All quiet at Occupy Berkeley camp at MLK Park

October 26, 2011 10:42 am by Tracey Taylor

A 15 year old freshman at Berkeley High who identified himself as Hungry Hippo. Photos: Frances Dinkelspiel

The scene at MLK Park in downtown Berkeley was quiet on Wednesday morning in sharp contrast to the demonstrations and tear gas that engulfed Oakland Tuesday night. Despite a recent directive by City Manager Phil Kamlarz that people should not spend the night in the park, there were approximately 25 tents in the park. Protestors said they had not been disturbed by the Berkeley police.

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  • Andrew

    REI is booming these days!

  • Doc

    Hurray, a new People’s Park!

  • Dave M

    Why are they occupying a park in Berkeley?  Who are they targeting?  Does this really make any sense?  At what point are you no longer trying to draw attention to an issue but trying to get attention?

  • Completely Serious

    What’s the difference between a Berkeley High student and an Occupy Wall Street protester?

    The Occupy Wall Street protester is SUPPOSED to be smoking pot in the park.

  • Bruce Love

    Are you asking why Occupy exists at all?  What it is doing generally?  What it’s point is?

    Or are you familiar with that and are just asking why there is an occupation in Berkeley in particular?

  • Totally Serious

    go back to where you’re from dude.

  • Bruce Love

    Things may be quiet in Berkeley, but the Berkeley Police Department participated in last night’s actions in Oakland.   The assembled police fired gas and beanbag rounds on a non-violent protest though it is not yet clear what BPD’s particular actions were.

    The police very seriously injured a vet who had done two tours in Iraq:

    http://occupywallst.org/article/ows-response-government-violence-occupyoakland/

    That article says, in part:

    “Scott is in stable but serious condition as the neurologists decide
    whether to take him into surgery or the ICU,” said Joshua Shepherd, a
    friend of Olsen’s. “Oakland Police Department fired a tear gas canister
    at his head, fracturing his skull.”

    That is slightly out of date.  The latest word is that they are performing surgery for a fractured cranium and brain swelling.

    OccupyMarines is a group of marine veterans who support Occupy.   They have organized a vigil for USMC Scott Olsen tonight in NYC.

    Over at the Berkeley Daily Planet, the article “Police Brutality in Oakland – Berkeley Police Present” you can find two videos.  One is Olsen being carried to safety by other protesters.   The other shows a police officer throwing a flash-bang explosive into the center of a small crowd that had gathered to help an injured protester who was lying on the ground.

  • http://berkeley.accountableschools.com/ Berkeley Accountable Schools

    I’d like to know the answer to the latter question in particular.  That park isn’t exactly high on the “most visited” spots for the 1% targeted by the Occupy crowd. 

  • Bruce Love

    Hmm.  Well,

    Occupy Wall Street in NYC is where it is partly because that’s a very symbolic place to be.  AdBusters first suggested a protest to be name “Occupy Wall St.”.    Various organizers then started to develop and implement the idea.

    Most other places where there are Occupy actions, the location isn’t quite as symbolically potent.   Berkeley is one of many, in that regard.

    There is one in Berkeley in particular because, very simply, some people who want there to be one formed a consensus and organized to make it happen.   I’m sure there is a wide diversity of individual reasons why people join that consensus.

  • Danblatt

    Why Berkeley or Oakland? Neither which has noting to do with wallstreet or banking.  If they  want to  make a  point in the Bay Area  they should go to SF

  • Bruce Love

    A lot of what is happening at all of these occupations is that hubs of communication are forming and people are able to begin to organize with others from their area.

    Occupy is not just about putting on shows.

  • libraterian

    With gas at four bucks a gallon, even our national parks are too expensive for some family vacations. MLK is close, requires no reservations and the kids can stay in school! 

  • http://radar.oreilly.com/2007/09/local-recycle-reuse-hits-a-bur.html The Sharkey

    They’re lazy, and it’s a convenient place to set up some tents.

    It’s the same reason people claiming to represent the Occupy movement are illegally camping in the park in front of Oakland’s City Hall or in Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco. Neither are seats of power for the problems Occupy is protesting about, they just don’t want to have to actually go someplace like Sacramento or Washington D.C.

  • http://radar.oreilly.com/2007/09/local-recycle-reuse-hits-a-bur.html The Sharkey

    It’s sheer laziness. MLK park isn’t a hub of anything, they’re just too lazy and confused to go someplace that might be relevant to the issues they’re trying to protest.

