Riots On International Blvd Following Raiders Super Bowl Loss
1/26: Riots broke out on International Blvd between 35th Ave. and 90th Ave.
For a few weeks, Oakland Police have publicly declared their intention to
attack crowds of people standing around outside after the game. As it turns
out, OPD went after mostly East Oakland neighborhoods with wooden bullets
and tear gas.
[ Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ] [ Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ]
Thousands of people were on the street. A spirit of comraderie and
friendship was literally everywhere as people had fun in the streets
together, mourning their Super Bowl loss. Things got scary when the police
attacked the crowd with tear gas and wooden bullets. Police cars were
trashed and some other cars as well as several buildings (including a
McDonalds near 63th and International) were ransacked and set on fire. At
several points there were barricades of burning dumpsters in the street as
thousands of angry Oakland residents fought with the police.
Although the crowd was diverse and was mostly nonviolent before the police
arrived, the corporate media has been playing up "random" violence. The
corporate media seems to have been afraid of talking to people in the crowd
and their one-sided coverage sparked anger directed at their vehicles. A
KRON 4 news van had its windows smashed and a KPIX (CBS) news van was also
trashed. A police officer interviewed by KRON TV said he saw the police
action as a "dry run" (perhaps for larger riots when the war starts?)
People who videotaped or photographed any police brutality should publish
it to SF-IMC. The Oakland Police are best known for their role in the
bloody suppression of the Black Panthers, their role in the bombing of
environmental activists, and most recently for their "Riders" gang which
systematically attacked Oakland residents.
http://sf.indymedia.org/
