Oakland Police Release Video of Occupy City Hall Break-In
Recording appears to refute claim that doors had been left open
The Oakland Police Department released surveillance video Wednesday that appears to show an Occupy Oakland protester illegally prying open the doors of City Hall.
The department posted the video online as rumors spread that City Hall doors had been left open on Saturday, allowing protesters easy entry.
The video appears to refute that claim. In it, someone pries open the doors with a tool before a group of protesters floods in. The recording, taken by a surveillance camera just inside City Hall's front entrance, shows protesters throwing leaflets, flyers and garbage into the air and on the floor. One person carries an American flag out the door, where footage from another camera shows protesters setting it on fire amid cheers. Police officers do not appear in any of the clips.
The City Hall break-in was the culmination of an Occupy demonstration Saturday that demanded nearly the full attention of a depleted Oakland police force.
Protesters began the action with an attempt early Saturday afternoon to break into the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, with the stated intention of claiming the empty building as Occupy headquarters. Police eventually used tear gas to break up the crowd, and protesters fled, many eventually gathering in front of the Oakland YMCA.
With fewer than 200 Oakland police officers attempting to contain more than 300 protesters, a side group of demonstrators broke away and headed for City Hall. After forcing their way into the building, police say the protesters “severely damaged” an antique model of City Hall, vandalized offices, broke into an elevator panel, attempted to activate the fire sprinkler system and broke windows. None of the alleged activity, other than the break-in and flag burning, can be seen on the video released by police.
The department had few, if any, officers near City Hall and could not sufficiently respond to the break-in, according to officers who worked the protest. They said most Oakland police were focused on the YMCA until officers from other agencies arrived to provide mutual aid. Police arrested 409 people over the course of Saturday's events.
“This type of criminal behavior, clearly outside of the First Amendment, is disrespectful to the residents of Oakland and is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in my City,” police Chief Howard Jordan said in a statement. Jordan, who was previously the interim chief, was appointed to the permanent position Wednesday. “The residents of the City deserve better than this, and it’s time for the violence and vandalism to cease,” he said.
To bolster charges of vandalism, the department also released four photos of the break-in. Two detailed images show protesters in the process of burning the flag on the front steps of City Hall.
One photo shows the 100-year-old model partially shattered and overturned on the floor. Another photo shows what appears to be a messy table surrounded by chairs. Cynthia Perkins, a police department spokeswoman, said the photo depicted an office in City Hall that was vandalized, but did not specify exactly what protesters had done to the space.
Investigators have not made arrests in the break-in. They called on the public to help identify the protesters in the photos and video footage.
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Alan Kurtz
Another piece of outstanding reportage by Shoshana Walter. But honestly, that video is so depressing. Even if the front door had been open, which plainly was not the case, what rationale could there possibly be—apart from malicious vandalism—for trashing City Hall this way? And when the flag is nonchalantly carried out to be burned, one's stomach turns. It's like watching an innocent man being led to the gallows.
Becky Young
They have just become a mob with no real purpose and the mob mentality seems to be to destroy. It is sad when something that seemed in the beginning to have a worthwhile purpose has lost it's intent. They need to go home.
Josh Wolf
This video is interesting, but it actually raises more questions then it answers. It does show that whoever first gained entry to city hall fumbled with the door for about 10 seconds. It doesn't show the crowbar that the mayor had originally suggested was used to gain entry, and it's unclear exactly how the masked figure opened the door.
Ten seconds seems like a short amount of time to walk up to a door with some sort of leverage device and force it open. 10 seconds seems like more time it would take to open a door with a key you used frequently, but it's probably about how long it would take someone to fumble with an unfamiliar lock. It's almost certainly less time than it would take to pick a lock.
I have no idea what happened, but Mitch Jesserich the host of Letters to Washington on KPFA told me he personally saw the door ajar before people got in.
Evan Morris
are you blind ? you can see a hooked shape object being pushed into the door and hooking the pull bar to open the door.
jen zariat
Funny, i was there too, and that's what i thought i saw.
Interestingly enough, OPD uses my video of the flag burning without attribution as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38gIB-d2A3M
Aaron Aarons
Alan Kurtz writes: "And when the flag is nonchalantly carried out to be burned, one's stomach turns. It's like watching an innocent man being led to the gallows."
Have you been so hypnotized by a lifetime of patriotic indoctrination, Mr. Kurtz, that you react to the demise of a piece of cloth as if it were a murder of a human being?
And while I won't quarrel with the implication that the flag, as a symbolic piece of cloth, is 'innocent', the historical and ongoing use of that symbol to rally the forces of mass murder is anything but. Long may it burn!
jen zariat
The OPD used my video of the flag burning without attribution, in violation of the Creative Commons license under which it was published. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38gIB-d2A3M
gil epis
<snp>Police eventually used tear gas to break up the crowd, and protesters fled, many eventually gathering in front of the Oakland YMCA.<snp> Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/15vqD)
One issue I've had with the reports of the OO events is the compression of the events' timelines. Often the time compression leaves an impression of cause and effect that does not seem real to a witness of the events.
While the above snip seems inocuous in that regard, it's a lousy habit. In the snip above, there is a 3-4hr period between the two events described. People stopped 'fleeing' and continued marching. In the 3-4 hour period, a couple of notable events occured, including a nasty confrontation with the police, in front of the museum, where people were injured by gas and projectiles. And a dinner break.
As far as the phrase 'gathering in front of the Oakland YMCA'... that is a less inocuous misrepresentation of the events. The police channeled the protesters directly into this location. Protesters were not allowed to disperse out through the police lines that confined them, for several blocks, until they were finally corralled in front of the YMCA. The term 'gathering' is, at best, inaccurate reporting and at worst extremely biased reporting.
Joyce Steinlauf
I don't know many of the details of Occupy Oakland, but most of the time it has looked like massive destruction with NO real "protest" going on. Or is it now Protesting the Police?
Yes, people are mad - but destroying your hometown economy, including the busy shipyard, is completely uncalled for and has a negative effect on everyone...
Cut it Out - NOW!