Violent protests in Berkeley tonight

[ESF]

Main drag in town has been shut down.

It sounds like a war zone outside my house. Helicopters flying overhead, dozens of cop cars speeding by for the last couple hours.

They had to bring in Oakland PD for backup. Tear gas and rubber bullets were just used.

Now I'm hearing ambulances and fire trucks.

#berkeley on Twitter.

[bina]

Wow. Stay safe

[jln]

That's scary - stay safe.

[ESF]

Dec 7, 2014 0:02:59 GMT -5 Dig Ophelia said:

One of my cousins lives there, and is a pretty big activist, so I hope she's not out there tonight.

I hope she's ok If she is there

From what I gather, it started out largely peaceful but was infiltrated by an anarchist group.

H and I were discussing going out over dinner and worked up while eating our arugula salad dinner and then we read about the tear gas and remembered we are boring old yuppies.

So I'm drinking wine and following it on twitter and observing the helicopters from my front steps. #fuckthepolice #botabox

[aussiecrush]

We left early and are headed home. Thoughts with those still there. The pictures online are shocking.

[meshaliuknits]

We just got around the worst of it coming home tonight. They've got more than just OPD out there. We also saw Alameda county & city and Pleasenton cars when we squeezed through. Word is the TJs got busted up & a wine shop.

I admit to chuckling that Berkeley parking enforcement was still out. Berkeley doesn't mess around with parking!

[secretlyevil]

I hope there aren't any people hurt tonight.

[josieposy]

Hope everyone stays safe and nobody gets hurt.

[ESF]

Dec 7, 2014 0:20:56 GMT -5 aussiecrush said:

We left early and are headed home. Thoughts with those still there. The pictures online are shocking.

I didn't realize you were in the area. Hello!

[ESF]

Dec 7, 2014 0:21:44 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

We just got around the worst of it coming home tonight. They've got more than just OPD out there. We also saw Alameda county & city and Pleasenton cars when we squeezed through. Word is the TJs got busted up & a wine shop.

I admit to chuckling that Berkeley parking enforcement was still out. Berkeley doesn't mess around with parking!

I'm reading Hayward PD too.

The Berkeley PD does not have the military grade weaponry that these other cities have. They don't even have tasers here. So the pictures and videos just look completely insane. There was a parade of at least two dozen cop cars that drove by a couple hours ago, they must have all come in from another city.

[ESF]

Dec 7, 2014 0:28:20 GMT -5 Dig Ophelia said:

Thanks ESF. I'm glad you two are safe at home tonight, that's quite an escalation. Hopefully, I will hear from her or another family member if she's out in it.

Do you know why the Anarchist group is out there?

My guess is that they see the protests as a perfect opportunity to provoke the police to get the kind of reaction they want to further their agenda.

Which fucking pisses me off.

[aussiecrush]

Dec 7, 2014 0:28:50 GMT -5 ESF said:

Dec 7, 2014 0:20:56 GMT -5 aussiecrush said:

We left early and are headed home. Thoughts with those still there. The pictures online are shocking.

I didn't realize you were in the area. Hello!

Hi! I'm further inland but they can't organize for snot.

[aurora]

Stay safe!

[origami]

Dec 7, 2014 0:35:05 GMT -5 ESF said:

Dec 7, 2014 0:28:20 GMT -5 Dig Ophelia said:

Thanks ESF. I'm glad you two are safe at home tonight, that's quite an escalation. Hopefully, I will hear from her or another family member if she's out in it.

Do you know why the Anarchist group is out there?

My guess is that they see the protests as a perfect opportunity to provoke the police to get the kind of reaction they want to further their agenda.

Which fucking pisses me off.

are they basically professional protesters? The kind that follow G8 summits or more local?

Stay safe. That sounds scary.

[meshaliuknits]

Dec 7, 2014 0:28:20 GMT -5 Dig Ophelia said:

Thanks ESF. I'm glad you two are safe at home tonight, that's quite an escalation. Hopefully, I will hear from her or another family member if she's out in it.

Do you know why the Anarchist group is out there?

Protests = anarchist groups. Always always always.

[ESF]

Dec 7, 2014 0:45:31 GMT -5 origami said:

Dec 7, 2014 0:35:05 GMT -5 ESF said:

My guess is that they see the protests as a perfect opportunity to provoke the police to get the kind of reaction they want to further their agenda.

Which fucking pisses me off.

are they basically professional protesters? The kind that follow G8 summits or more local?

Stay safe. That sounds scary.

I don't know. I am realizing that I have no idea how anarchist groups organize and how they differ from one another. I think it's possible that the group is just a ragtag team of shitheads or that they are something more organized and violent.

[meshaliuknits]

Dec 7, 2014 0:33:41 GMT -5 @juno said:

Dec 7, 2014 0:21:44 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

We just got around the worst of it coming home tonight. They've got more than just OPD out there. We also saw Alameda county & city and Pleasenton cars when we squeezed through. Word is the TJs got busted up & a wine shop.

I admit to chuckling that Berkeley parking enforcement was still out. Berkeley doesn't mess around with parking!

Ha.  I just heard the fire truck leave our station.  Nothing's going on here is it?  I hope Udupi's OK.

Nothing I've seen. All the action is south.

[meshaliuknits]

Dec 7, 2014 0:56:36 GMT -5 ESF said:

Dec 7, 2014 0:45:31 GMT -5 origami said:

are they basically professional protesters? The kind that follow G8 summits or more local?

Stay safe. That sounds scary.

I don't know. I am realizing that I have no idea how anarchist groups organize and how they differ from one another. I think it's possible that the group is just a ragtag team of shitheads or that they are something more organized and violent.

