| 2011 Oakland general strike | |
|---|---|
| Participants | Occupy Oakland |
| Location | Oakland, California, United States. |
| Date | November 2, 2011 |
| Result |
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The Oakland General Strike of 2011 was a general strike held in Oakland, California on November 2, 2011 as part of the larger Occupy Oakland movement.
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Thousands of protesters gathered at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza to participate in rallies, marches, and teach-ins designed to empower citizens and to draw attention to economic inequity and corporate greed.[1][2] The last general strike in the United States was in Oakland in 1946. Local unions expressed solidarity for the strike including Oakland's largest union, Service Employees International Union Local 1021, Oakland Education Association, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10, and United Brotherhood of Carpenters. While none of the unions were officially on strike, many urged their members to take a personal day, vacation day or to participate after work.[3]
A flatbed truck with a sound system was parked in the middle of the intersection of 14th Street and Broadway and used as a make-shift stage. The morning's rally began at 9 a.m. and a range of people addressed the audience including the scholar/activist Angela Davis and musician Boots Riley.[4] Live musical performances occurred simultaneously in the plaza amphitheater including local hip hop group BRWN BFLO.[5]
While most of the day-time activities were peaceful, Oakland Police chief Howard Jordan reported that a small group of "anarchists" vandalized a Whole Foods storefront, and broke windows and ATMs of Bank of America and Wells Fargo banks in the afternoon.[6][7] Many buildings were vandalized, including some businesses that displayed signs of support for the general strike. After the incidents of vandalism, members of Occupy Oakland guarded local businesses, boarded up broken windows, and cleaned graffiti caused by the small group of protesters utilizing black bloc tactics. Oakland mayor Jean Quan described these protesters as "a small and isolated group" that "shouldn't mar the overall impact of the demonstration and the fact that people in the 99 percent movement demonstrated peacefully and, for the most part, were productive and very peaceful."[8]
Thousands of protesters marched from Frank Ogawa Plaza to the Port of Oakland, the fifth busiest port in the United States, in two separate groups leaving the plaza at 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm. The number of protesters marching to the port has not been confirmed. While police estimate 7,000 people marched, local organizers[9] and participants[10] put the number somewhere between 20,000 and 100,000. As protesters completely filled Middle Harbor Road, the main road leading to the port, all truck traffic entering or exiting the port was halted. Port operations were "effectively shut down" a couple hours later.[11]
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| "Protesters struck by vehicle" During march to port, Nov. 2 | |
During the evening march to the port, the driver of a silver Mercedes-Benz was headed south on 11th Street when he encountered a stream of protesters walking along Broadway. Cell phone video footage shows the driver of the Mercedes attempting to drive through the intersection as the march is happening prompting one protester, Lance Laverdure, to jump in front of the car and bang on the hood.[12] The driver hit the gas and both Laverdure and a nearby protester Margaret So were hit by the car and sustained leg and ankle injuries. Nearby witnesses then surrounded the car as emergency personnel attended to the protesters. The driver was questioned by BART Police and released, angering witnesses who called for the driver's arrest.[13] The two protesters suffered leg and ankle injuries and were taken to Highland Hospital.
On November 11, the two victims held a press conference alleging that the incident was a criminal act and questioned why the Oakland Police Department had not prosecuted the driver. Victims said that nine days after the incident, they still had not been contacted by police. Lance Laverdure told press that, "We want this person arrested for the attempted murder of myself and Margaret".[12]
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| "CA Violence: RT footage from 'occupied' Oakland" Night of Nov. 2 | |
Later in the evening, a group of protesters took over a vacant building that once served as the headquarters of the Traveler's Aid Society, a non-profit organization that provided services to the local homeless population. Police soon arrived to break up the protesters gathered outside of the building. Some protesters fled while others set a barricade on fire.[14] Police used teargas and flash bangs to try to clear protesters.[15] Clashes continued past midnight. 103 people were arrested.
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| "Shot by police with rubber bullet at Occupy Oakland" Filmed by Oakland resident Scott Campbell, moments before being shot by an Oakland Police officer. | |
Shortly before 1 a.m., Oakland resident Scott Campbell was shot by police using a less-lethal round while he was filming a stationary line of police in riot gear. The apparently-unprovoked shooting was documented by the resulting point-of-view video from Campbell's own camera.[16] Geoffrey Alpert, a criminal justice professor from the University of South Carolina said watching a video of the incident left him "astonished, amazed and embarrassed" and that "unless there's something we don't know, that's one of the most outrageous uses of a firearm that I've ever seen."[17]
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| "Iraq war veteran Kayvan Sabehgi beaten by a police officer" | |
Kayvan Sabeghi, a local business owner and former U.S. Army Ranger who served in the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan, was hit numerous times by a police officer with a baton then arrested on the evening of November 2.[18] Sabeghi was charged with resisting arrest and remaining at the scene of a riot. While in police custody, Sabeghi complained of severe pain and asked for medical treatment but was transferred to Highland Hospital 14-18 hours after his arrest. Sabeghi underwent emergency surgery for a ruptured spleen and remained in the intensive care unit.[19][18]
The organization Iraq Veterans Against the War issued a statement on November 4 stating, "police struck Sabeghi with nightsticks on his hands, shoulders, ribs and back, and that in addition to a lacerated spleen he suffered from internal bleeding"[20], a description that is corroborated by the video made available on November 18. The Oakland Police Department is "investigating the incident."[18]
Although she was obviously wearing a press pass, journalist Susie Cagle was arrested in the early hours of November 3 and spent 14 hours at 2 different jails.[21] She was charged with failure to leave the scene of a riot. Journalists' rights in the United States are constitutionally protected through the First Amendment. Cagle is one of several journalists covering the Occupy movement that have been arrested.[22] Additionally, Cagle reported having been subject to and witness to mistreatment of protestors during her imprisonment.[23]