Thursday, November 3, 2011
Bicyclists were the first to block trucks trying to leave the port.
Thousands of OccupyOakland supporters left their downtown protest for the Port of Oakland where they met little resistance early in the evening Wednesday November 2, 2011. They essentially shut it down by blocking entrances at the port.
Thousands of OccupyOakland supporters left their downtown protest for the Port of Oakland where they met little resistance early in the evening Wednesday November 2, 2011. They essentially shut it down by blocking entrances at the port.
OAKLAND -- Thousands of people jammed into downtown Oakland on Wednesday for a general strike called by Occupy Oakland to protest economic inequity and corporate greed - then marched en masse to the Port of Oakland and shut it down.
As many as 7,000 people, by police estimates, clogged the main port entrance on Middle Harbor Road and seven other gates as the sun went down, chanting slogans and halting all truck traffic going in or out.
"Whose port? Our port!" many yelled, while dozens climbed on top of the idled trucks and waved signs.
The few police officers within sight kept a considerable distance while the waterfront took on the air of a combination protest and street carnival, with everyone from office workers to gutter punks standing alongside each other denouncing inequality.
Port officials said in a statement that maritime operations were "effectively shut down." Dozens of trucks sat idling at the port, unable to enter or leave, and the shutdown continued late into the night.
"It's a victory," exulted one protester, 21-year-old Oakland art student Umar Shareef. "To get all these people together as one unit is amazing."
Andrez Quintanilla, a 28-year-old truck driver, was trying to drop off a load at the port, but was forced to cool his engines outside the entrance.
"It's good what they're doing," he said. "They're trying to make sure everyone has their rights, but I wish they would let me go. I need to go home."
Occupy Oakland, the activists who have camped outside City Hall for nearly a month, originally targeted the port to show solidarity with union workers embroiled in a dispute in Longview, Wash. But to most of the thousands of protesters who flowed west from around Occupy Oakland's nerve center in Frank Ogawa Plaza, it was a finale to a long day of outrage at the widening economic divisions in America.
Day of activism
The first general strike called in Oakland since 1946 was largely peaceful. Young activists, middle-class wage earners, students and homeless people mingled good-naturedly as they held rallies and meditation meetings, heard speeches and marched to protest at dozens of downtown businesses and banks.An ice cream truck handed out treats with protest slogans, and a flash mob danced to the old disco hit "I Will Survive."
Adam Bergman took his two children and one of their friends out of their Oakland elementary school for the protest. Concerned about violence, Bergman said he wanted to stay at the back of the pack.
"I think it is important to show them what's happening right now," he said. "It's part of our civic duty to support freedom of speech ... to stand up for the 99 percent of us."
There were some instances of vandalism, which interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said had been instigated by "60 to 70 anarchists ... bent on causing problems."
When protesters smashed windows at banks, a grocery and two small businesses, videos showed the instigators were mostly wearing black, with bandanas over their faces.
Jordan said in an evening press conference that there had been no arrests.
The most serious incident of the day came at 7:30 p.m. when the driver of a Mercedes-Benz ran into two protesters marching amid a crowd of about 500 on Broadway at 11th Street.
The victims, a man and a woman, were taken to Highland Hospital with leg and ankle injuries.
"It was a pretty volatile situation," said BART Police Deputy Chief Daniel Hartwig. "There is no arrest at this time, but that doesn't mean there won't be if there's a need for an arrest." He said the Oakland Police Department would do the follow-up inquiry.
Mini-city
By 11 p.m., the crowds at the port and downtown had dwindled significantly, and about 1,000 people were back at the City Hall plaza. While some stayed to revel in their port victory, several hundred peeled off to 520 16th St., a vacant building a couple of blocks away, took it over and hung a banner reading, "Occupy everything."1 | 2 | Next Page »
