The first sign of trouble in Oakland is brewing as protesters broke into an athletic store near the city's downtown.
Police say a crowd forced their way into a Foot Locker store and began taking items from the store.
Before the incident, Oakland's police chief had said things were mostly peaceful in Oakland after the verdict in the Johannes Mehserle case was announced earlier Thursday.
Chief Anthony Batts said during an earlier press briefing protesters had been mostly peaceful but things changed in the evening. He said a group of protesters around 8 p.m. donned black masks and broke into the store. He said the masks were typical of an anarchist group that the city has seen protest before.
Police have begun taking people into custody as they began to move in on a crowd of protesters in Oakland's downtown.It's not clear exactly how many people were arrested, but live television live shots showed police handcuffing several people.
"Right now we have between two and four arrests and I expect that number to grow," Batts said.
Batts did say one person was injured after a police car was backing up at a slow pace but the injuries were not serious. No officers have been injured so far.
Batts also said a small incendiary device was set off near police department's downtown station, but caused no damage or injuries.
