Gassed
Bay Citizen editor recounts being hit by tear gas canister at Occupy Oakland protest
Strangely, as I stared at the back of my left hand, scorched and black after a tear gas canister fired by police hit me in the stomach and exploded, I didn’t want it to be news.
People were crowding around me in Oakland’s Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, taking my picture with cameras and cell phones. Protesters, including self-deputized medics with red crosses taped to their backs, asked me if I was okay and offered me treatment. But all I could think of was how I didn’t want to end up on the Web or in the newspaper, misidentified as an Occupy Oakland demonstrator injured in another night of violence.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” I said. “I’m a journalist.”
“You’re a fighter, my brother,” said one of my new comrades. “No justice, no peace.”
The truth was I had just dropped in.
It was about 1:30 a.m. Thursday, the end of a very long day of almost uniformly peaceful protests involving thousands of peaceful people. I had spent the entire day at the office while six Bay Citizen reporters and photographers pounded the pavement, gathering information for a stream of continuous coverage that had begun 16 hours earlier.
But in the semi-darkness around Oakland’s City Hall, a group of 200 militant protesters was now confronting – in some cases, provoking -- the police. I quickly drove to downtown Oakland to join Bay Citizen crime reporter Shoshana Walter, our only remaining reporter on the streets.
When I arrived, Shoshana, her gas mask wrapped around her neck and dark curly hair, stood near a kind of makeshift barricade the protesters had formed between the plaza and 15th Street. Some held six-foot wooden shields, handcrafted and painted black. Shouts came out of crowd:
“What will you tell your children?”
“Fuck you!”
“Disobey your orders!”
The shouts rained down on the police, some 300-strong, gathered at 15th Street in riot gear. The street lights reflected off their helmets and plastic visors, and you could see the dark silhouettes of their truncheons.
As the standoff continued, half the officers suddenly peeled off and double-timed it up 15th Street, heading northwest toward Clay. About half of the protesters peeled off as well, racing up the promenade adjacent to City Hall and the Occupy Oakland tent city. The protesters planned to circle around and confront the police where the promenade intersects with Clay.
Shoshana and I stayed with the original group, waiting to see what happened next.
It didn’t take long.
Within three minutes, the sound of explosions erupted from Clay Street and protesters flooded back into the plaza. They were trailed by tear gas canisters, popping as they hit the ground. Bracing toxic smoke wafted through the cool night air, filling your nostrils with unbearable gasoline smells.
Then came the police, racing into the plaza in a perfect flanking maneuver designed to squeeze the 50-to-75 protesters till staring down their adversaries near 15th. Shoshana and I ran to avoid being swept up in the mass arrests. The police, in an intimidating clomp and rattling of gear, surged in behind us and began making arrests.
I turned back to get a closer look. I was inching forward when there was a bright flash and another loud explosion. A fraction of a second later, I felt an object hit me in the stomach on my right side, not very hard, almost a tap, followed by a pop and another flash. Then searing heat on my left hand, then numbness.
I looked down and my hand was black, my four fingers covered in toxic chemicals. I couldn’t feel my hand much but could clench it and unclench it and assumed I was okay. My blue flannel shirt also was black, stained where the canister had struck me and discharged. I was soaked in tear gas, but for some reason it was having less of an effect than the burning on my hand.
Another strange but not entirely unexpected thought popped into my head: 6 inches lower and it would have hit me in the crotch.
The next few moments were a blur. I called the Bay Citizen and reported details of the operation, still somehow imagining that I was not one of those details. Shoshana and I had been separated as we ran, and I recounted what had happened; she was now wearing her gas mask but that also didn’t seem to register. People came up and asked me if I was hurt, if I was bleeding, if I need help. I waved them off.
Later, Shoshana asked me if I thought the police had acted excessively. That was one thought that had not occurred to me. I figured I had been standing in the middle of a police action, trying to get closer to a chaotic situation. I was standing about 25 yards from police and clearly wasn’t a threat. I can’t imagine someone was aiming at me; if so, it was the best shot in the history of tear gas marksmanship.
But moments later, near where I was standing, an elderly man who did not seem to be part of the instigators was struck in the knee by an object also apparently fired by police. He was carried away by the protesters.
It's probably also worth noting that two people who spent significant time in Iraq have been struck by projectiles fired by police on the streets of Oakland in the past week.
I spent another couple hours watching the cat-and-mouse game between the police and the protesters. As it gravitated to Broadway, it became even clearer what an unfortunate sideshow it all was. Young men, many itching for a fight, continued to scream. Some were drinking. In the middle of it all a man shouted at the line of officers: “Do something! I’m bored!”
He was joking, but one of the protesters took offense and charged him, and they had to be separated in the middle of Broadway.
As I drove home my hand began to throb, and I realized I should probably get it checked out. I stopped at the emergency room at Children’s Hospital on Martin Luther King. The admitting nurse couldn’t sit near me long enough to take my vital signs; she sneezed and recoiled as waves of tear gas fumes rolled off of me. Donning a surgical mask, she guided me to a room, handed me a surgical gown and asked me to double-bag my clothes after I stripped.
Word apparently spread about my predicament, and nurses and doctors ducked their heads into the room. It was 3:30 in the morning, the end of another curious night of the occupation.
h. brown
Great story Steve,
You and Luke Thomas are the only editors I know of who actually work in the front lines. And, don't think it's not a real possibility they targeted you. Were you wearing a press pass that was highly visible? Do you know if these were Oakland cops? These forces are constantly scanning the crowd and ID'ing people and they're all tuned into command posts through receivers and transmitters in their helmets. It's entirely possible that whomever shot you knew exactly who you were and were shooting at your balls.
