Northbay Uprising - Information for the liberated zones of the San Pablo Bay

2011-11-14 "UC Berkeley, Oakland brace for Occupy clashes; Plans for strike at university, raid at encampment this week" by Carolyn Jones from "San Francisco Chronicle" 
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-11-14/news/30400057_1_police-raid-tent-city-protesters]
Protesters, police and public officials in the East Bay were preparing Sunday for what they expect to be a tumultuous week in the Occupy movement, with a police raid of a tent city outside Oakland City Hall expected as soon as this morning and a UC Berkeley walkout planned for Tuesday.
In Oakland, city leaders continued to move toward a final clearing of the encampment that they dismantled on Oct. 25, only to allow protesters to rebuild. On Sunday, officials issued their third eviction notice to the campers at Frank Ogawa Plaza, who mostly ignored it.
Supporters of the camp, which first sprang up on Oct. 10, have vowed not to go easily, and have agreed to meet at the Oakland Public Library - six blocks from the plaza - in the hours after any police raid.
Following the last raid, protesters marched from the library toward the plaza before throwing paint, rocks and bottles at officers, who deployed tear gas and fired projectiles at demonstrators. One protester, an Iraq war veteran, suffered a skull fracture in an incident that ignited the movement and remains under investigation.
Still, many Oakland leaders have decided there is more harm in leaving the camp alone.
"It's time we return that public space for public use," said City Councilman Larry Reid. "This is no longer about the original goals of Occupy Wall Street. This is about extracting everything they can from the city of Oakland, and it's time for it to end."
City officials also broadened the crackdown to three other parks where protesters have erected smaller, satellite camps: Snow Park, Jefferson Square and Lafayette Square, all in the greater downtown area.
Drug use and violence have increased at the camps, leaving downtown workers intimidated and business owners crippled economically, city officials said. On Thursday, a young man was slain just outside the main camp after a fight.
Police on Sunday identified the victim as Kayode Ola Foster, 25, of Oakland and said his family indicated he had recently been staying at the Occupy camp. No arrests have been made, but police said the suspect was also a "frequent resident" of the tent city.
Foster's cousin, Rhokisha Whitlow, called the killing "senseless." She said Foster was an aspiring rapper whose life "was cut short unnecessarily. He didn't get a chance to really shine."
Campers said reports of danger have been greatly exaggerated, and that the infractions are minor compared to the sins of the powerful.
"People who are afraid of this place haven't been down here. They've been media blitzed," said Carly Jean, 29, who was camped at Snow Park on Sunday. "No one's trying to destroy anyone's life - we're just trying to stand up for people, including the 1 percent. They have a lot to gain from this, too."
In Berkeley, students in the Occupy Cal protest were laying the groundwork for two large demonstrations this week.
Organizers said they were energized by a rally last week that attracted more than 1,000 people. It, too, ended with a confrontation with police, who arrested 39 people and injured some by striking them with batons in an effort to force them to disperse.
"It was really appalling to see the UC's use of violence against its own students who were peacefully protesting," said junior Andrew Albright, a senator in the UC Berkeley student government. "Right now we're really ramping up for events this week."
On Tuesday, Occupy protesters are calling for students and faculty to boycott classes and stage teach-ins at Sproul Plaza. On Wednesday, hundreds of students are expected to protest a regents meeting at UC San Francisco over fee hikes and other issues.
Occupy protesters at UC Berkeley have vowed to remain peaceful and cooperate with police. But while many people who have demonstrated with Occupy Oakland also preach nonviolent disobedience, some have encouraged the tactics of the so-called black bloc, which include attacking the police and vandalizing property.
That could be the protesters' undoing, said Berkeley City Councilman Kriss Worthington, a longtime activist and, as a city councilman, overseer of the city's Police Department.
"Occupy Oakland is really dumb for not discouraging violence and controlling their people," he said. "To me, it creates a great distraction from their real message."
Clashing with police sometimes brings greater attention to a cause, galvanizing the public in sympathy, he said, but it can also backfire.
The encampment at Frank Ogawa Plaza has served as an energetic nerve center for the movement in Oakland. But it has seen increasing drug use and violence, factors cited by some of the 50 or so protesters who by Sunday had relocated to Snow Park near Lake Merritt, the largest of the satellite camps.
"We call it the suburbs," said Brian Bridewell, 42, who's among those who've taken up residence in the grassy park, which was also cleared out by police on Oct. 25. "I came here because it's chill. It's not crackhead central like over there."
Belinda Thompson, 51, and her daughter, 28-year-old Alex Thompson, relaxed Sunday afternoon at Snow Park with coffee, crosswords and their yellow lab, Radar.
They said they took up with the Occupy movement because they're homeless and had suffered from cuts to local social service and housing programs.
"If it wasn't for Occupy Oakland, we wouldn't have anywhere to go," Alex Thompson said, adding that protesters gave them a tent. "If this place gets cleared out, we'll just go back to being homeless again."
In an effort to allay such concerns, Oakland officials announced Sunday that the city would open its winter shelter at the former Oakland Army base today at 4:30 p.m., one day early.