MEDIA ROOTS – On Wednesday, November 2, 2011, Abby Martin of Media Roots was on the front lines of the bedlam in the streets of Oakland providing unembedded coverage during the aftermath of the Occupy Oakland general strike and shutdown of the Port of Oakland.

Tens of thousands of peaceful protesters successfully shut down the Port of Oakland, the nation’s fifth largest port, at 8pm earlier that evening.  About two hours later, so-called “Black Bloc” ‘anarchists,’ or opportunists, arrived in downtown Oakland, smashing windows of banks and setting trash cans on fire.

In full riot gear, the Oakland PD lined up at about 11:30 pm and marched toward the rally, now tainted by masked “Black Bloc” saboteurs.  Police started firing smoke grenades and tear gas into the crowd of people, provoking some, particularly the masked “Black Bloc” individuals, to respond by throwing bottles and other objects back at the police.  Rather than detaining the individuals engaging in property destruction, the police advanced on everyone in sight.

After the crowd scattered, the police lined up in apparent hammer-and-anvil formation to close in and arrest the remaining protesters at the Occupy Oakland encampment.

MR

***

 Abby Martin, Media Roots Founder, catches a dose of tear gas reporting from the front lines.