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Mayor Quan issues statement about Occupy Oakland raid

on October 25, 2011

At 7:30 Tuesday morning, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan’s office issued a statement regarding the police raid on the two downtown Occupy Oakland camp sites. The statement, reprinted in its entirety, reads:

Many Oaklanders support the goals of the national Occupy Wall Street movement. We maintained daily communication with the protest0rs in Oakland.

However, over the last week it was apparent that neither the demonstrators nor the City could maintain safe or sanitary conditions, or control the ongoing vandalism. Frank Ogawa Plaza will continue to be open as a free speech area from 6 am to 10 pm.

We want to thank the police, fire, public works and other employees who worked over the last week to peacefully close the encampment. We also thank the majority of the protestors who peacefully complied with city officials.

I commend Chief Jordan for a generally peaceful resolution to a situation that deteriorated and concerned our community. His leadership was critical in the successful execution of this operation. City Administrator Deanna Santana developed the plan and secured mutual aid from other departments and the State of California. She will direct departmental teams, including safety, public works, communications, to restore conditions at the Plaza so that it is available for public use.

The City welcomes all Oaklanders to continue to use the Plaza during daylight hours for peaceful protest.

You can see Oakland North’s complete coverage of Occupy Oakland here. 

48 Comments

  1. Anon on October 25, 2011 at 8:25 am

    Peaceful? PEACEFUL?! What part of tear gas, rubber bullets and flashbangs says “peaceful” to you? Absolutely abhorrent. These cronies of the 1% are pushing on boundaries they don’t want to cross. The people will only take so much…



    • Deborah Grabien on October 26, 2011 at 12:18 am

      Mayor Quan? You’re an idiot.

      Seriously. Is this woman as stupid as she sounds? Is she completely disingenuous? Was she even ALIVE during the Democratic National Convention, when another mayor’s shock troops charged peaceful protesters? Does she not know what a flash point looks like?

      She ought to be kicked out of office. And by the way, the official email for Oakland PD, wanting to us to “tell them how they’re doing”, is ocop@oaklandnet.com.

      TELL them.

      Tell them they’re as stupid as mud. Tell them that protecting the people stealing their pensions is going look a lot less like fun when they lose those pensions and end up eating dog fod, assuming they can afford it.

      One tweet from a woman tonight had a cop throwing her medicine for her multiple sclerosis away and sneering “too bad” at her. I also have MS. Probably just as well it wasn’t me this overpaid undereducated slob pulled that on, because I would have gone down in a hail of bullets and there really WOULD have been hell to pay.

      What a bunch of idiots. And they couldn’t do it themselves – no, they had to get rentals from other jurisdictions.

      Well done, Oakland PD and Mayor Quan. Thanks for showing the watching world that every negative thing the rest of the species thinks about this country is embodied in our urban police forces and elected officials.



  2. Luke on October 25, 2011 at 8:28 am

    generally peaceful? Who is she kidding? They used rubber BULLETS, tear gas, etc on UNARMED and NONVIOLENT protestors. Unreal.



  3. […] AM PT: Oakland Mayor Jean Quan has issued a statement: Many Oaklanders support the goals of the national Occupy Wall Street movement. We maintained daily […]



  4. Felix on October 25, 2011 at 9:05 am

    How is this journalism? This is just reprinting government press releases without any critical analysis, counter-perspective, or context. The job of the media is not simply to serve as an amplifier for elites.



  5. TarenCapel on October 25, 2011 at 9:08 am

    You authorised tear-gas canisters fired in to the middle of a camp at 5am that contained parents and small children? Really?

    Looks like “next steps” for you would include running for office in Syria.



  6. oak1234 on October 25, 2011 at 9:22 am

    i’d like to see somebody shoot Mayor Quan with a rubber bullet and see if she still believes it to be a peaceful act



  7. Kristin S. on October 25, 2011 at 9:38 am

    On what twisted dimension could what the police did be considered peaceful? PEACEFUL?? Flash grenades, teargas, violently ripping through tents, rubber bullets… If that was peace, I’m _terrified_ to see what violent police look like.



  8. Emily L. on October 25, 2011 at 9:45 am

    I’m not shocked by much, but this is genuinely appalling. RECALL QUAN.



  9. Heidi on October 25, 2011 at 10:07 am

    This is clearly misrepresentation, lies, and political spin justifying brutal scare tactics used on peacefully assembled citizens. All of us supporting the Occupy movement should cry out at this injustice and misinformation.



  10. James Huber on October 25, 2011 at 10:50 am

    The news is starting to look an awful lot like the opening scenes of a dystopian sci-fi movie.

    Now that I think of it, this press release sounds a lot like OCP press release from RoboCop 2.



