testimony from someone who attended.
jan. 7th 2009
“A protest against the negligent investigation of a BART(transit) police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man,
lying face down on the ground on a BART train platform turned to riot style tactics in Downtown Oakland. Around a dozen cars were set ablaze, hundreds of car windows and storefronts shattered, dozens of trash cans and dumpsters on fire, traffic and buses stopped in downtown, an open and operating mcdonalds was vandalized and had lots of its windows smashed, along with other numerous acts of destruction and vandalism. BUT, among all of this was what i will say is probably the most disproportionate force i have seen in a small-medium scale protest. amounts of around 200-400 people were continually corralled into smaller and smaller space by numbers of task force in the range of 250-500 pedestrian riot cops. Along with well over 100 task force vehicles ranging from undercover suv’s and sedans, sheriffs and motorcycle cops to oakland police and even riot tank vehicles. tear gas was shot 2-3 times, several protestors were beaten and dozens if not around a hundred were jailed a majority of whom were filming, taking pictures, etc. and i found out later that, “all digital cameras, video cameras, and maybe even cell phone cameras are to be confiscated for evidence.”i have my own little part of the story but no need to tell that; i’ll just say, that the quote in the sentence before this was heard inside a cop car, but i’m home now so, its ok.
at one point, mayor ron dellums went among the crowd and walked several blocks to city hall with them where he addressed them with the same political rhetoric as heard nearly all the time, “we are treating this investigation with top priority and are investigating it just like any other”. when the simple facts are that the shooting took place on new years day around 2am and as of yesterday the officer who shot the man had been charged with no crime whatsoever and was not compelled by BART, local government or law enforcement to give a public statement and just today he skipped an internal affairs interview and resigned with still no charges brought against him in any way and he is now under protective custody. there were dozens of eyewitnesses at the scene of the shooting along with many videophone videos, some capturing extremely visible angles of the victim lying face down, when the cop stood, drew his weapon and fired. if this investigation pans out as sketchy as it has begun, this may not be the last bit of violent protesting oakland sees. especially impacted by current times.”
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/01/08/18559668.php
In the early afternoon of January 7th, it was announced that officer Johannes Mehserle had resigned from the BART police force so he would not be forced to testify at an internal hearing.
Later in the day, a rally was held at the Fruitvale BART station. Protesters gathered at 3pm and by 5pm the crowd had swelled to over one thousand people. Organizers noted that they intend to build a movement against police brutality and plan to hold several other demonstrations in the coming weeks. After dozens of speakers addressed the crowd for about 2 hours, a march began. Hundreds of protesters marched up International Blvd towards downtown Oakland. As the crowd passed the Lake Merritt BART area, there was a brief confrontation where a police car was attacked and a dumpster lit on fire. Within minutes, riot police arrived and shot tear gas into the crowd. The protest continued into the night as dozens of protesters took over and blocked the intersection of 14th and Broadway for over an hour, with chants of “We are Oscar Grant.” A line of riot police then moved in to push the crowd out of the intersection and down 14th Street toward Lake Merritt. The protesters ran down 14th where dozens of car windows were broken and an SUV was set on fire. Police forces charged toward the group a few blocks later, and as protesters dispersed, windows were broken at a McDonald’s.
About 9pm, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums appeared near the Lake Merritt end of 14th Street and began walking back towards Broadway passing the damage along the way. People confronted him regarding the BART officer still not having been detained or even questioned one week later. Once Dellums, and the growing crowd following him, arrived at City Hall in Frank Ogawa Plaza, he addressed about 200 protesters from the steps of City Hall. He told the crowd to be respectful. He said the killing was a homicide and that he had ordered the City of Oakland to investigate the BART killing. The crowd interrupted much of his speech, expressing their displeasure with the situation.
As Dellums finished talking to the crowd and headed into City Hall, the crowd starting booing and then many people chanted “Round 2″ and rushed toward San Pablo Ave. breaking more car windows. Tear gas was again fired by police. Protesters moved towards Lake Merritt down 17th Street. More windows were smashed and more dumpsters were set on fire. Another car was burned. At about 10pm, police in gas masks in police cars swooped in on protesters at 17th and Jackson. At that point, the crowd of protesters split up again and headed in several different directions. After a sizable crowd began to reconvene at 15th and Broadway, many headed up Telegraph, pulling objects into the road and breaking more windows. Just before 11pm, around 50 people were surrounded by police across from the Paramount Theater on Broadway. Many protesters lay down on the ground as police moved in to arrest them.
