10:30 PM: I'm going to sleep shortly. Not going to stay up until 3:00 or 4:00 AM for the raid to start. If someone wants to start another live blog please go for it. Otherwise people can update in the comments. I'm just hoping I don't wake up tomorrow to find out that someone has been killed.
I'm going to start with this, as an inspiration for everyone.
Scott Olsen - 11:00 AM - Mobile - Public
I'm feeling a lot better, with a long road in front of me. After my freedom of speech was quite literally taken from me, my speech is coming back but I've got a lot of work to do with rehab. Thank you for all your support, it has meant the world to me. You'll be hearing more from me in the near future and soon enough we'll see you in our streets!
Intrepid Kossack allie123, who was arrested in October defending the camp as the police cleared it with tear gas, is down there at the General Assembly, tweeting away as Alyssa.
Susie Cagle, cartoonist, reporter and another arrestee, this time from the night of the General Strike on November 2nd, is also tweeting, along with occupyoakland and may others.
I'll begin the reporting with this, retweeted by allie123, from Boots Riley, one of the movers and shakers for #OccupyOakland. Of course, nothing is certain. This could be a gigantic fake out scare-tactic from the City, but it seems to me that the odds are very good that tonight is the night. Nothing is likely to happen until at least 10:00 PM, when the park "officially closes" and hence people would be, de jure, there illegally.
BootsRiley
Looks like theyr goin2try2 evict #OccupyOakland tonight. Longshoremen, labor council, clergy all rallying2protect #OO from OPD. I'm going.
Potential support from those groups is heartening to hear, but it's going to take a shitload of people to defend the square down there. There were thousands and thousands in Portland; they succeeded, but it was only a fleeting victory. There's unlikely to be more than 400 people there now, even with the General Assembly going on. Will anyone from #OccupySF or #OccupyCal come in aid? It will be a fairly cold night tonight, but there's little chance of rain.
Recent tweeting, chronologically down the page.
jesse4sf2012 Jesse Smith
#occupyoakland post raid: 4pm. Oakland Public Library. There will be cake.
greenkozi greenkozi
I love that there's going to be an occupocalypse dance party tonight at #OccupyOakland on assumption of later raid. Keep humor alive!
occupysfbot #OccupySF Bot
RT @OakFoSho Watch us LIVE! Take part! Be witness to history! #OccupyOakland GA! n0.gd/upiyiu #OO #OWS #OSF #p21
BootsRiley Boots Riley
Come tonight to help prevent #OccupyOakland from eviction. Dress warmly. There will be DJs playing music all night til OPD comes.
mrdaveyd Davey D
They are saying that police will be moving in on #occupyOakland tonite..No matter what happens the focus is financial tyranny by banks & 1%
alyssa011968 Alyssa
#OccupyOakland proposals coming up. I need to eat and get some medicine just in case something happens which it won't. I run fast.
susie_c Susie Cagle
#occupyoakland Dude in construction helmet yelling through GA, "take the bridge! You bunch of pussies!"
Updates will occur below the squiggle. Anyone with any information please post in the comments.
7:53 PM PT:
zunguzungu Aaron Bady
At all the camps, everyone was resigned to the police raid tonight, but seemed completely certain about coming back.
8:00 PM PT: A touch of humor before the shitstorm.
susie_c Susie Cagle
#occupyoakland Very polite man just asked me for weed. Guy next to me was happy to help.
1 minute ago
susie_c Susie Cagle
Impending threat of violent police action and mud everywhere are not enough to keep all these women from wearing heels at #OccupyOakland.
8:02 PM PT: IIUC, there are now three different sites for #OccupyOakland. The main plaza, Snow Park, which was #Occupied previously and raided, and...
susie_c Susie Cagle
#occupyoakland satellite camp has formed in front of veterans memorial building.
8:11 PM PT: Seems like the General Assembly is now debating something related to
St. Paul Principles.
