30 Arrested in Oakland on Night 2 of Anti-Trump Protests

Update, 7:50 a.m. Thursday: The Oakland Police Department says 30 people were arrested and 11 cited during last night's anti-Trump disorders on downtown streets. The department also reports:

• Three officers injured. It's unclear how many protesters were hurt, but the OPD says there were five Oakland Fire Department medical calls related to the protest.
• Three Pleasanton police vehicles damaged. A dozen outside agencies joined Oakland police on the streets Wednesday.
• At least 16 episodes of vandalism and "a widespread of graffiti on walls downtown."
• Forty trash fires.

The Police Department also gave this account of its use of what some media outlets last night called "incendiary devices":

"OPD deployed several CS blast devises in an attempt to deter a violent portion of the crowd from assaulting officers with rocks, bottles, fireworks, M-80s, and Molotov cocktails."

That episode reportedly occurred around 8 p.m. when much of the crowd, now estimated at 7,000, was in the Old Oakland neighborhood near police headquarters.

The artifact the department refers to in its statement is a "CS blast dispersion grenade," a device designed, in the words of one seller, to deliver "a fine cloud of micro-pulverized CS powder."

CS gas or powder, one of the chemical commonly referred to as teargas, is used frequently enough that PBS "Frontline" provides a description of the substance and its effects: "A Primer on CS Gas."

Activists on the street denounced the use of the explosive devices and gas and have called another protest for Thursday night.

Update, 10:50 p.m. Wednesday: The Oakland anti-Trump protest has turned into a long evening of cat-and-mouse between groups of demonstrators in the neighborhoods around City Hall and police from several police agencies scrambling mostly without success to contain them.

There have been reports all night of sporadic trash fires, window smashing and looting. Most of the action late in the evening has occurred in an area bounded roughly by Jefferson Street on the west, Webster Street on the east, 20th Street on the north and 13th Street on the south.

At one point, Daily Californian photographer Chantelle Lee tweeted, demonstrators smashed the windows of an Oakland police SUV and set it on fire.

Other social media from the streets.

An undetermined number of arrests -- probably in the dozens, from reports monitored on Oakland police scanners -- have occurred after a gathering that at its peak drew about 6,000 people and started out peacefully.

Oakland police were joined by officers from several other agencies, including Hayward and Fremont police, the California Highway Patrol, and Alameda County and Solano County sheriff's offices.

Exactly what touched off tonight's violent outburst, which is reminiscent of numerous other protests that have taken place in Oakland since the BART police killing of Oscar Grant in January 2009, was unclear.

The East Bay Times suggests that one precipitating incident occurred during a confrontation between officers and marchers near Oakland police headquarters:

The peaceful march took a turn after 8 p.m. as authorities used at least three incendiary devices on the crowd after protesters threw glass bottles at the police line. Protesters stood firmly as unlawful assembly orders were announced and the police perimeter closed in.

Cat Brooks, co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project, said Oakland police officers were “blatantly violent” and did not show restraint when they used incendiary devices at 8th and Washington streets.

“It was uncalled far. It was unnecessary,” said Brooks, who rode in a truck that led the march. “They set up the uprising tonight. They returned to an old tactic,” she continued, referring to controversial crowd control methods used during Occupy Oakland and other protests.

She told protesters to “tell the world what OPD did tonight” and said protesters will gather again Thursday night at Frank Ogawa Plaza.

KQED's Alex Emslie was in the vicinity of that confrontation and his video gives an idea of the tension and chaos there:

Update, 9:35 p.m. Wednesday: With the protest crowd on the streets in downtown Oakland estimated at 6,000, and with vandalism and trash fires reported at several locations, police have declared the gathering "unlawful" and have used teargas -- or something else -- in at least one location. At least eight arrests were reported in Oakland Police Department scanner traffic.

From the East Bay Times:

The peaceful march took a turn after 8 p.m. as authorities used at least three incendiary devices on the crowd after protesters threw glass bottles at the police line. Protesters stood firmly as unlawful assembly orders were announced and the police perimeter closed in.

One protester in Uptown Oakland shown a green laser at KGO-ABC7 helicopter. An Oakland police officer said authorities arrested the person shining the laser, which is a federal offense.

Social media from the street:

Meantime, marchers from Berkeley are headed south on Telegraph Avenue toward downtown Oakland. Last night, a southbound march into Oakland included a foray onto Highway 24, where a woman in the protest was seriously injured after being struck by a car.

In San Francisco, marches originating in the Castro and Union Square have converged and diverged, with one large group heading to 24th and Mission streets, a traditional gathering place for street actions. Police have kept a watch on the protests but have not intervened.

Original post, 7:35 p.m. Wednesday: Demonstrators are marching in San Francisco and Oakland Wednesday evening in a second night of protests against the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States.

Around 5 p.m., hundreds of protesters had gathered at 14th Street and Broadway chanting, "Not our president."

Members of the crowd carried signs saying, "Pussy grabs back," "Donald Trump is a rapist" and "Secede #CalExit."

The Oakland Police Department estimated the crowd at about 3,000 people.

KQED's Alex Emslie said people in the crowd have told him they're marching to take a stand against some of Trump's declared policies, such as support for quick deportation of undocumented immigrants.

“I think what we’re seeing here is some of the shock of last night and this morning turning into raw anger,” Emslie said.

Protesters also took to the street Wednesday night in San Francisco, with a crowd gathering at Powell and Market streets and marching up to Castro. Muni reports service on its F-line streetcar has been disrupted.

One of the chants on the street: "Racist, fascist, anti-gay/Donald Trump just go away."

Earlier Wednesday, about 1,500 students from Berkeley High School walked out of classes to protest the election result:

Anti-Trump Protest Hit Cities Across the U.S.

Thousands of protesters from around the country took to the streets Wednesday night to condemn the election of Donald Trump as president. The demonstrations were mostly peaceful as of Wednesday evening, authorities said.

In Chicago, several thousand people marched through the Loop and gathered outside Trump Tower, chanting, "Not my president!"

A similar protest in Manhattan drew about 1,000 people. Outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in midtown, police installed barricades to keep the demonstrators at bay.

Hundreds of protesters gathered near Philadelphia's City Hall despite chilly, wet weather. Participants -- who included both supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who lost to Clinton in the primary -- expressed anger at both Republicans and Democrats over the election's outcome.

In Boston, thousands of anti-Donald Trump protesters streamed through downtown, chanting "Trump's a racist" and carrying signs that said "Impeach Trump" and "Abolish Electoral College."

Marchers protesting Donald Trump's election as president chanted and carried signs in front of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Local media outlets broadcast video Wednesday night showing a peaceful crowd in front of the new downtown hotel. Many chanted "No racist USA, no trump, no KKK."

Another group stood outside the White House. They held candles, listened to speeches and sang songs.

Students at universities and schools around the country also led protests.

Hundreds of University of Texas students spilled out of classrooms to march through downtown Austin. They marched along streets near the Texas Capitol, then briefly blocked a crowded traffic bridge.

Protesters at American University burned U.S. flags on campus.

Earlier Wednesday afternoon students staged walk-outs at several East Bay schools.

The students headed toward the UC Berkeley campus where they congregated at the base of the Campanile and were joined by a number of Cal students.

This post contains reporting from KQED's Alex Emslie, Don Clyde and Brittany Hosea-Small, Bay City News and The Associated Press.