Produced by Brandon Jourdan and David Martinez
On January 28th, 2012, Occupy Oakland moved to take a vacant building to use as a social center and a new place to continue organizing. This is the story of what happened that day as told by those who were a part of it. it features rare footage and interviews with Boots Riley, David Graeber, Maria Lewis, and several other witnesses to key events.
TRT: 20:16 February 2012.
Note: This Thursday (today 2/9/12) at 6pm, 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
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