‘Occupy Wall Street’ Gets Violent in Oakland

Anti-Wall Street Demonstrators March in Oakland

Published October 25, 2011 | Associated Press

Under cover of darkness early Tuesday, hundreds of police swept into Oakland's Occupy Wall Street protest, firing tear gas and beanbag rounds before clearing out an encampment of demonstrators.

In less than an hour, the two-week-old, miniature makeshift city was in ruins.

Scattered across the area were overturned tents, pillows, sleeping bags, yoga mats, tarps, backpacks, food wrappers and water bottles. Signs decrying corporations and police still hung from lampposts or lay on the ground.

Protesters had stayed awake through the night, waiting for the expected raid. Officers and sheriff's deputies from across the San Francisco Bay area surrounded the plaza in front of City Hall at around 5 a.m. and closed in. Eighty-five people were arrested, mostly on suspicion of misdemeanor unlawful assembly and illegal camping, police said.

Later Tuesday, hundreds of protesters gathered at a library and marched through downtown Oakland. They were met by police officers in riot gear, and several small skirmishes broke out.

The protesters eventually made their way back to City Hall as dusk approached.

"It's really, really tense and I think the cops are trying to walk a fine line, but I don't think they are going to back down and neither are the demonstrators," said Cat Brooks, an organizer. "We're on the move. For now."

No one was injured during the Tuesday morning raid, Interim Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said. The plaza was "contained" at around 5:30 a.m., city officials said.

By midmorning, city workers had started collecting the debris. Some would be held for protesters to reclaim, the rest would be thrown away, the city said.

The Oakland site was among numerous camps that have sprung up around the country, as protesters rally against what they see as corporate greed and a wide range of other economic issues. The protests have attracted a wide range of people, including college students looking for work and the homeless.