Oct. 25, 2011: 12 years ago, Oct 25 2011, police raided Occupy Oakland's two-week-old [...]

12 years ago, Oct 25 2011, police raided Occupy Oakland’s two-week-old encampments at Oscar Grant Plaza (Frank Ogawa Plaza) & Snow Park, leading to a day of protests & violent clashes between themselves and occupiers, who declared a “general strike” planed for Nov 2nd in response

The 5am raid was planned as part of a coordinated 18-city effort to destroy Occupy camps led by Obama’s Department of Homeland Security & the FBI. Occupiers built barricades in expectation of the police; some threw rocks as cops moved in firing tear gas and flash bangs

105 people were jailed, many of whom were held on $10,000 bail each. In addition to the camp at Oscar Grant plaza, police also raided the smaller satellite camp at Snow Park. Later on, protestors flooded the office of Mayor Jean Quan, demanding freedom for jailed occupiers

At 4pm, about 1500 protestors gathered at the Oakland Public Library to denounce the raid. The rally was supported by several labor unions. Teachers’ unions & SEIU provided portapotties, and the Alameda Labor Council decried the attempt to “silence the voices of the people”

As demonstrators marched, police repeatedly attacked them with tear gas and other “less lethal” munitions. Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen suffered severe brain injuries after being shot directly in the head at close range with a beanbag (Oakland would later pay him $4.5 million)

The following day, over 3000 people attended an Occupy Oakland general assembly at Oscar Grant Plaza, after removing the fences that had been erected the previous day. 97% of the assembly approved a measure calling for a general strike in one week’s time