Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

November 14, 2011

Occupy Oakland: Crowd returns, mayor's key staff resigns as lawsuits are filed

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

Oakland Police at Occupy Oakland/Reuters photo
OAKLAND, Calif. -- After a dawn raid by police that cleared Occupy Oakland on Monday, Nov. 14, people once again flooded Oscar Grant Plaza on Monday night. Two of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan's staff resigned Monday, the Deputy Mayor and her legal adviser, in the wake of another police assault on Occupy Oakland and the filing of lawsuits against Oakland Police.

The resignations came the same day that the ACLU and National Lawyers' Guild filed a lawsuit against the Oakland Police Department, naming a videographer shot with a bean bag projectile and others. The lawsuit describes the firing of flash bang grenades and tear gas at peaceful protesters on Oct. 25 (the night veteran Scott Olsen was shot) and Nov. 2-3 (the night of the General Strike when a second veteran was beaten by police.) The lawsuit requests a restraining order against the Oakland Police Department.

Deputy Mayor Sharon Cornu resigned late Monday, effective immediately. Quan's legal adviser Dan Siegel, a civil rights attorney, said in a 2 a.m. message on Twitter that he had resigned on Monday. Siegel called Monday's police raid "unnecessary" and spoke out in support of Occupy Oakland.

Occupy Denver Monday night
A second lawsuit was filed over Oakland police covering up their name tags with tape. The City of Oakland violated a federal consent decree to reform the Police Department when Officer John Hargraves covered his name tag with black tape, an attorney said. The incident was caught on video. (Click for article.) Watch black tape video.

Meanwhile, in Denver, where occupiers have been repeatedly beaten by Denver police, hot soup waited for occupiers in the cold.

Around the world, people were horrified to see photos of police at Occupy Chapel Hill, N.C., on a rampage with assault rifles.
Police on rampage at Occupy Chapel Hill, NC on Sunday



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