In the last week, the Bay Area has become a hotbed for the Occupy
Wall Street movement. Oakland and San Francisco have seen both
violent police repression of, and demonstrations of popular
solidarity with, the Occupy movement.
Recently, police forces around the country have been attacking
Occupy Wall Street protests. Encampments in Atlanta, Denver,
Nashville and San Diego have all been victimized by police brutality.
On the morning of Oct. 25, an army of cops attacked the Occupy
Oakland encampment with tear gas and rubber bullets, and arrested
around 100 people.
Later that day, after police had sealed off the former campsite
from the public, over a thousand people marched in solidarity with
the Occupy Oakland. The protesters were again attacked by police, who
arrested around 100 more people, and severely injured two, including
Scott Olsen, an Iraq war veteran, who remains hospitalized.
The following day, it was revealed that the city of San Francisco
had asked businesses around Justin Herman Plaza, the site of the
Occupy San Francisco encampment, to close early. A police raid on the
San Francisco camp seemed imminent. The San Francisco Police
Department had twice previously raided the camp.
Police plan attack on Occupy SF, back down in face of unity
As word of the potential raid spread throughout the city, over a
thousand people, including this writer and other members of the Party
for Socialism and Liberation, surrounded Justin Herman Plaza to
protect the camp from the police. By 10 p.m. entire families were
demonstrating in solidarity with the Occupy movement and demanding
that the cops not attack the encampment. The ANSWER Coalition (Act
Now to Stop War and End Racism), of which the PSL is a member,
provided port-a-potties for the demonstrators.
The leaders of several local labor unions, such as the San
Francisco Labor Council, UNITE HERE Local 2, the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union, Office and Professional Employees
International Union, and United Educators of San Francisco joined in
the action. Militant chants could be heard from the multi-national
crowd, including, “This system has got to die! Viva, viva, Occupy!”
Shortly after midnight, word spread through the crowd that
formations of hundreds of police in riot gear had been spotted in San
Francisco’s Potrero Hill and Treasure Island neighborhoods. The SFPD
units were joined by a unit of motorcycle cops from San José.
Occupiers started planning strategies for peaceful resistance,
practicing locking arms.
As word spread in the East Bay, former Occupy Oakland campers
attempted to take the BART train to the San Francisco camp to show
their solidarity, but BART had closed the two stations that connected
the two cities.
The crowd around Justin Herman Plaza did not dwindle as the rumors
of a major attack swelled. They were joined by five San Francisco
city supervisors who vowed to stay at the Occupy site until they
heard assurances from the SFPD that the camp would not be attacked.
The crowd remained several hundred strong until dawn.
The attack never came. In a major victory, the outpouring of
support for the occupiers by the people of San Francisco convinced
the cops to cancel their planned raid of the camp. The following
morning, the SFPD made the ludicrous claim that the battalions of
armored cops were participating in a “training exercise” at 3
a.m.! It was later revealed that the SFPD called in all off-duty
officers, paying them overtime, to participate in this “training.”
The fact that the SFPD would cancel such an expensive and
time-consuming operation shows what a significant impression the
unity of the people made on them. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who had
previously threatened the camp with raids, said he wanted to “enter
into dialogue” with the occupiers.
Since that night, the numbers of people visiting and spending the
night at the Occupy San Francisco camp have nearly doubled.
Oakland retakes plaza
Meanwhile, in Oakland, occupiers retook Oscar Grant Plaza only two
days after their camp was destroyed by police. The protesters tore
down a fence that the police had erected around the supposedly public
space and built a tower from the fence as a monument to their
resolve. Within 48 hours of the attack, two dozen tents and two
canopies had been restored to the Plaza. The occupiers’ first action
after retaking their camp was to hold a vigil for Scott Olsen.
Having become the subject of negative press over nearly killing
Olsen, the Oakland Police Department is so far not interfering with
the re-establishment of the camp.
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, who helped plan the Oct. 25 attack
against the encampment, attempted to address the Occupation at its
General Assembly but was booed off the stage, with the Occupiers
chanting “Go away!” as she attempted to speak.
The people of San Francisco and Oakland have made it clear that
they identify with the Occupy movement protesters and not the cops
who protect the interest of the 1 percent.
Richard Becker contributed to this report.
