from Consortium News:
Witness to the ‘Occupy Oakland’ AssaultNovember 1, 2011
One week ago, Oakland authorities – citing safety hazards from an “Occupy” encampment – unleashed a predawn police raid to drive the protesters from a plaza. City officials called the action necessary, but a local security guard emerged to tell Dennis Bernstein a very different story.By Dennis Bernstein
On Thursday, two days after Oakland police violently routed peaceful protesters occupying a downtown plaza in protest of America’s economic inequality, I was approached by Bill Lo, a seasoned security guard and photographer who was on duty directly across the street that night.
He had observed and filmed the entire pre-dawn raid and his compelling, soft-spoken eyewitness account contradicted much of what the police said — and the local corporate media parroted — about what happened at the camp and the supposed dangers that it presented to the city and its residents.
The assault on Oakland’s Frank Ogawa Plaza began in the early-morning dark on Tuesday, Oct. 25, as the Oakland Police Department in conjunction, with over 15 other police departments from Northern and Central California, stormed the sleepy Occupy Oakland Encampment.
Asleep inside tents of the makeshift Occupy encampment were over 100 men, women and children. The police force — dressed in black ninja-like outfits and special-forces helmets with full face-shields down and armed with an assortment of the latest riot gear — fired tear gas canisters and concussion grenades into the camp, as helicopters circled above. ............(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://consortiumnews.com/2011/11/01/witness-to-the-occupy-oakland-assault/
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