Officers act on notice of eviction sent out last week

by Brian Leubitz

Let’s just put it this way. It isn’t easy to get recalled as a Mayor in Oakland.  The activist set has been plenty mad with previous Mayors, but nothing on the scale of Jean Quan.  Quan has so botched Occupy Oakland that Vegas would surely put some pretty long odds on her being mayor this time next year.

Last week, Quan used a shooting near 14th and Broadway as an excuse to put out a notice of eviction to the Occupy Oakland encampment.  Now, the police, the administration, and the Occupiers all say the shooting has nothing to do with Occupy Oakland, but apparently #oo is taking time away from Oakland Police from their other activities.

Now, I don’t mean to belittle Oakland’s other priorities, as they are legion.  Oakland still has a high crime rate, and the well-respected police chief Anthony Batts just resigned, rumors being that he just couldn’t work with Quan and the Council any longer.  So, hardly a walk in the park there.  OPD’s resources are spread very thin, as they now tell Oakland Citizens that they won’t even show up for many 911 calls that don’t involve somebody in physical danger. Whatever presence OPD has at #oo are resources not available elsewhere.

So, this morning Quan ordered the raid on the occupy encampments.  Or, well, at least we assume she ordered it, as last time she apparently said that somebody else did it. Who knows?

Police cleared the Occupy Oakland encampment early Monday morning in what has so far been a peaceful raid.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the intersection of Broadway and 14th Street overnight in anticipation of the eviction, and of many tents remained in the camp when lines of police in riot gear began moving in.

However, dozens of occupiers had moved their tents out of the plaza as the city issued repeated eviction notices over the weekend, and rumors of an early morning raid intensified.

“It feels pretty sad because we built a community here, and now they can just come and destroy it,” said Lara Bitar, 28, who helped collapse three of the camp’s four tents early Monday morning. “At the same time, this movement is about more than just the space here.”(Bay Area News Group)

The raid began this morning around 5AM, but the rumors of the raid had been coming for a while.  Many of the protesters had already packed up, and the raid itself was largely peaceful.  A far different affair than the last time around.  And hey, apparently a couple got married in front of the police line. So, congrats on that!

From the latest #oo twitter feed, General Assembly will meet at 4PM at the main Oakland public library (125 14th Street, I think). I’m sure it will be a lively affair for those that can make it.