[Note from the Editor: Update at the end of this post.]

Still trying to figure out what happened on Thursday night in Oakland? It isn't any wonder if you follow mainly the msm, like the above local ABC affiliate above. Here is the "report" that went along with this video:

A window at President Barack Obama's Oakland campaign office was smashed Friday night as a group of protesters marched through downtown.

A group of 100-200 Occupy Oakland protesters began marching down Telegraph Avenue after being denied a permit to protest near the First Friday event at Art Murmur.

A few Obama campaign volunteers were working inside the office when the window was smashed in with a brick. No one was hurt.

Police made no arrests.

An error in this report states Friday, when it was actually Thursday.

Continue reading »

Via OccupyWallStreet.net:

Date:
Sunday, March 24, 2013 - 3:00pm to 5:00pm

Address:
55th St. and Church Ave.
Brooklyn New York 11203
United States

People in New York: Support Kimani Gray's community and all communities of color besieged by police violence, by coming out for a MASS MARCH SUNDAY THE 24TH. 3 pm, from the site of Kiki's vigil at 55th and Church, marching to the 67th precinct.

WEDNESDAY the 20th, there is a Stop and Frisk Town Hall Meeting (Co-Sponsored by Council Member Williams) 5:30 PM-7:30 PM, 833 Marcy Ave (Concord Baptist Church)

Jose Lasalle of Stop Stop and Frisk has asked people to make this Town Hall about police brutality, not violence amongst kids. There may be a speak-out and planning meeting for the Sunday march as well (for location, check: goo.gl/XjveK).

You have also been invited to come every day at 7 pm to show your support for East Flatbush in its fight against police brutality (55th and Church). Check the WE WANT JUSTICE FOR KIMANI GRAY Facebook page for updates.

Keep in mind that people from outside the neighborhood should come as supporters and take a back seat.
Here are some tips on how to show respect when you arrive (these are tips from OWS, not asked of us by community members):

Do not mic check at these demonstrations. That's for East Flatbush residents and march Organizers to take the lead on. If you do so, and you are not a resident or long-time Organizer in the area, we will know you are not with Occupy Wall Street.

If you choose to take photographs, ask people's permission. Feel free to livestream or film police activity: http://www.livestream.com/userguide/index.php?title=Broadcast_live

When asked whether people from outside the neighborhood should be coming by, a longtime Organizer had this advice to give: "Come, yes. But don't come if you are not internally organized. Come. Come if you can take a back seat. Come if you plan to develop real relationships and maintain them over the long-haul."

In Oakland there will be a solidarity rally, March 21st at 5pm #OaklandProtest in #solidarity w/ #BrooklynProtest

#KimaniGray
#OaklandProtest
#jailkillercops
#Justice4KimaniGray
#Justice4AlanBlueford

Saturday, February 2, 2013 - 2pm
Eastside Arts Alliance, 2277 International Blvd.
Oakland, CA

On Saturday, February 2nd, Strike Debt Bay Area will host Oakland’s first Debtors’ Assembly.

As individuals, families, and communities, most of us are drowning in debt for the basic things we need to live, including housing, education, and health care. Even those of us who do not have personal debt are affected by predatory lending. Our essential public services are cut because our cities and towns are held hostage by the same big banks that have been bailed out by our government. All of us are outraged that big banks don’t have to pay their debts, but we do.

Debt keeps us isolated, ashamed, and afraid—of becoming homeless, of going hungry, of being crippled or killed by treatable illness, or of being trapped in poverty-level jobs. Those facing foreclosure, medical debt, student debt, or credit card debt feel alone, hounded by debt collectors, and forced into unrewarding work to keep up with payments.

Strike Debt is building a movement to challenge this system while creating alternatives and supporting each other. At the Debtors’ Assembly we will come together as a community and begin to rethink debt, not as an issue of individual shame, but as a political platform for collective resistance and action. Come to the Assembly to learn about tools for escaping the closing walls of debt, to share resources and skills, and to magnify our assembled energy. As we share our experiences we can begin to take back from the financiers what they have taken from us: our freedom and our future.

Debt resistance is just the beginning. Join us as we imagine and create a new world based on the common good, not Wall Street profits.

ORGANIZATION INFO: Strike Debt Bay Area is the local chapter of Strike Debt, an international movement of groups working to build popular resistance to all forms of unjust debt. Strike Debt has organized the Rolling Jubilee, the ]Debt Resistors Operations Manual](http://strikedebt.org), and local debtors’ assemblies. Strike Debt supports the creation of just and sustainable economies, based on mutual aid, common goods, and public affluence. We owe the financial institutions nothing. It is to our friends, families and community that we owe everything.

