2 hours ago
- ktvu.com
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Steven Perez, Pete D, ultimatejosh and 10 other people liked this
"OAKLAND, Calif. -- A march protesting the slaying of young Oakland father at the Fruitvale BART station early New Year's Day became violent Wednesday evening as a group of marchers attacked a police and lit a dumpster on fire. An estimated 500 people gathered at the Fruitvale Bay Area Rapid Transit station Wednesday afternoon to protest the shooting death of Oscar Grant III at the hands of a transit agency police officer at the station early Jan. 1. For safety reasons, BART trains are bypassing the Fruitvale station while the protest continues. Organizers said the rally was planned to last until 8 p.m., but by 5:30 a substantial portion of the rally spontaneously started marching through the streets of Oakland towards downtown. While the majority of the marchers were well behaved, just after 6:30 p.m. a splinter group of protestors started causing trouble at the intersection of 8th Street and Madison not far from the Lake Merritt BART station. A fire was lit in a Dumpster on wheels that was rolled int" - Thomas Hawk
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it looks like the riots might start sooner than the trial. - Thomas Hawk
Oakland riot police responded, shooting tear gas and approaching the crowd with shields, helmets and batons drawn to force them to disperse.
NewsChopper2 footage of the area showed police pursuing individuals from the group that was causing problems. So far, there are no reports of arrests or injuries. - Thomas Hawk
I can't like this. :( - Erica Baker
Quick, shutdown the bay bridge... - Chris White
When I read this headline and saw Thomas had shared it, I automatically thought there was some sort of photography protest. - Matt
My brother's going down to try and check out what's going on downtown. Still debating whether I should go down there with my camera or not. - Thomas Hawk
Definitely not going to make the situation any better... damn sad imho... - Ross Miller
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/... - Thomas Hawk
If you live in a police state where innocent people get shot by cops, this is what is going to happen more often. Though it's a bit sad to see protesters using violence as a method to protest a murder. - Jared Mehle
lots of police and news copters circling around nearby here in oakland (i'm in lakeshore) - Paula Wirth
keep it streaming here! I have no live TV. - Mauricio
I heard the swirling helicopters too (I'm on the opposite side of the lake). Found this link: http://www.bnonews.com/news/58... - Eileen Rivera
It does not surprise me that this turned violent. The rule of law hasn't been foremost on people's minds, unfortunately. - Spidra Webster
Yeah, from what I'm reading on the Chron, these clowns are real role models for civil disobedience. Smashing windows, setting stuff on fire...I'm sure that'll solve everything, not to mention continue to give Oakland the high quality of life it's known for. - Spidra Webster
Lake Merritt, Fruitvale, and 12 street Bart all shut down. - Mauricio
I remember the king riots in SF, way back when... they destroyed small businesses, and completely changed the neighborhood... it was great for big businesses who could capitalize on the small businesses going out of business, and build huge flagship stores, but bad for average people... a trail of broken glass and dreams everywhere... - Paula Wirth
:( - Pete D
I obviously picked the right time to come home on BART, to miss all the excitement... I guess having to leave Macworld to go back to work was a good thing... - Paula Wirth
Having been in protests before, it may not even be the majority of people being violent. But all it takes is one particular group of agitators and the whole protest is tarred with that reputation. - Spidra Webster
Is it still going on? - Pete D
Not to justify rioting, or destruction of property, but the shooting was just below the radar until the rioting. Sometime you gotta jump up, yell, and wave your hands to get attention. - Mauricio
Mauricio, I don't know where you live, but the shooting was certainly NOT just below the radar in the SF Bay Area. It's been the subject of intense media attention and online discussion. I can't speak for in-person conversations because I haven't been out much. My friends have been tweeting and retweeting, linking on Facebook, and the videos have been getting (disturbingly) record hits on the sites that host them. - Spidra Webster
Spidra, I've heard about it, my wife hadn't. We assume our social network circles are wider than they actually are sometimes. I'm guilty of it everyday. The below the radar in this case are the vast majority of the people, even in the bay area, who are not "connected". - Mauricio
Spidra, You would, despite this, probably be right that the MAJORITY of the bay area knew about the shooting before the rioting. - Mauricio
