Tension between Occupy Oakland protesters and the police erupted last night around 11:15 PM PDT, when hundreds of officers fired volleys of tear gas and beanbag rounds at peaceful demonstrators camped outside City Hall. According to the Huffington Post, this was in fact the fifth time tear gas had been used on the crowd that day alone. This incident only mirrors countless other violent & non-violent skirmishes that are and have been occurring all across the country for the past two months:
September 24: NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna pepper sprayed five peaceful women who were being held by officers in plastic netting.
October 1: More than 700 people, including a freelance reporter for the New York Times, were led into a "trap" on the Brooklyn Bridge and then arrested, one by one.
October 10: Boston law enforcements officers were witnessed assaulting bystanders and using excessive force on protesters.
October 14: A protester was run over by police scooters, pulled out from underneath the bikes and subsequently beaten by NYPD officers.
October 14: Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona lunged at and sucker-punched protester Felix Rivera-Pitre for no justifiable reason.
October 15: Horse-mounted police charged at a group of demonstrators who were tightly pinned down between steel gates.
October 23: Chicago police officers arrested over 130 protesters, many of whom were voluntary nurses that later complained of cruel treatment, such as being denied mattresses, food and phone calls.
October 25: Hundreds of protesters and their belongings were forcibly kicked out of the Senator Beth Johnson Park in Orlando.
I realize that the police are just trying to do their jobs, but there may come a time when they have to choose between doing their jobs and doing the right thing. I hope that they keep in mind that the majority of those in the "99 percent" movement are vocal supporters of collective bargaining, and that the majority of us dearly appreciate all the hard work firefighters, teachers and police officers put in to enhance our communities. That said, I hope and pray that, in the end, the police make the right decision.
Sources: The Nation, Huffington Post
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