[Via OccupyWallSt.org]

Via Idlenomore.ca:

Check out this stunning, short documentary on "Idle No More" from the San Francisco and Oakland solidarity rallies created by Grounded TV.

Idle No More calls on all people to join in a revolution that honors and fulfills Indigenous sovereignty which protects the land and water. Colonization continues through attacks to Indigenous rights and damage to the land and water. We must repair these violations, live the spirit and intent of the treaty relationship, work towards justice in action, and protect Mother Earth.

Free desktop streaming application by Ustream

Final Update: Details on the arrests available at KTVU.

9:00pm Update: Oops, not sure what happened, possible livestream mix-up, apologies. All veterans are still inside Obama headquarters. Police officers inside speaking to them right now via livestream.
Police giving option of leave voluntarily, or face arrest. I think I know how this will end.

7:55pm Update: All veterans, including Scott Olsen, have been removed from Obama headquarters, arrested and are being loaded into a police van headed for central booking. Quick, quiet, and thankfully with no injuries.

7:52pm Update: Um...The veterans have now all requested to be removed from the Obama campaign's mailing list.

7:44pm Update: Other veterans identities unknown, they won't say anything except "I am Bradley Manning."

7:39pm Update:Oakland Police are stationed at all entrance/exit doors of Obama headquarters, arrests are likely imminent.

Live: Scott Olsen, other veterans are locked inside of Obama's campaign headquarters in Oakland, California and are refusing to leave "in solidarity" with Bradley Manning.

If there's one way to unite the 99 percent, it’s direct actions aimed at the big banks. People are angry, and it's not hard to see why: Massive bailouts; exorbitant executive salaries; huge bonuses; dishonest and illegal lending practices; fee and rate hikes; all adding to American outrage. "Too Big to Fail" is a moniker that should be applied to the American people, not a financial institution whose collapse threatens the global economy.

One of the keys to the early momentum of the Occupy Movement was the outright anger people have for big banks. For example, the statistics surrounding November 5th Move Your Money Day are amazing. Credit Unions added over 650,000 new members with over $4.5 billion in deposits. There were hundreds of actions across the nation bringing people together to close accounts, and in many cases, close banks for the day. Individuals, small businesses, nonprofits, and more, all came together to fight back against the big banks, and their bottom line.

Direct action against the big banks is not new to the Occupy Movement. In the Bay Area, Occupy Oakland has shut down banks with massive marches roaming around the city shutting down every bank in sight. Occupy SF has marched on, and even occupied a Bank of America, tents and all! Marching on, and closing banks, happens all over the country. Occupy Wall Street has marched on Goldman Sachs on more than one occasion.

One action aimed at big banks happens weekly in San Jose, California. They call it Financial Friday. Members of Occupy San Jose, and the surrounding communities (recently, members of Occupy Oakland have joined in), rally together to shut down banks in downtown. Sometimes all it takes is one person to shut down a bank. The surrounding community “shows mad love," as one local protester shared on twitter, and why wouldn’t they? There's no love lost between the 99 percent, and massive financial institutions seemingly bent on the destruction of anyone in the path of their quarterly bottom line. People want to take action, and given the opportunity, they will.

Why not use Financial Fridays to unite this effort around the country? Sporadic actions held all over the country make much bigger waves when united together. A weekly national action can be used as outreach to educate people on the benefits of moving their money, and the terrible practices of their specific bank. But that’s not all, Financial Fridays can be organized around specific foreclosure defense actions. Occupy Oakland is currently helping homeowners in foreclosure with groups like ACCE, and Causa Justa (Just Cause). Just this week, Occupy Oakland shut down a local Union Bank in a community wide effort to save the home of 77 year old great grandmother Katie Mitchell. Mrs Katie, as she is known, has been trying to refinance for years while getting the financial runaround from JP Morgan Chase and Union Bank. The direct action forced the branch manager to meet with Mrs Katie and review her case. Helping families like Mrs Katie’s is one of the surest ways to unite communities and recapture momentum.

Continue reading »

This Thursday, Occupy Oakland is hosting a Citizens Police Review Board and Open Forum on Oakland Police Department Actions at the Grand Lake Theater.

Last week, Oakland's Citizens Police Review Board (CPRB) announced they had indefinitely postponed a forum which had been planned for months. This forum had been intended to allow the community to discuss the Oakland Police Department's (OPD) handling of Occupy Oakland.

