“On 14th st. Every car has smashed windows -- a few burned out”
4 hours ago
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Kol Tregaskes, David Newman, Mark Philpot and 54 other people liked this
maybe you should take a little walk with your camera. A... cheaper camera. - Mauricio
Where? What? Why? - Hutch Carpenter
:( - Derrick
:( - AJ Batac
KRON 4 has pretty good coverage of this situation - Mike Doeff
Things like this make me glad I live in Harrisburg, where most of the crime happens in the Mayor's office. - Shawn Farner
14th St in what city? - Aaron Brazell
"A march protesting the police killing of a young Oakland father at the Fruitvale BART station on New Year's Day has turned violent, police officials told BNO News on late Wednesday." http://www.bnonews.com/news/58... - Stephen Edgar
14th St. in Oakland, CA, Aaron. - Spidra Webster
Dellums is trying to calm people down. Bottles being thrown. Crowd is angry - Thomas Hawk
Rioting up broadway - Thomas Hawk
50 riot police surrounding civic center area. Crowd taunting the police - Thomas Hawk
People throwing bottles at the riot police from balconies. - Thomas Hawk
Tear gas - Thomas Hawk
you taking pics? - Mohomed=genieyclo
Hope you're out of harm's way! - Anne Bouey
Good lord, what the hell is going on in Oakland?! - Haggis (Sean)
Why is this happening? - CES 20 hrs away!
Cops moved us from scene - Thomas Hawk
Ugh. (Us residents refer to it as "East 14th St.," despite the city's attempts to make "International Blvd" stick.) - Richard Chen
Make sure you are safe first, get somewhere off the street man. - Haggis (Sean)
thanks for this--so upsetting... - susan mernit
Some photo's & videos going to Flickr but 'tags' are not very accurate for some postings - http://www.flickr.com/search/?... - Stephen Edgar
Thanks for the commentary, man! Putting that video mode to use? - Jeremy Brooks
For the people asking "Why is this happening" -- http://www.ktvu.com/video/1840... - Karim
Got a bunch of shots. May head home. Probably lots of sporadic incidents for the rest of the night. - Thomas Hawk
Sean - a terrible and serious shooting happened at Fruitvale BART station on NYE. A tragic situation has been made worse by eye for an eye thinking. People have been whipping each other up about this for days now. BART hasn't been helping by dragging their feet on interviewing the officer who did the shooting. So I think it was a foregone conclusion that the protest at Fruitvale BART station this afternoon was going to be violent. And then that attracts an element that likes to fuck shit up - Spidra Webster
Love that KTVU can show me a video ad in FF (firefox) but then tells me I have to have a WMV plugin in order to watch the video. #FAIL - CES 20 hrs away!
Karim & Spidra - Thanks for filling me in. I had heard brief mention of it but didn't know the full extent. That is shocking and sad, and violence is never the answer to violence. - Haggis (Sean)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/j... - cjmart
The only challenge with the News report and the various cell phone vid is that we have no clue what was going on with the "suspects". I think the Grant family lawyer makes the best point when he says there's no reason to draw a weapon with a suspect "in that position" (face down, hands cuffed behind him) - CES 20 hrs away!
Car right behind where I parked was torched - Thomas Hawk
You ok, Thomas? - Mathew A. Koeneker
well, there's one vid that gives you a pretty good view. i wouldn't want a cop's job, but i still can't imagine how he felt threatened enough to pull his gun out and pull the trigger. i'm dumbfounded. sad, sad, sad. - cjmart
Heading home. - Thomas Hawk
Spidra, it's not just that BART has been dragging their feet on interviewing the officer who shot Oscar Grant. Instead of submitting to an interview, the officer *quit* his job. http://www.mercurynews.com/cri... the officer basically executed a man who wasn't resisting police, and who was being pinned face down on the ground by multiple officers. criminal charges have not yet been filed. as far as i know he is currently walking around, free as a bird. - Karim
cjmart - it's sad, baffling, and totally shocking. But I want that cop tried in a court of law, not on the street. - Spidra Webster
i'd be beyond disappointed if he doesn't end up facing a jury of his peers. - cjmart
Of course the officer quit his job to avoid an internal affairs interview. I'm sure his lawyer advised him to do it. I agree that he should have been arrested if he hasn't been already. I just don't think two wrongs make a right. I want to see the rule of law here. I don't trust mobs. - Spidra Webster
back home. Will process some shots and upload them. It was pretty chaotic and is still going on. Lots of cars burned out. Store windows broken. Broken glass everywhere. Basically the cops are just following a group of a bunch of angry people around downtown Oakland and firing tear gas on them when they start throwing bottles at the cops. A few fires. This riot was about on par with the San Francisco riot after the Rodney King verdict, but I didn't see as much looting. - Thomas Hawk
I didn't shoot any video, brought the 10D instead of the new 5D. Kind of stupid of me to park down there. When I got back to my car the car right behind me had been burned out. It was fine when I parked there. There's just no knowing what direction the crowd is going to go. - Thomas Hawk
