Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

November 11, 2011

Police officer blogs about Occupy Oakland


Photo: Alameda Sheriff Deputies beating protesters,
including young women, at UC-Berkeley on Wednesday.

Union City Police Officer blogs about Oakland and Alameda Sheriff's officers doing the 'dirty work' and 'taking care of business' on Nov. 2 in Oakland

Censored News

OAKLAND, Calif. – Union City Police Officer Freddy Camacho has broken one of the rules of being a police officer: Blogging about being on duty.
Officer Camacho, blogging at the One World Self Defense and Fitness website in Union City, describes being on duty at Occupy Oakland on the night of November 2.
“I give kudos to Oakland PD and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Their officers and deputies had to do all the dirty work. All of us neighboring agencies were just moved around like pawns and formed protective lines to watch their back and flanks while they took care of business," Camacho wrote.
That was the night that a second war veteran, Kayvan Sabehgi, 32, was critically injured by police. Sabehgi is a local business owner who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. Army Ranger was brutally beaten by police officers, denied medical treatment in jail and suffered a ruptured spleen and internal bleeding.
The ACLU sent a letter to the Alameda Sheriff Department on Nov. 3, requesting the names of all officers present, their training, weapons used and all notes and correspondences in regards to the incidents. It also asked for a report of injuries.
In his blog, Officer Camacho points out that the Oakland Police Department and Alameda County Sheriff officers did “all the dirty work” and "took care of business" at Occupy Oakland that night.
Both of those police departments are now under scrutiny after multiple injuries. Marine Scott Olsen received a skull fracture, and dozens of others were injured, during police assaults at Occupy Oakland in October. Alameda County Sheriff officers coordinated officers when Olsen was shot. The Alameda Sheriff's office told reporters it provided the tear gas and lots of it.
Sabehgi was critically injured on the night of Nov. 2. Then, UC-Berkeley, students, including young women, were beaten by Alameda Sheriff Officers on Wednesday, Nov. 9, as revealed in videos.
Officer Camacho said in his blog post at the fitness website, “I apologize for not getting WORKOUT 11/3/2011 up yesterday. I had no plans of spending the entire night in Oakland standing around in riot gear getting lectured, heckled, and entertained by the people of Occupy Oakland,” he wrote.
“I give kudos to Oakland PD and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Their officers and deputies had to do all the dirty work. All of us neighboring agencies were just moved around like pawns and formed protective lines to watch their back and flanks while they took care of business.”
Officer Camacho, in his blog entry, doesn’t identify which police department he works for. A Crossfit news article in 2010, states that he runs CrossFit One World and works as traffic officer and SWAT operator for the Union City Police Department.
Officer Camacho’s blog post about Occupy Oakland is dated Nov. 3, 2011. Union City is located between Oakland and San Jose.
In his blog post, he describes his police duties at Occupy Oakland and his impressions of occupiers.
“I spent most of the night being told that I was either worthless, a chicken shit, a disgrace to mankind, and occasionally, I was told I was appreciated for what I do.”
He criticizes the occupiers at length, describing their clothes and questions where they receive the money to buy smartphones.
“I just never realized you can get so many crazy people together in one place at one time. I never knew that there were so many nut cases working in our schools, our hospitals and alongside us at our everyday jobs (everyone who lectures the police at a protest is quick to tell the police what they do for a living).”
Officer Camacho concludes by saying, “In the end, I made 10.5 hours of overtime so I guess it did me good.”
Read his blog entry online, posted as Freddy C, with more personal criticisms of Oakland occupiers at his website: http://crossfitoneworld.typepad.com/crossfit_one_world/2011/11/occupy-this.html
ACLU letter to Alameda Sheriff Department on Nov. 3, 2011:
http://aclunc.org/issues/freedom_of_press_and_speech/asset_upload_file490_10542.pdf

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