  11. Occupy Oakland Evicted « occupytheroad on October 25, 2011 at 11:06 am

    […] Mayor’s statement here. […]



  12. oneofthe99% on October 25, 2011 at 11:24 am

    This is an abomination. How dare you call using rubber bullets, tear gas, flash bangs and police officers in riot gear peaceful.

    This is a democracy. The government cheered the Arab Spring – why are the trying to stifle the 99%?



  13. oneofthe99% on October 25, 2011 at 11:24 am

    @James Huber – spot on dude!



  14. Susan on October 25, 2011 at 11:41 am

    I agree with the occupiers – don’t arrest them, arrest the CEOs. The CEOs are the ones who hurt America with their never ending greed.



  15. Joe on October 25, 2011 at 12:17 pm

    Everyone should call Mayor Quan’s office and express their disgust at these violent tactics she had the police use on peaceful protesters. They should encourage her to get out of their way and not repeat this when they set up camp again. Oh, and by the way, there is an effort to recall her. If you live in the area, mention that you intend to sign the petition and hope to see her recalled. Here’s her number: (510) 238-3141 and here’s her email if you can’t call: mayorjeanquan@gmail.com

    Tell her how you feel, but do so civilly.



  16. Troy Davis on October 25, 2011 at 12:37 pm

    Also noteworthy is the fact that the raid of Snow Park, an incident separate from that of the Frank Ogawa Plaza raid, commenced at 6:08 a.m. — during the established legal “daylight hours…” that “The City welcomes all Oaklanders to continue to use… for peaceful protest.” Additionally, at the press conference, protesters were blamed by the mayor for promoting a violent police response through protestor use of flash bangs and of attacking officers with plastic forks. Of course, no one can say for sure if this is true since the media on-scene at the time was tear-gassed and cameras were blocked as riot batons were employed.



  17. Devastated American on October 25, 2011 at 12:54 pm

    To all elected officials turning a blind eye to the destruction of the liberties of the United States of America: This is the legacy you are leaving your children. You are willingly participating in the systematic dismantling of the freedoms of your fellow citizens and constituents. Your silence and inaction has been noted and will be remembered. You can still change the unnecessary future you are creating. Stop and speak out with us. We support you. You serve us. This affects all of us.



    • charles on October 26, 2011 at 8:20 pm

      yep we need to vote out the republicans in general and any democrat who doesnt stand with the people



  18. DB on October 25, 2011 at 1:27 pm

    OK. Here are the rules:
    1. You can demonstrate, carry loaded weapons, and kick people in the face as long as you cosign the wishes of the upper 1% (see: Tea Party free speech– no bagger ever got pepper sprayed!!).

    2. You are free to speak as long as you say nothing to break rule #1.

    See? We have plenty of free speech in the USA!! Safety tip: Just remember to duck periodically.



  19. x on October 25, 2011 at 2:38 pm

    FWIW the police report they did not use rubber bullets, but did use bean bag rounds.



  20. Richard Lyons on October 25, 2011 at 3:15 pm

    And this nonsense, this craven behavior, is why you will be ousted from office, “Mayor” Quan!
    Perhaps you are not old enough to remember the Vietnam protests. Those, too, altered policy making, at least for a while!
    The Occupy movement will ultimately change this country for the better – cowardly arrests, flash granades, bean-bag bullets, and all your other devices notwithstanding. The PEOPLE always survive and win. You’re just another poser!



  21. Robert Lowe on October 25, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    Even for a politician whose career might have been built on egregious mealy-mouthed nonsense and empty soft-left sloganeering, this monstrous statement is a new threshold of grotesque “newspeak.” There is ample, public evidence that this police action, which no doubt comes with a seven-figure price tag to Oakland taxpayers, was not “peaceful” in any sense of the word understood by sane adults. In fact the police personnel participating appear to have, as usual, acted with completely unjustified, reckless and endangering force, in a manner that is disgustingly emblematic of how the power of the state is typically employed against lawful and justified protest and other freedom of expression. Quan has chosen to align herself with repressive state power: she should be held accountable accordingly. I imagine the lawsuits against the city will be along in due course, to say nothing of the ridiculous waste of tax resources in “prosecuting” people for engaging in protected political speech and a manner of assembly that presented no public harm or danger beyond what one routinely encounters in some of the unfortunately blighted precincts of downtown and elsewhere Oakland. As a leader, as a manager and as a strategist, Quan has shown herself in this matter to be an irredeemable failure.