my eyes still burning from all the tear gas. Constant buzz of police helicopters over Oakland. - Thomas Hawk
Hardcore Thomas... Hardcore... - Johnny Worthington
Holy F***. I was living in Rockridge when Rodney King went down. Local store owners boarded up their windows and everything closed early. No rioting happened in Oaktown that night. Things have changed, and not for the better. I hope this cop gets the death penalty, or at the very least, put away for life. - Helen Sventitsky
This is crazy, and I don't know how to show my appreciation to Thomas for his reporting. Don't get yourself into any trouble if you can help it, man. - Derrick
Glad your car was OK. Smart move to bring the old camera. - Jeff P. Henderson
More: http://www.flickr.com/photos/i... - Rochelle
+1 Spidra - cjmart
+100 Thomas - Zach Landes
Friend of mine lives up the street (can hear this from window and radio as well) he is hearing open mic radio xmission with officers sounding like they are getting trampled: orders to deploy more tear guess have been issued - Eric Rice
Spidra, it just sounds a little weak when black men get "accidentally" shot and killed by cops on a fairly regular basis, and people call for the rule of law *after.* And where is the rule of law anyway? The cop hasn't been charged with a crime. This article (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/...) says that *if* he is charged with a crime, it will be a *first.* He might be at Starbucks. He might be planning to flee the country. Where is your justice now? - Karim
geez... I hope my ex is ok, this is where he lives and works... and where he parks his car... this neighborhood is not a great one to walk around in, equipment or no, I was mugged here... the only equipment you want to flash here is a weapon... - Paula Wirth
uploading shots to Flickr now. They are a bit grainy because I was shooting in low light with the 10D. It was very tense down there. People are very angry. A lot of tension. The helicopters are still flying over Oakland and I imagine that they will continue to for the rest of the night. - Thomas Hawk
Thomas, thanks for keeping us posted. I'm very angry that mainstream media hasn't picked up on this. FF and local Bay Area outlets/blogs have been the bulk of my intel, and I appreciate your candor and participation. I think we *all* do. - Derrick
good reporting Thomas and glad you're safe - Marshall Kirkpatrick
I don't know where "my" justice is because I don't run the system. But I sure as hell don't see how running around Oakland torching civilian cars, OPD cars, vandalizing Oakland businesses and threatening bystanders helps. The BART cop who pulled the trigger should be arrested pending trial. He is entitled to due process and innocent 'til proven guilty just as any other citizen should be. I don't call for different rules for different people. - Spidra Webster
I have yet to hear/read any rioter or riot sympathizer give any goal other than "higher publicity profile" for these riots. I have no idea what goal they're going for other than grabbing some rope and hanging the cop from a tree. But I thank you for giving your perspective because you've made me aware of a couple things I wasn't yet aware of. - Spidra Webster
Innocent until proven guilty is a bit of an exaggeration: http://www.ktvu.com/video/1840... He's entitled to a fair trial like anyone else, but until he stands that trial, he's not entitled to walk free. If he is, that's malfeasance. - j1m
I meant "innocent 'til proven guilty" in the sense it's used in court. That the officer shot the man is not in dispute. What the trial will be about is intent and whether it's murder 1, murder 2 or manslaughter. - Spidra Webster
Flickr set here: http://flickr.com/photos/thoma... - Thomas Hawk
Derrick, I'm sure the mainstream media will pick up on the story. But the headlines won't read, "WHITE COP WALKS FREE, ESCAPES CRIMINAL CHARGES IN EXECUTION-STYLE SLAYING OF INNOCENT BLACK MAN." It'll be more like "UPPITY, ANGRY NEGROES RIOT YET AGAIN ABOUT SOMETHING OR OTHER." - Karim
blog post on the rioting here: http://thomashawk.com/2009/01/... - Thomas Hawk
Karim, I'm not doubting that at all. - Derrick
Spidra you say the cop "should be arrested" and most reasonable people would agree. The problem is, THAT NEVER HAPPENS, because in the police investigation, it's always claimed that it looked like the black guy was reaching for a weapon. Of course in this case, you had a bunch of people standing around with cameraphones. - Karim
"Odds are: If Mehserle is charged with a crime in Grant's shooting, it will be a first. No one we talked with - from the district attorney's office to lawyers who work either side of police shootings - could remember a case in the last 20 years in which an on-duty officer had been charged in a fatal shooting in Alameda County." - Karim
'"Police don't get charged because D.A.'s and police work together, so they sort of get a pass," Burris said.' -- from http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/... - Karim
poppimple got a pretty good video of the rioting here: http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=... - Thomas Hawk
My brother has a good set of images up of the rioting as well: http://www.zooomr.com/photos/d... - Thomas Hawk
Whoa! :-( - Kol Tregaskes