In actions against Occupy Oakland, OPD has consistently broken with their own crowd control policies and procedures, while brutalizing those they have arrested. Journalists have been arrested and detained, crowds have been tear gassed with no path of escape, and 409 people were trapped, assaulted, and arrested with no dispersal orders given. Let us not forget the most egregious action of OPD misconduct when Scott Olsen was shot in the head with a tear gas canister and nearly killed. All of these actions, and many others, on the part of OPD are proof that the department has a long way to go in the implementation of reforms mandated by federal courts stemming from the Rider Case almost a decade ago.

That the Oakland CPRB would choose to cancel its forum at such a critical time is appalling. As a result, Occupy Oakland is hosting its own CPRB to address these issues and instances of misconduct and brutality. The community, press, and city officials are all invited to attend and listen. There will be a public speaking section at the end of the forum for all to voice their opinions, concerns, and experiences.

Thursday, February 9, 6:00pm
Grand Lake Theater

AGENDA:

INTRODUCTION

* Ground rules & listening
* Chaplains / Safer spaces
* History of OPD misconduct - Walter Riley
* Riders case, Negotiated settlement agreement - Jim Chanin

PRESENTATIONS

* OPD actions related to Occupy Oakland - An Occupy Oakland perspective
* NLG overview of legal issues

CITIZEN'S POLICE REVIEW BOARD

* Intro into what CPRB does and how they can help

Q&A

* Chief Jordan has been invited to answer a few questions from Occupy Oakland and the CPRB.

PUBLIC COMMENT AND TESTIMONY

* Intro on how to speak honestly, without incriminating yourself
* Intro from counselors on how to deal with emotionally charged issues

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The Occupy Oakland CPRB can be seen live on UStream:

http://www.ustream.tv/occupyoakland

For updated information about the forum, check the facebook event page:

http://www.facebook.com/events/101900519939076/

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

Soundtrack: Naruto - Yamagasumi

Update: Six protesters have now been arrested in front of Wells Fargo, without incident, shortly after officers in riot gear showed up at the Sacramento Steet entrance to Wells Fargo. Protesters were moved away from the entrance. Some business people on a balcony overlooking the scene cheered the protesters.

It's also apparently a busy, busy morning for occupiers in that area, as already today protesters started the day at 6 a.m. in front of Goldman Sachs, some dressed as squid. The costumes are a reference to Rolling Stone magazine writer Matt Taibbi's description of Goldman Sachs as "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity."

One staffer swore at the protesters and a businesswoman from Seattle said "they are freaks and they should get a job" as she was diverted to another entrance.

Also, another group of occupiers are protesting at a federal court house in Oakland today. Watch for updates here.
-------

Before opening hours today, more than 200 protesters blocked a Wells Fargo branh office in San Francisco on all four sides, on California, Montgomery, Liedesdorff and Sacramento streets. Dozens of San Francisco officers and a few fire trucks also surround the bank. No arrests reported yet.

Wells Fargo employees were waiting in the rain and under awnings on Liedesdorff alley. They don't look happy.

Protesters are chained to each other in front of the building, preventing employees from entering.

The bank is currently closed.

"We Are The Many" by Hawaiian artist Makana is not only written specifically as a song for the Occupy movement, it has the distinction of being a surprise act for the World Leaders Dinner at APEC when Makana pulled open his jacket and shirt to reveal an undershirt with “Occupy with Aloha” handwritten on it.“I found it odd,” he says, “that I was afraid to [sing “We Are the Many”] at first. I found it disturbing. I didn’t like the idea of being afraid of singing a song that I had created in front of any group of people.”

I knew the power in the words that I had written. And, in a world that was free of punishment for being yourself… I would have sung it at the top of my lungs. But I also didn’t want to do it out of disrespect. I did it because there was really no other option at that point. I had to do it. I had to forget about what could happen to me. I was guided by something bigger… I don’t know what it is… I can’t put a name to it… The whole thing was providence.
...

Makana seems to have gotten the job done, spelling out protesters’ frustrations with corporations, market capitalists, lobbyists, political leaders, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the bank bailout, while naming the refusal of party politics and the embrace of social media that makes “occupation” a much bigger ideological and practical strategy than trampling tents at Zuccotti Park or in downtown Oakland even begins to understand. And then, so not for nothing, he manages to sum it up with a catchy refrain (played, he says, some fifty times at the APEC dinner):

We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few
We are the many
You are the few

Since Makana's performance during APEC, he has become a giant among ki artists, and a growing luminary on the world music scene, earning Grammy nominations, and opportunities to play with rock legends like Santana and Sting.