  22. Mark V Reid on October 25, 2011 at 5:19 pm

    Quan look up the history and course of the Vietnam protests in case you’ve forgotten. After that, bear in mind a difference with the current protests. Vietnam protesters were motivated by ideas of world peace based on somewhat abstract representations of a conflict in a very distant land. Those protests were, despite that, still very powerful, having some influence politically and socially. But these protests are “rather different” as it were. The protesters are motivated by concrete experiences spanning many years for both themselves and their parents, not abstractly in distant lands but in their own personal experiences in their own lives. Perhaps we might gain instruction from the outcome of the Vietnam War. If you will recall, the USA had many times greater firepower. But ….. the USA lost the war. How could that have happened? The answer is to be found more in the psychology than the firepower. Your use of force was a bad error on your part resulting from poor judgment and an exceedingly inaccurate assessment of what is now your peaceful arch-enemy. Regardless of whatever delusions you might suffer from about what you might succeed in accomplishing with massive police force and violence against sleeping men, women, and young children, you need to know that your efforts are entirely futile. Where you arrest 10 protesters, you will be presented with 20 more. Where you make false claims, we will provide the media, the Occupy Network, or the courts, twice as many true claims backed by numerous witnesses and video footage. And with each trade of your giving us hate and violence and us giving you peace and solidarity, the list of people who dislike you will expand. The number and range of you enemies will grow. You have not the stamina, character, or support to find yourself neck high in something you are guaranteed to lose. I cannot think of any reasonable advice to give you, except perhaps to apologize to these men, women, and young children whom you’ve terrorized with violence and weaponry, and resign your “position” before you are recalled. In the end, it matters little to this movement what you do, as you are very small in terms of this movement. We the 99% do have compassion for you as human beings and indeed do love whatever humanity you do contain, but we the 99% do provide you with an assurance that your efforts only speed the rate of our movement as it carves its path toward national and international justice and equity. May you lack solidarity, and have a nice day, Mark Reid



  23. RevolutionaryTruth on October 25, 2011 at 5:35 pm

    I think that its funny how the Government allows us free speech, but only from 6am to 10pm.



    • Lexington on October 26, 2011 at 6:25 pm

      “Free speech? Hummm, you need a permit for that. And gosh, we seem to be all out.”



  24. Mark V Reid on October 25, 2011 at 5:50 pm

    Dear Mayor Jean Quan,

    Please look up the history and course of the Vietnam protests in case you’ve forgotten. After that, bear in mind a difference with the current protests. Vietnam protesters were motivated by ideas of world peace based on somewhat abstract representations of a conflict in a very distant land. Those protests were, despite that, still very powerful, having some influence politically and socially. But these protests are “rather different” as it were. The protesters are motivated by concrete experiences spanning many years for both themselves and their parents, not abstractly in distant lands but in their own personal experiences in their own lives. Perhaps we might gain instruction from the outcome of the Vietnam War. If you will recall, the USA had many times greater firepower. But ….. the USA lost the war. How could that have happened? The answer is to be found more in the psychology than the firepower. Your use of force was a bad error on your part resulting from poor judgment and an exceedingly inaccurate assessment of what is now your peaceful arch-enemy.

    Regardless of whatever delusions you might suffer from about what you might succeed in accomplishing with massive police force and violence against sleeping men, women, and young children, you need to know that your efforts are entirely futile. Where you arrest 10 protesters, you will be presented with 20 more. Where you make false claims, we will provide the media, the Occupy Network, or the courts, twice as many true claims backed by numerous witnesses and video footage. And with each trade of your giving us hate and violence and us giving you peace and solidarity, the list of people who dislike you will expand. The number and range of you enemies will grow.

    You have not the stamina, character, or support to find yourself neck high in something you are guaranteed to lose. I cannot think of any reasonable advice to give you, except perhaps to apologize to these men, women, and young children whom you’ve terrorized with violence and weaponry, and resign your “position” before you are recalled. In the end, it matters little to this movement what you do, as you are very small in terms of this movement.

    We the 99% do have compassion for you as human beings and indeed do love whatever humanity you do contain, but we the 99% do provide you with an assurance that your efforts only speed the rate of our movement as it carves its path toward national and international justice and equity.

    May you lack solidarity, and have a nice day,

    Mark Reid



  25. […] of “The Man” in this evening’s performance is Oakland’s Democratic mayor Jean Quan, who sent in cops in riot gear to clear the park early this morning. Her statement: Many Oaklanders […]



  26. […] Chinatown voting station on Friday filling in absentee ballots for voters,” while in Oakland Quan is facing criticism for using tear gas and rubber bullets on Occupy Oakland protesters. An unrelated official notice of intent has been to recall Jean Quan, due in part to “public […]



  27. Susan Quinlan on October 26, 2011 at 12:32 am

    Wow! It’s “1984” all over again!



