Police in Oakland, California, have used tear-gas and flash-grenades as a 2,000-strong Occupy Oakland march turned violent, with some protesters claiming that rubber bullets were also fired into the crowd. At least 300 people were arrested.
The demonstrators had attempted to take over vacant buildings to use as their headquarters, they also broke into City Hall and tried to occupy a YMCA. Police spokesman Jeff Thomason told media most of the arrests came around 8 pm local time. Police took many protesters into custody as they marched through the city’s downtown area, with some entering a YMCA building.
This was just a few minutes after a good portion of marchers were arrested, then a small handful of us told we could go free. My friend who was standing directly next to me was arrested within a minute of the police telling us we could go, so I wanted to know what the police thought of the decision to allow some to go free while others were taken into custody, since presumably everyone would be guilty of the same charges. I would like to thank this officer for at least trying to answer my questions and for actually speaking to me.