Last Wednesday, Occupy Oakland achieved what no other movement has achieved in over 30 years: A General Strike. People all over the city walked out of schools, jobs, and homes to take to the sreets in protest against the 1% and the corruptness of corporate America. This show of solitude went rather peacefully throughout the day, resulting in only a few smashed windows due to a small group of hooligans. But that night riot police moved in once again, using tear gas, rubber bullets, and nightsticks to subdue the crowd in ways reminiscent of Tahrir Square. While the official word is that protestors provoked police violently, thus giving the officers no other choice, the protestors say otherwise.
Protestors blocked off the city's port, stopping all traffic to and from the area and effectively shutting down production. (Although it is worthy to note that production was already shut down due to a previous problem with certain containers) This lasted late into the night, eventually leading up to the occupation of an abandoned warehouse in the pier area. While this in itself may not be enough to provoke a tear gassing and shooting of protestors, it may have been enough for the police to get involved. I'm not saying that the police are in the right, obviously there are some lined being crossed at some point, but the protestors have to realize that are breaking laws and ordinances sometimes, thus forcing the police's hand. So here's the fork in the road. Either the movement must amp up its tactics or tone them down and focus on cooperative demonstration. But before we choose, lets just think back at the success of civil disobedience.
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