New clashes have erupted in Oakland, California, between anti-corporate protesters and police, who have entered their camp. Up to 100 people have already been arrested, and the standoff at the camp continues.
According to unconfirmed reports, many police officers are not wearing badges and have tape covering their names.Police officers are using tear gas and bullets which, basically, consist of heavy pellets of cloth, RT’s Lucy Kafanov reports from the site. She also added that the camp has been completely surrounded by police, whose numbers by far exceed those of the protestors – by approximately 200-300 to 100-150. Many police officers are wearing gas masks.
“People are attending to a man grimacing in pain on the grass. He was hit in the leg with a police projectile, I'm told,” eyewitness Gavin Aronsen tweeted in his microblog."The area of 15th and Broadway has been declared an illegal gathering, and chemical agent warnings given," another witness writes, while others report a US flag has been set on fire at 14th & Broadway.According to the latest reports, the protesters’ camp, known as the “Occupation Plaza”, is police-free right now, while the crowd in the area is getting increasingly agitated, with people chanting "We are Oakland!"
Last night, thousands of protesters took to the streets of the city and shut down operations in one of America's major sea ports. They marched from downtown Oakland to the port area and blocked all the gates, sending a powerful message to the so-called 1 per cent – the corporate owners of the port – in an attempt to hurt the elite where it hurts them most: in the pocket. The events followed last week's violent police dispersal of a demonstrators' camp, which resulted in a former US marine being severely injured.