The ones I'm aware of are not really organized or unified.  They get the word out with social media and use large after dark protests as cover. The goal is disruption of the status quo, but AFAIK not to make any larger point.

I knew a couple in college.

[meshaliuknits]

Dec 7, 2014 1:09:55 GMT -5 Dig Ophelia said:

Dec 7, 2014 0:55:41 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Protests = anarchist groups. Always always always.

I know, I know some Anarchists, but this is the first time I've heard of a group being out during these recent protests and I wasn't sure if they were there for any specific reason, or just because, well, that's what they do.  lol  There were some protests in DC the other day and now I'm wondering if any of them were there. 

Hope everyone stays safe the rest of the night, and tomorrow, should it continue. 

I can't remember the last big protest around here they didn't show up to. Oscar Grant, all the occupy stuff, the UC regents. At this point I just assume they'll be there if it gets dark.

[ESF]

Shit.

/photo/1

[y4m]

Be safe Berkeley friends

[ESF]

This needs a caption contest. JHC.

[origami]

Dec 7, 2014 2:38:13 GMT -5 ESF said:

This needs a caption contest. JHC.

This is it baby. We may never see each other again.


(They see each other the next day buying patchouli at Annapurna.)

[Velar Fricative]

Dec 7, 2014 2:38:13 GMT -5 ESF said:

This needs a caption contest. JHC.

Inspired by the Vancouver riots couple? Nice try, but no.

[heyjude]

This is what my cop friend thinks of all this.

:/

[ESF]

Here's a timeline. Lots of Photos and a story here --

www.berkeleyside.com/2014/12/06/breaking-post-ferguson-demo-in-downtown-berkeley-march-continues-to-berkeley-police-hq/?utm_content=bufferc01c0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

This particular story is insane ---

Update, Dec. 7, 1:51 a.m. As the crowd has continued to move south on Telegraph Avenue, from Ashby to Alcatraz Avenue toward Oakland, reports about protestors injured by police continue to come in.

One of those reports came from Cindy Pincus, who photographed a head wound she said she received while trying to retreat from police around midnight. (The picture appears below at about 1 a.m.) She shared her account of what happened with Berkeleyside, and said she is at the hospital and receiving staples to treat her injury.

“The police began walking forward and in 2-3 seconds were pressed up against us with their batons held parallel between them and us. I shouted ‘Be calm, be calm, we’re peaceful!’ And they kept walking forward. I looked to the left and a police officer had begun jabbing a protester with the end of his baton. I turned around to retreat and passed a woman who had fallen and was being trampled. I bent down to pick her up under one armpit while another woman grabbed her other arm. As we were lifting her backwards I saw an officer raise his baton over my shoulder and was struck on the back of the head as I was bent forward. My vision momentarily blacked out and I saw stars. I put my hand to the back of my head and started running. I felt a welt rise immediately and blood ran down my neck and covered my hand.”

Pincus is an intern minister at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco.

[LoveTrains]

Dec 7, 2014 13:41:57 GMT -5 ESF said:

Here's a timeline. Lots of Photos and a story here --

www.berkeleyside.com/2014/12/06/breaking-post-ferguson-demo-in-downtown-berkeley-march-continues-to-berkeley-police-hq/?utm_content=bufferc01c0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

This particular story is insane ---

Update, Dec. 7, 1:51 a.m. As the crowd has continued to move south on Telegraph Avenue, from Ashby to Alcatraz Avenue toward Oakland, reports about protestors injured by police continue to come in.

One of those reports came from Cindy Pincus, who photographed a head wound she said she received while trying to retreat from police around midnight. (The picture appears below at about 1 a.m.) She shared her account of what happened with Berkeleyside, and said she is at the hospital and receiving staples to treat her injury.

“The police began walking forward and in 2-3 seconds were pressed up against us with their batons held parallel between them and us. I shouted ‘Be calm, be calm, we’re peaceful!’ And they kept walking forward. I looked to the left and a police officer had begun jabbing a protester with the end of his baton. I turned around to retreat and passed a woman who had fallen and was being trampled. I bent down to pick her up under one armpit while another woman grabbed her other arm. As we were lifting her backwards I saw an officer raise his baton over my shoulder and was struck on the back of the head as I was bent forward. My vision momentarily blacked out and I saw stars. I put my hand to the back of my head and started running. I felt a welt rise immediately and blood ran down my neck and covered my hand.”

Pincus is an intern minister at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco.

That poor woman. So it is things like this that really make me angry about the militarization of the police force. If they were just peacefully standing there & protesting, why were the police forcing them back like that? Why were they trampling woman and smacking other women on the head with batons? It is so messed up. 

[anodyne]

Dec 7, 2014 1:09:55 GMT -5 Dig Ophelia said:

Dec 7, 2014 0:55:41 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Protests = anarchist groups. Always always always.

I know, I know some Anarchists, but this is the first time I've heard of a group being out during these recent protests and I wasn't sure if they were there for any specific reason, or just because, well, that's what they do.  lol  There were some protests in DC the other day and now I'm wondering if any of them were there. 

Hope everyone stays safe the rest of the night, and tomorrow, should it continue. 

They were in Ferguson both when it got violent in Aug and again in Nov.  Both the RCP (Revolutionary Communist Party) and PLP (Progressive Labor Party) were here.  I have seen Revcom's website plastered all over posters being carried in NYC.  They are typically bright yellow signs they hand out to people who have no clue what they are actually promoting.  

[anodyne]

400+ photos of the violence last night

www.crowdalbum.com/album/5484a16c992cc60f7c005e52/Police-use-tear-gas-on-Berkeley-protesters_20141206

[ESF]

More protest tonight. Lots of helicopters overhead. Twitter is reporting that the tear gas just came out again.