Sunday was meant to be a daylong ‘rise-up’ festival for Occupy Oakland, held at the site of what was supposed to be the group's new social center. But when Occupy's plans on Saturday to take over a building and establish a physical headquarters were foiled by police, Occupy regrouped and moved the gathering to Frank Ogawa Plaza, which it calls Oscar Grant Plaze, in front of city hall.
By early afternoon, about 150 people were milling around, playing music, eating donated food from Everett & Jones BBQ, and trading stories of confrontations with police.
“They tear gassed us in a residential neighborhood in Chinatown,” said Julian Louis-Tabman. “There was little kids and pregnant women in the crowd.”
Besides the numerous tear-gassing incidents, the primary police-related complaint was what’s become known as ‘kettling’: boxing in protesters, then giving them an order to disperse that is impossible to obey because all exit routes have been blocked. Many Occupy Oakland demonstrators say they were ‘kettled’ around 19th and Telegraph, where they were able to escape only by tearing down a fence; and later in front of the YMCA on Broadway, where most of Saturday night’s arrests occurred.
Speaking at a press conference Sunday afternoon, Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan refuted claims that protestors were not given a chance to avoid arrest.
“There were multiple dispersal orders given with directions on where to leave, and some people chose to leave, others didn’t," Jordan said. "And at that point my on-scene commander made the decision to arrest those people that did not want to leave.”