  • http://radar.oreilly.com/2007/09/local-recycle-reuse-hits-a-bur.html The Sharkey

    The police very seriously injured a vet who had done two tours in Iraq, was illegally camping overnight in a public park, defied City orders to break up the encampment, was part of an illegal march/parade, and was defying police orders to disperse.

    And for what? Did the Oakland City government bail out the Wall Street banks? Is the Oakland City government responsible for America’s illegal wars? Is the Oakland City government responsible for any of the major issues the Occupy protesters are complaining about?

  • Charles_Siegel

    Based on the video I have seen, it looks like the police deliberately fired tear gas canisters directly at protestors in Oakland.  Rather than using tear gas as a method of dispersing protestors, they seemed to be using the canisters as projectiles to injure protestors.

  • Charles_Siegel

    The Occupy movement is in Berkeley and Oakland because the Occupy movement is in cities across the United States. 

  • http://radar.oreilly.com/2007/09/local-recycle-reuse-hits-a-bur.html The Sharkey

    I’ll freely admit that I’m not experienced or knowledgeable about the use of tear gas grenades but, if one wanted to use tear gas to clear an unlawful mob that was throwing things at the police, it would seem to me that the most effective way of doing this would be to somehow place the tear gas grenade directly into the middle of that mob. I can’t think of a good way to get a tear gas grenade into the center of a group like that without hitting someone. Can you?

  • Bruce Love

    Charles,

    There were multiple kinds of rounds being used – gas was just one of them.   Beanbag and/or rubber bullet rounds were also used.   So, when you see of that footage of police firing into the crowd or taking aim at particular protesters, it isn’t necessarily the gas rounds.

    I’ll post a link in a minute to the best views I’ve seen yet of Olsen just before and shortly after he was hit.   The video *may* include the shot that hit him (and if so, it was gas) – but that part is very hard to see.

  • Bruce Love

    Olsen, before and after:

    http://vimeo.com/31187119

  • http://radar.oreilly.com/2007/09/local-recycle-reuse-hits-a-bur.html The Sharkey

    Interesting stuff.
    Looks like claims that the protesters were not only refusing to disperse but were also throwing objects at the police are true.

  • Charles_Siegel

    Good video.  It looks like Olsen was standing slightly apart from the rest of the crowd, which would mean that the police were targeting him with that canister rather than firing tear gas into the crowd to disperse.

    Unfortunately, there are some violent people joining the demonstrators.  Here is a quote from the Chronicle:

    Some protesters who avoided conflict and wanted to show their support
    for the Occupy Wall Street movement were displeased by the violent
    turns.
    “They didn’t have to force police into that situation,” said Helen
    Walker, 46, a nurse from Albany. “It was totally provoked, and if I
    could have, I would have stopped those idiots from throwing paint.”
    Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/25/BAUB1LLTC9.DTL#ixzz1c0iGcLSfI have some doubts about whether a leaderless movement like OWS can succeed.  As soon as it grows large enough, it attracts a violent fringe, who ruin it.  I think the only way to avoid that is to have a charismatic leader who is committed to non-violence, like Gandhi or Martin Luther King. Nevertheless, the police are professionals and should be expected to act professionally, regardless of how the demonstrators behave. 

  • Bruce Love

    Here is another, less widely circulated so far, angle on the start of violence that led to Olsen being struck.   Another half-decent camera, too.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhffj7KUXlg

  • http://radar.oreilly.com/2007/09/local-recycle-reuse-hits-a-bur.html The Sharkey

    As soon as it grows large enough, it attracts a violent fringe, who ruin it.

    I think that’s a completely accurate comment that anyone should be able to agree with, no matter how they feel about the Occupy movement as a whole.
    The same fringe crowd that seems hell-bent on creating violent altercations with the police that showed up at the Oscar Grant protests, BART protests, and Cal Tuition Hike protests have attached themselves to Occupy Oakland as well.

    Unless the genuine protesters manage to distance themselves from the violent fringe, this is going to end in riots and accomplish absolutely nothing, just like the Oscar Grant protests.

  • libraterian

    And how many cops were war vets? Probably most. Taunting cops is cheap stuff. I see a movement emerging, a bowel movement.

  • Melissa Liu

    Because City Hall is right there.