  28. […] Wall Street rabble last night, and decided to clean out their camp sites.  The mayor, Jean Quan, released a statement Tuesday morning that was almost painfully deferential to the people she finally got around to […]



  29. KT Chong on October 26, 2011 at 10:31 am

    I remember Quan: that’s the mayor who was not elected. She was appointed, (which caused a controversy,) and she was the first “Chinese” mayor.

    And now the unelected mayor shows her true color. She behaves as if she is some official in China. She certainly does thing the Chinese way, ordering a crackdown on a peaceful protest.



  30. Allison on October 26, 2011 at 1:45 pm

    Quan needs to be removed from office, she is a worthless danger to the community. This was a non violent protest, that was attacked by a mob of thugs. As a small biz owner spending money to send people to the hospital and to jail for freedom of speech is appalling!



  31. Alvin Liuson on October 26, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    I don’t agree with the eviction, nor with the violence last night, but this statement was written yesterday morning before all hell broke loose.



  32. Michael H on October 26, 2011 at 5:32 pm

    I am shocked by the level of violence exibited by the OPD against peaceful protesters. Don’t you have murders, rapists, burglers to catch? I am active in Occupy Houston and stand with you guys out in Oakland. Stay nonviolent. The whole world has watched this. We shall over come.



  33. Brian on October 26, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    I am not sure what definition of Peaceful the Oakland city council is using, but how dare they call tear gas, rubber bullets, and flashy-bangy weapons (may not be flash bangs) peaceful, but the protests violent.

    At this point I am finding myself compelled to support the recall election. This is something that Jean Quan can control. If she apologizes properly, and takes appropriate actions to take this right, I am still willing to support her, but she will have to earn my trust back.

    I try to stay away from political hyperbole, but calling a violent action peaceful, that’s downright Orwellian. You are calling war peace, and I am personally pretty scared of what that means.

    In other news, does anyone have video of the press conference she just gave? I saw half of it, but couldn’t hear most of it and would love to get access to that.



  34. dave™© on October 26, 2011 at 8:08 pm

    This guy nails it:

    http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2011/10/26/you-could-even-catch-a-bullet-from-the-peacekeeping-force/

    As usual, the Oakland PD should be up on charges.



  35. commie atheist on October 26, 2011 at 8:30 pm

    This is Kent State all over again. Except this time the tin soldiers (and their atrocities) are Jean Quan’s responsibility. Maybe instant runoff wasn’t such a great idea after all.



  36. nowizard on October 27, 2011 at 4:46 am

    Mayor Quan, Police Chief Jordan, City Administrator Santana,

    I don’t live in California, but I travel there for pleasure and spend my tourist dollars while there. After what I’ve seen in Oakland the past couple of days, I’ll not be returning there again. My sympathy goes out to the citizens of Oakland. Your local government officials have shown the world that they lack the ability to deal with a simple, non-violent group of people in an intelligent, adult manner. I sincerely hope none of you are ever walking down the street if your officials face a real dangerous situation – it’s clear everyones’ lives would be in danger from your reactionary government. And you are paying their salaries and all of the extra benefits I’m sure they enjoy.



  37. bmmg39 on October 27, 2011 at 9:01 am

    Well, darling Occupiers, perhaps you could try, oh, I dunno…

    NOT threatening the police and throwing paint on them:

    http://biggovernment.com/publius/2011/10/25/breaking-occupyoakland-activists-attack-police/

    NOT choking, kicking, and otherwise assaulting innocent people:

    http://www.insidebayarea.com/twitter/ci_19150648

    NOT threatening to kill members of the media when they try to do their jobs (though I know the word “jobs” is offensive to you).



  38. […] destruction of the entire camp. At The Rumpus: In the meantime, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan released a somewhat insulting statement and is in DC while all this goes on. She is facing a recall and terrible poll numbers. She’s also […]



  39. lalarry on October 27, 2011 at 11:03 am

    A flashback to the 60’s for me.
    When will they learn ….

    Mayor Quan’s action appears to be more of a military action rather than the ceo and public servant she was elected to serve as.

    The heavy handed application of force against the citizens of oakland and for the reasons given is just plain sad and dispicable.

    I suggest that she step out of her ivory tower mode of thinking.



  40. […] However, over the last week it was apparent that neither the demonstrators nor the City could maintain safe or sanitary conditions, or control the ongoing vandalism. Frank Ogawa Plaza will continue to be open as a free speech area from 6 am to 10 pm. Read the full statement at Oakland North. […]



  41. […] Mayor Quan issues statement about Occupy Oakland raid […]



  42. […] Source: http://oaklandnorth.net/2011/10/25/mayor-quan-issues-statement-about-occupy-oakland-raid/ Source: http://www.insidebayarea.com/top-stories/ci_19194741 […]



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