dave]

6. I do not remember a time when rubber bullets were used on protestors.

Anyone?

[RandySF]

7. Not on American soil.

Barcelona police will look for any excuse to unleash them on protesters. They are also frequently used by Israeli soldiers.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Don't forget London, Paris, Cairo, and chile.

[hedgehog]

23. Belfast!

[Arctic Dave]

11. Oakland is now Gaza?

Bringing in the armor next?

[cwydro]

15. I remember Kent State

but those bullets weren't rubber...

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. On American soil don't recall

And now I get corrected. 2003, same department.

[Starry Messenger]

13. 2003--Oakland again, that time under Jerry Brown.

http://www.socialistviewpoint.org/may_03/may_03_24.html

May 2003 • Vol 3, No. 5 •
Police Fire on Longshore Workers, Antiwar Protesters

By the Editor of the Maritime Worker Monitor

On April 7, 2003 Oakland police, in apparent collusion with maritime companies Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) and American President Lines (APL), launched an unprovoked attack against antiwar protesters and longshore workers. Employers met with police prior to the attack. Some 40 people, including nine longshoremen, were hit with police rounds of rubber and wooden bullets, concussion grenades, and tear gas. Many were shot in the back. One longshoreman was hit six times and a news journalist five times! It was a shocking reminder of the police attack on maritime workers in the Big Strike of 1934.

As one longshoremen who was hit said, “The cops gave no warning they were going to fire. It was like 1934 all over again.” While the police, the city, and the press try to cover-up the assault by calling it a “non- lethal” attack, the fact is that Olaf Holland, a striker in Seattle, was killed by a “non-lethal” tear gas canister fired by the police in the 1934 attack. The San Francisco Bay Guardian (April 16) revealed that the manufacturer, “Defense Technology’s 1999 training manual for less-lethal weapons ‘states clearly,” Areas such as the head, neck, spine and groin: shouldn’t be targeted unless it is the intent to deliver deadly force.” The big lie the police are pushing is that the demonstrators started throwing bottles and rocks.

Those who were there saw the cops begin firing without anything being thrown. It was an unprovoked, premeditated police attack. Lyman Hollis, a Local 10 longshoreman and Oakland resident who spoke at the Oakland City Council hearing the following day on the police violence, called it “an act of aggression, where people were targeted and shot at point-blank range.” Reportedly, police had targeted longshoremen.

ILWU Local 10 and other ILWU locals have taken stands against the U.S. war in Iraq, and had participated with Harry Belafonte and Congresswoman Barbara Lee in the antiwar march in Oakland, Saturday April 5th. Members have represented the local at antiwar rallies, marches and conferences in the U.S., France and Britain in the best tradition of the ILWU.

I didn't vote for Brown as Gov.

[coalition_unwilling]

Gov. Jerry Brown has been conspicuously and despicably

silent about what is currently happening to his former and current constituents. What a pathetic has-been. I did vote for him, but won't get fooled again.

[Beam Me Up]

14. yes, here in oakland against demonstrators at the Port, circa 2003

here: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0407-06.htm

[AngkorWot]

19. Battle of Seattle, 1999

There was the Stanley Cup Riot in 1994 in Vancouver.

[Luminous Animal]

20. They've been used in Oakland before.

Police Attack California Anti-War Protesters
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0407-06.htm

[yoyossarian]

33. OMG!

Oh my fuckin' god...

Terrible. Terrible.

[dpibel]

26. Seattle, WTO

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1029

"Over the first two days of the WTO protests, police clad in riot gear routinely shot pain-inducing pepper spray into the eyes of nonviolent protesters, fired rubber- and plastic-jacketed bullets at close range into crowds, and charged peaceful demonstrators with armored vehicles--all in front of hundreds of TV news cameras and assembled journalists. One clip, of a heavily armored officer kicking a man in the groin, then shooting him in the chest point-blank with a nonlethal "beanbag" gun, aired on several networks. Yet reporters expressed minimal concern about these tactics."

[Crabby Appleton]

29. Rubber and wooden "knee knockers" have been used in US

for many years

http://articles.latimes.com/1992-12-17/local/me-2994_1_rubber-bullet

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4352117329342099932

[ellisonz]

35. 2000 L.A. DNC Convention

But California state Sen. Tom Hayden, a delegate to the convention, said when he walked outside the Staples Center the scene "looked like a war zone.""I was amazed the police said there were no injuries," he said, adding that he knew of at least three people injured by rubber bullets, including two ACLU attorneys.

Lafferty said he was hit twice with rubber bullets, even though he wore a special hat identifying himself as a legal observer and had his hands up.

http://articles.cnn.com/2000-08-15/politics/convention.protests.02_1_rubber-bullets-demonstrators-police-demands?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS

I remember other reports too including a reporter who was shot with one while observing from a rooftop.

[EFerrari]

10. The OPD claimed the Occupiers were the ones with the tear gas.

Shameful, really.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. And then there is this tweet

RT @Son_Of_A_Queen: here's my problem: Oakland PD actually ADMITTED the protests have been peaceful. so where do tear gas and flash grenades come into play?

If confirmed anybody has number to DOJ? No wonder other pds seem to be taking it easy.

[AsahinaKimi]

17. I have a feeling its going to

escalate and become very ugly.. this is NOT good.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Depends...and as long as protesters remain saints.

[AsahinaKimi]

30. Yeah but so far the protesters have been

peaceful, its the cops who have behaved like Thugs. Where the hell is our State Governor?? He needs to get on the phone and get in the Mayors face!!

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. DOJ needs to get involved

Given other agencies involved, including CHP.

[coalition_unwilling]

21. The NBC affiliate in Los Angeles (wholly-owned subsidiary of

GE, the nation's 2nd largest defense contractor) made it sound as if the protesters were the violent ones. I wrote a really nasty status update on their FB wall. No point in contacting them directly as they obviously don't give a shit anymore about anything akin to truth or accuracy.

If you want to complain about their shitty coverage, you can go to http://nbcla.com

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. I'd have to first create a fb page

:-)

To my shock local NBC station was more fair...but then again they followed the local Indy that reminds me of fox lite at times.

[pinboy3niner]

25. I saw that

One of the anchors said the police had ordered the protesters to leave, "but they decided to clash instead."

[coalition_unwilling]

27. Those toadies at NBC4 actually delude themselves into thinking

that GE won't axe them just like any of us in the 99%, if business conditions call for it. Totally predictable and pathetic.

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. Nile tv, it comes to mind.

[EFerrari]

22. Delete

[Ed Suspicious]

34. NPR claimed the flash bangs and gas were used in response

to protesters throwing bottles and rocks at the cops. I call fascist propaganda on that one.

[EFerrari]

36. People were live streaming all night. I didn't see that.

[justiceischeap]

39. I hope someone recorded this report for posterity.

I could see the station having that footage/report disappeared.