About 200 Occupy Oakland demonstrators and supporters marched through the city Thursday to mark the one-year anniversary of the police raid on Occupy tents in front of City Hall. The protest was relatively uneventful, despite concerns from some business owners who had boarded up their windows and doors in an effort to prevent property destruction.
From the Oakland Tribune via the San Jose Mercury News:
Starting at 7 p.m., as many as 200 people snaked their way through downtown Oakland, to Lake Merritt, into Chinatown and then to the police department. The march took protesters on a walking tour of the sites of previous clashes between Occupy members and police.
By 9 p.m., they were back at (Frank Ogawa) plaza, had a drum circle going and watched a slideshow projected onto a sheet of photos of past protests. By 11 p.m., the crowd had dwindled to about 30 people, listening to music and milling about the plaza.
At one point during the march, protesters faced off against dozens of riot-gear clad officers outside Oakland police headquarters, but the marchers quickly peeled off and headed back to the plaza.
The Oakland Tribune reported that one protester, 25-year-old Alexander Loutsis of Stockton, was arrested after police said he threw a rock at officers.
Here is the Tribune's video of the march: