Protesters Force Freeway Closure In Oakland

ktvu.com

March 5,2010

OAKLAND, Calif. — An estimated 150 people were arrested Thursday evening after a splinter group broke away from a large protest in Oakland and took to I-880 and I-980, a police spokesman said.

The group took to the streets of Oakland just after 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon, marching away from a downtown rally protesting massive cuts to education as Oakland police followed

Just before 5 p.m. at the intersection of 11th and Castro, the group made its move and bolted, swarming onto Interstate 980.

“It’s pretty clear that once they got to the freeway that there were intentions to disrupt traffic throughout the Bay Area,” said Thomason.

The group started running at the 880-980 interchange behind them, police in riot gear pursuing on foot. The crowd then jumped from northbound 880 to southbound 880

One witness says a protestor trying to avoid arrest made a move and leaped off the interstate.

“[He] tried to jump onto a tree and then hit the ground and wasn’t moving,” said Mike Lewis, one of the protesters involved in the freeway demonstration.

“[It’s] still premature for me to comment on that situation, but one individual did jump from the freeway and he is in critical condition,” said Thomason.

Chaotic moments ensued, as traffic in both directions came to a stop. Patrol cars arrived on scene and the protestors were pinned down

Traffic was snarled in the area, affecting thousands of commuters.

Once officers had the approximately 150 protesters contained, the arrests started up on the freeway and supporters began to surface down below.

Jonah Minkoff-Zern said if funding was restored to public schools in California, then what happened on the interstate would be considered a success.

“When asked if the possible danger of taking over the interchange outweighed the benefits of the protest, he said he didn’t consider what the demonstrators did as violent.

“50 percent of urban high school students are not finishing high school,” said Minkoff-Zern. “That’s criminal that needs to be front page front story news.”

The Oakland Police Department countered that running onto I-880 is in no way a safe situation

“You have vehicles traveling at a high rate of speed,” said Thomason. “One of those protestors could have been killed and it could have caused another accident with the traffic.”

About 50 minutes after the freeway was shutdown, officers walked the demonstrators down the Jackson Street off ramp and reopened the freeway to traffic.

Police say 150 people were arrested. Two buses transported a majority of the protesters to Santa Rita Jail, while one bus took the rest North County. All will most likely face misdemeanor charges.

Thomason said the protesters were arrested for various offenses including failure to disperse, adding that they posed a great risk to themselves and commuters as they forced numerous vehicles to come to sudden stops.

« We’re just lucky that no one was killed, » Thomason said.

He said there were no reports of violence or vandalism in connection with today’s rallies.

Most of those arrested were among the estimated 2,000 people who attended a rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza near 14th Street and Broadway in an effort to end cuts to education. That rally ended at 4 p.m.

Many of the demonstrators headed to San Francisco for an evening rally there and others went home.

However, others marched through downtown streets and ended up in front of the office of University of California President Mark Yudof on Franklin Street between 11th and 12th streets.

Oakland police blocked off several streets in the area, creating a traffic jams and forcing drivers and pedestrians to take alternate routes.

Several pedestrians were upset at being redirected and yelled at police officers.

One of the protesters outside Yudof’s office carried a sign that said, « Chop From The Top. »

Students demonstrations over tuition raises becoming violent

examiner.com

March 5

In what has started to become a common problem for students, State representatives are continuing to slash budgets all over the nation.  What would normally be ignored by most is no longer being ignored by students, faculty, and their families on many college campuses.

This week alone, many of the protests has seen an active movement in violence and arrests.  In Oakland, police broke out riot gear and hauled 160 protesters to jail after events turned ugly.  The students were at the door steps of the State building when they were asked to leave.  These protesters did not go quietly.

Other events, including California police holding back student protesters who shut down part of Interstate 80 while making their way to the city center of Sacramento.  In this case, rubber pullets and pepper spray were used to break up the protesters.

Why the big demonstrations over budget cuts?

The answer lies in what is getting cut.  In over 30 states, double digit college education funding cuts are being implemented, which will force universities to pass the burden back onto the students, faculty, and their families.  This is done by increasing tuition and student fees, freezing or lowering salaries for faculty, and limiting the number of classes being opened to those attending the university.

This is only adding fuel to the ongoing fire that has tuition rates hitting record highs, which has not been seen in the history of Higher Education before now. Adding to this problem is the announcements of University Presidents, Deans, and Board of Trustees who are seeing six and seven digit annual salaries, all while being almost invisible to students and faculty.

Please keep your eyes open to these problems.  The California demonstrations are only the beginning of a troubled time for State and local officials.  You can see more of these protests by watching the CNN clip, which is found below.

Please continue this discussion with me. I can be reached at: andrew@lambmaster.com. It would be great to have you on the e-mail update list. Simply click on the « Subscribe » button at the top of the page. If you know someone who would enjoy this article, please copy the link, from the browser, and send it along. The more people we have in the discussion, the more interesting topics will become.

~ par Alain Bertho sur 8 mars 2010.

Publié dans émeutes, riots