Protesters Clash With Oakland Police

Tear gas was deployed outside Oakland City Hall several times Tuesday night.

UPDATE:

Things stayed calm overnight, with police in riot gear standing post near City Hall.

Protesters vowed to be back at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

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Occupy Oakland supporters took to the streets of Oakland Tuesday night to protest being evicted from their camp site earlier in the day. 

The rally and wandering march stayed mostly peaceful in the early hours, but turned confrontational just before 8 p.m. and then again around 9:30 p.m. and again at 10:30 p.m. and again at 11 p.m.

Police deployed tear gas on protesters near Frank Ogawa Plaza after they said they issued several warnings that the gathering was unlawful and ordered the crowd to disperse.

Tear gas filled the intersection at 14th and Broadway, causing some people to vomit and others to run in search of water to douse their eyes.

Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said during a 9:15 p.m. news conference that only tear gas was used Tuesday night and denied any officers used rubber bullets or other ammunition.

BART closed Oakland's 12th Street station because of the tear gas deployment.

Each time the tear gas was deployed the group left the area, but soon returned.

Howard made it clear the goal of the officers Tuesday night was to make a stand and keep Frank Ogawa Plaza clear.  The area had not been cleared of debris following the early morning raid.

The officers sprayed several more canisters of tear gas on to the crowd around 9:30 p.m. and again they dispersed. Witnesses said the police fired after people in the crowd throw rocks or ice at the officers.

Reporters on the scene said that a couple people were injured and were seen on the ground bleeding following the tear gas deployment.

Jordan told reporters that two officers had been injured Tueday night along with an unknown number of protesters. KPIX said they videotaped a tear gas cannister hitting a person in the head. 

A city press release explained why the city removed the people from Frank Ogawa Tuesday before sunrise.

Some 12 hours after the raid on the Occupy camp, several hundred people marched from the main branch of the Oakland Public Library to City Hall to "retake the space where they were evicted." The first time police did not allow them into Frank Ogawa Plaza, they walked to Snow Park for another peaceful rally. They later returned to the City Hall location where the tear gas was deployed.

Oakland police, as well as the Santa Clara County and Alameda County sheriff's departments and the California Highway Patrol, were at the scene to back up the OPD efforts.

The Occupy Oakland encampment began on Oct. 10. 

City Administrator Deanna Santana said it was her call to have them removed. Police arrested people starting at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday because Santana said conditions had deteriorated and the city could no longer maintain public health and safety and crowd control.

Oakland police said 79 arrests were made in the Frank Ogawa Plaza area near 14th Street and Broadway and six additional arrests were made at Snow Park a few blocks away near the corner of 19th and Harrison streets.

 

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