OAKLAND, Kalifornia (PNN) - October 28, 2011 - Mayor Jean Quan Friday backed off her no-camping request to Occupy Oakland protesters, who seemed determined to ignore the edict anyway by covering Frank Ogawa Plaza with dozens of tents.
City Hall issued a list of guidelines, but the protesters seemed to be setting their own agenda. A Friday afternoon visit to the plaza by documentary filmmaker Michael Moore only strengthened their determination and defiance. Moore, in turn, credited Occupy Oakland for energizing the national movement.
People all over the country watched on Tuesday while police hurled tear gas and other projectiles at Oakland protesters, Moore said.
"This week in Oakland, California, will go down as a watershed moment," he told an adoring audience that mobbed him when he arrived in front of City Hall at 3:30 p.m. "People across America were disgusted by what they saw here. Millions have been inspired by you because, the next night, you didn't go away. You have altered the national discussion."
Moore, the director of films such as "Roger & Me" and "Fahrenheit 9/11," criticized Mayor Jean Quan for backing off plans to speak to demonstrators on Thursday. He led a moment of silence for Scott Olsen, a former Marine and Iraq War veteran who was seriously injured Tuesday by what witnesses said was a tear-gas canister fired by police.
"We are all Scott Olsen," Moore said. "We will not tolerate our own people being treated that way by people we pay with our tax dollars."
He departed the plaza for his car shortly before 5:00 p.m., saying that he was going to find Quan. He never entered City Hall, where the mayor and police chief had only hours before faced more questions about the hard-handed tactics used to break up the Occupy Oakland camp Tuesday morning and subsequent protest that left Olsen injured.
Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said he visited the hospital where Olsen is recovering. He did not see Olsen but spoke with his parents.
Police, Jordan said, would maintain a "very, very minimal presence” around the plaza, where about a thousand had gathered by sundown Friday.
Jordan said there are no plans to take any action at this time on the campers, but he would not rule out future action if needed.
Asked why campers were allowed to return, Quan said, the city is not exactly "letting" them camp.
"We are asking them not to camp," she said, but quickly added that people were not being moved out because "closing down the camp would cause more violence."
The health issues that prompted the raid on the camp had not returned, she said.
The city will announce next week the results of a full review of the police tactics that helped spark the violence.
