OAKLAND, Kalifornia (PNN) - November 3, 2011 - Pig thug cops have used tear gas and “flash bang” grenades on a large crowd of demonstrators that lit a massive bonfire in the streets of downtown Oakland, in a conflict following a day of action that saw the city’s port closed after demonstrators.blocked it
Dozens of police in riot gear advanced on protesters who had pushed together several large metal and plastic trash bins to start a fire that reached 15 feet in the air. Police reportedly warned protesters to clear out before firing several rounds of tear gas and flash bang grenades.
Several protesters, many of whom wore gas masks, chanted, “We Are Scott Olsen”, as pig thug cops fired at them early Wednesday. Olsen is the Iraq War veteran who suffered a fractured skull last month after he was hit in the head by a projectile during a conflict with thug pig cops.
The conflict came hours after thousands of Occupy Oakland protesters marched on the Port of Oakland, disrupting operations at the nation’s fifth largest port and causing all maritime operations in the city to close.
Officials at the Port of Oakland said Wednesday that they hope to resume normal operations in the morning, after protesters marched through the city all day and into the night on a “general strike” that saw banks and stores picketed and disrupted the flow of traffic.
Demonstrators began marching to the port at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, and by 5:00 p.m. all work had been halted at the port. A message on the website OccupyOakland.org said that the goal was “to stand in solidarity with the longshore workers and shut down the evening shift of the port.”
