Occupy Oakland Burns US Flag, Threatens Airport Shut-Down
The American flag was burned on Sunday in Oakland, Calif. as members of the "Occupy" group broke into the City Hall and vandalized the building, ahead of threats to shut down the airport.
A day-long protest on Saturday that turned violent led to the arrest of close to 400 people, making it the most turbulent incident since the "Occupy" camp in Oakland was broken apart late last year, the Los Angeles Times revealed.
The protests on Saturday concerned the movement's attempts to gather at and start using a vacant convention center building as a social center and political hub – a request that the city denied. People were arrested for throwing bottles, rocks and burning flares at police officers.
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Another "Occupy" group broke into the City Hall late on Sunday in retaliation of the arrests, and committed a number of property crimes, including slashing electrical wires, smashing display cases, spray-painting graffiti on the walls and even burning the U.S. flag. All the damages are yet to be assessed, but according to the article, protesters have already caused $2 million of damages to the City Hall plaza since the movement flared up back in October.
"(These attacks) are a constant provocation of the police with a lot of violence toward them," said Oakland mayor Jean Quan, noting that the city scarcely had the resources to deal with such damages.
"Personnel and resources dedicated to 'Occupy' reduce our ability to focus on public safety priorities," added Police Chief Howard Jordan, elaborating on the further strains the movement is placing on the city.
"Occupy Oakland," however, have claimed that its response was against the arrests on Saturday that it has deemed to be "completely illegal."
"In the evening, police illegally kettled and arrested hundreds of protesters. Police can give notices to disperse, if a group is engaged in illegal activity. However, if the group disperses and reassembles somewhere else, they are required to give another notice to disperse. Tonight, they kettled a march in progress, and arrested hundreds for refusing to disperse," a statement released on the organization's website revealed.
"Contrary to their own policy, the OPD (Oakland Police Department) gave no option of leaving or instruction on how to depart. These arrests are completely illegal, and this will probably result in another class action lawsuit against the OPD, who have already cost Oakland $58 million in lawsuits over the past 10 years," the statement continued.
Quan also received a letter on Wednesday, the L.A. Times alleged, in which the Occupy group threatened an "indefinite occupation" of Oakland's airport, port and City Hall if their takeover of the vacant building was blocked.
"We're tired of one faction using Oakland as their playground," Quan said, who has stood firm against the protesters.
She also made it known that despite the attacks, the City Hall building and the city as a whole are resilient, and will survive the current tribulation.
