por Yashenka Baca
A crowd of approximately 7,000 people occupied the Port of Oakland on Nov. 3.Occupy Wall Street. (PHOTO BY DAMON TIGHE)
A proposal to support the Occupy SF movement and allow it to camp overnight at Justin Herman Plaza without risk of getting raided by police, was approved last Tuesday afternoon by the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco.
The resolution, introduced a week ago by Supervisor John Avalos and sponsored by Supervisors David Campos, Eric Mar and Jane Kim, was approved by eight votes in favor and three against it, a super majority that could overrule a potential veto by Mayor Lee, who according to the occupiers has already agreed to sign it. Supervisors Mark Farrell, Carmen Chu and Sean Elsbernd voted against the proposal.
The meeting was highly anticipated and a crowd of occupiers was present when the San Francisco’s District representatives expressed or denied their support to the resolution. The document requested Mayor Lee and the Police Department to “uphold Free Speech rights … and ensure there will be no unnecessary use of force to dislodge the Occupy SF demonstrators.” The word unnecessary was the only amendment requested by Supervisor Wiener, who said “I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to tell the Police Department … no matter what happens, you cannot use force.”
Regarding the passing of the resolution Supervisor John Avalos said “it is important for the city to go on the record in support of the movement.” “Police raids only serve to energize the protesters and lead to tensions about how the public spaces should be used,” he added, referring to the police operation last week in Oakland that caused serious injuries to an Irak Vet present in the protest. “I see the consciousness that has changed across this country as a very good thing”, Avalos finally said.
At the encampment the news was received with dozens of clapping hand signs. During the Occupy SF General Assembly (GA) on Tuesday night, one of the spokespersons stated “Mayor Lee said we will not be raided, this is an ongoing situation.”
Some occupiers showed their disbelief to what the Mayor has apparently promised to the protesters. A woman participating on the GA said “he agreed because the election is coming up, he is not doing it for us, he is doing it for his own benefit.” Others said they will wait until the election is over to see what happens.
Oakland general strike succeeds
On the other side of the Bay, thousands of supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement in Oakland marched through the streets in the biggest genhtmleral strike the city of Oakland has seen in decades.
Banks closed their doors and other financial institutions sent their workers home on Wednesday November 2nd as the Day of Action called by the Occupy Oakland General Assembly grew throughout the day.
By the afternoon the crowd, estimated by the police on 7,000 and by local media on 20,000, walked all throughout the city in six different marches organized from 9 am. to 5 pm. Thousands of people arrived to and departed from 14th St and Broadway, where the encampment is set, as they chanted “this is what democracy looks like” and “we are the 99 percent” among other cheers.
The large group of protesters, as diverse as the city itself and representing all ethnic groups, moved towards the Port of Oakland in the afternoon, the crowd covered the freeway in West Oakland all the way from Downtown to the Port of the city, which happens to be America’s 5th largest port. Protesters got on top of trucks, as they asked the drivers to stop working. The Port was indeed shut down. A spokesperson for the Port said “all the workers have been sent home, we hope to resume work on Thursday morning.”
After midnight things rapidly changed as the police moved in on a group of protesters that started a fire with trash cans. “This was peaceful until you came!” some protesters yelled at the police.
Participants reported the street lights went off when the police approached, nobody has clarified if it was caused by a power issue or if they were intentionally turned off.
A volunteering legal support group reported that over 100 people had been arrested during the police intervention.
