The Monday morning police raid on the Occupy Oakland encampment had one interesting look to it: as the cops were walking through the grass of the plaza at 6 AM, there were no protestors, just tents.
Of the roughly 300 commonly in the encampment at any one time, only 30 were arrested, including 9 from Oakland who reportedly belonged to a local church group.
There was no violence or bloodshed because Oakland District Three (Downtown – West Oakland) Councilmember Nancy Nadel made sure to tell the people at Occupy Oakland about what was to be a surprise raid almost a day before it happened. See my video:
This is the email Councilmember Nadel sent:
From: [email protected]
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: Don Macleay
CC: ……I just worked 12 hours straight so I am not the sharpest at the moment.
Larry Reif left me a message that people can voluntarily move to Snow Park and it sounded like they aren’t raiding Snow. So one thing people can do is encourage people to voluntarily move to Snow. Police will empty the plaza at 4 AM. Any people refusing to leave the Plaza will be arrested.
Larry said that the mayor and Floyd are working on getting the Occupiers a building but he didn’t say where or whether they have been successful.
If you have the energy to be up at 4, and you have a large enough group, you might try what others did to stop any black bloc behavior that would negatively impact any small business.
I understand 23 people got vouchers for housing and tomorrow the winter shelter at the Army Base will be open.
I just got home and am exhausted but email me if you need me.
Nancy
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
To assist, some explanation:
“Larry Reif” is Oakland District Seven Councilmember and Council President Larry Reid.
“Snow Park” is a smaller venue on Harrison and Lakeside Drive near Lake Merritt.
“Floyd” is Floyd Quan, the husband of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan.
So, if you see Councilmember Nancy Nadel out and about, stop and thank her. For without her intervention, and that of Councilmember Reid and Mr. Quan, there may have been the kind of bloodhed we all feared we would see.
Stay tuned.