Did Quan order the attack on the demonstrators?
h.
Zarrakan
Steve, considering how the police hate having their unnecessary brutality covered by media in any form, I would not be surprised if they were aiming for you.
A gas bomb is area affect so it's unnecessary to actually hit someone with it, and at that range it's hard to "miss" empty space.
You're lucky they didn't shoot you in the face with it.
They will never admit to it of course, and even if they did have fun trying to make them pay for it.
Remember
The police are thugs hired by the rich to enforce the whims of the rich, protect the rich, and put the middle/poor classes in body bags.
The rich are allowed to break the law without consequence far more often than not, and directly profit from the private jail slave labor camps that are bankrupting local government with their 500% markups.
Use the keywords “police brutality” in Google search, or on YouTube to see what I mean. Do you really think that they treat the rich and the non-rich the same?
Open your eyes.
Michael Boyd
Steve,
Are you OK? No injuries? Thank God.
Pray for the Officer that shot at you.
We still have a lot of work to do.
Audra Caravas
So glad you are okay Steve! I get The Bay Citizen's news updates on my phone and I was worried but I am glad to hear that you are fine. I was at the protest earlier in the day but then had to truck it back to graduate school at Mills College. It's really sad that a small group of anarchist/violent folk can send the opposite message of what so many people went to support. Miss you guys and thank you all for doing the amazing work that you do!
Sincerely,
Audra
Eric Jaffa
The NYPD haven't used tear gas at all in response to OWS. In spite of NY being the center of OWS.
The Oakland PD is injuring and infuriating people with tear gas, and shouldn't have tear gas.
Joseph Williams
Masked young men barricade the street with dumpsters, start fires and begin vandalizing storefronts then challange the police with epithets. Are you asking me to wonder why there was a response? The entire day showed thousands of demonstators marching with a purpose, the shutdown of the port, rallys, speakers and chants there was no appreciable police presence except for traffic control. There were even statements made by the police officers expressing support for the goals of the demonstration.
All that good will was wasted.
Some folks think that insurrection is the pathway but I challange anyone to tell me when violence hasn't breed anything more that just more violence.
I you honestly believe that the protesters aren't as culpable in last nights travesty then you need a reality check.
imho
Ray Burns
Sorry to hear about the continued menace of Bay Area law enforcement.
Glad you're all right.
You're a great writer, Steve.
Tim Trewhella
Steve,
Great, hopefully once in a lifetime story. One question, wondering which agency, OPD or Sheriff's Dept fired on you.
also, for background,
OPD crowd control guidelines: http://www.bradblog.com/wp-content/uploads/PN-CA-0018-0021.pdf
See Page 14, Section V.Permissible Crowd Control and Crowd Dispersal Techniques, H. Approved Tactics and Weapons to Disperse or Control a Non–Compliant Crowd "4. Non Hand–Held Crowd Control Chemical Agents e. Chemical agents shall not be used for crowd control or dispersal without first giving
audible warning of their imminent use and giving reasonable time to the crowd, media,
and observers to disperse.
f. If chemical agents are contemplated in crowd situations, OPD shall have medical personnel
on site prior to their use and shall make provision for decontamination and medical
screening to those persons affected by the chemical agent(s)."
Also, document clearly states that there has to be a record of who issued the order to use chemicals and less lethal munitions.
Mm G
Wow, poor Steve! You align yourself with the "militant protesters" ( your words) knowing they have already broken into private buildings, set fires, graffiti, thrown bottles, molitov cocktails, urine, paint, bricks, rocks at police? Way to get in the thick of things! Shoshana and her "dark curly hair" asked you if you saw police acting excessively? Police showed amazing restraint with this violent and ignorant mob. Come on, you're supposed to be reporters. This puff piece was ridiculous, Steve. Why don't you go into the encampment (during the day, with your reporter credentials around your neck so the big bad policeman will say "hey that's Steve, don't shoot gas cannisters in his direction") and report on the drug use, the criminal element, the filth, the assaults, the damage to the city, child endangerment, etc. That's the real story with occupy Oakland movement. The rest of the 99.9% are sick and tired of the .1% occupy oakland protesters. Their "cause" has lost all credibility with the rest of us normal folk.
Paul B
I'm glad the reporter survived the police attack. Just remember that if you had been arrested in the sweep, even if you were just observing, you'd be called a vandal and accused and convicted by your colleagues in the corporate media.
I hope this incident will lead to the Bay Citizen digging deep into the story of the militarization of the police and the total lack of oversight of the sheriffs and other agencies wasting taxpayer money on suppressing peaceful protest. Who profits from the sale of CS gas to our police? Who has the contracts for the crowd control training? What does it cost? If the city is bankrupted by lawsuits over innocent protesters like Scott Olsen being maimed by the police and sheriff over-reaction, will crime go up or down?
Sylvia Jones
Hello Steve —
Well, I keep hoping for more stories from you, but not this one. You are a good boss and friend to sprint over to help your reporter, but having children does make one nervous about staying safe, doesn' it?
By the way, I bought your new book the instant it went on sale and parsed it thoroughly. I was especially interested in the section on drones, about which I understood little. I see I am heading toward a whole shelf of Fainaru first editions.
From violence in Iraq to your gassing in Oakland, part of your professional work seems to involve writing about violence. If you haven't done so, I urge you to take a look at Steven Pinker's new book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violelnce Has Declined. Of course, given your experiences, you will find that hard to believe — but his research is impeccable and its good to read something slightly optimistic given our current situation and our worries about the future of our progeny.
Best,
Sylvia Jones