8:16 PM PT:
alyssa011968 Alyssa
#OccupyOakland I am rebellious and deviant by nature. And I don't take orders frm random 20 yrolds. I denounce those who propose stupid shit
8:19 PM PT: More substantiation that raid will take place tonight. "Overwhelming force."
The following excerpt is from an email send to parents of a school near the Occupy Oakland encampment at Frank Ogawa Plaza. Text from the message was reposted on the Facebook page of Old Oakland, a historic district in downtown Oakland. Rumors have been flying all weekend about imminent police raids on the encampment in front of City Hall. However, three days of cease & desist notices from Oakland authorities, the early opening of the city’s winter homeless shelter and a planned mass demonstration at the University of California-Berkeley on Tuesday are strong indicators that OPD and other law enforcement will take action sooner rather than later.
We are waiting for a response from Oakland Police on the source of this notification and will update as soon as possible.
“A highly coordinated law enforcement raid to clear out OO is planned to take place Monday morning early. Significant public safety mutual aid is being called in from neighboring jurisdictions. The goal is to permanently clear out the OO encampment of illegal activities. Expect to see overwhelming use of force by police directed to occupiers who refuse to comply.
Peaceful protesters are advised by police to stand down until the situation stabilizes. The general public is advised to stay away from the area during the action to avoid potential personal injury from incidental contact with conflicts.”
8:38 PM PT: No one seems to be tweeting anything...
There does seem to be a liveblog of the General Assembly
8:45 PM PT:
GiveMeThatJuice Vizzle
@alyssa011968 agreed. ive seen some pretty stupid shit proposed. this is up there near the top of the list
9:11 PM PT: Proposal for St. Paul Principles fails with 60% in favor (needs 90%).
9:12 PM PT:
alyssa011968 Alyssa
#OccupyOakland I had no idea I was on ustream. I know I probably sounded crazy. When I get mad I am not calm about it.
2 minutes ago
alyssa011968 Alyssa
#OccupyOakland it won't get 90% but it is getting to much support.
9:15 PM PT: Talk now about the supposed imminent raid.
9:25 PM PT:
occupyoakland Occupy Oakland
Putting out call 2 come support the camp tonight. Come and show how many 99% really is- Arrest is usually avoidable if you dont want it. #OO
9:34 PM PT:
occupyoaklandnow: For Alerts from oakland sign on to the text alert system. Text the word "bayaction" to 41411.
9:46 PM PT: General Assembly over. Oakpocalypse party begins. Seems to be a quiet fatalism about the police raid.
9:52 PM PT:
occupyoakland Occupy Oakland
Based on various signs, looks like they are playing divide and conquer tonight. Saying snow park is safe, and all who stay will be arrested.
10:02 PM PT: It's the witching hour. Anyone in the plaza now is technically there illegally.
10:02 PM PT:
submergingmkt James S. Henry
@alyssa011968 "Diversity of tactics" presumably includes black bloc stuff that wld quickly destroy this mvmt.Hold the peace line,ppl! #OWS
27 minutes ago
Retweeted by alyssa011968
submergingmkt James S. Henry
@alyssa011968 The police state thrives on fear+ITCHES for violence; what drives it crazy is FEARLESS NONVIOLENT defiance #ows<br />
10:04 PM PT:
susie_c Susie Cagle
#occupyoakland Watching newscaster totally lie on air about what happened at GA just now. Surreal.
onlysuccessful1 Jason
@alyssa011968 good to see it fail. this would give OPD cover for the rubber bullets & tear gas that the media & public would buy & accept.
10:16 PM PT:
We will not be moved
Posted on November 13, 2011 by Scott
This is a statement from Cami and other members of the media team. This is not an official statement from the GA.
Last night, Occupy Portland amassed thousands of people in preparation for an eviction scheduled for 12:01am Sunday morning. Some sources are reporting that as many as 5,000 or more Occupy supporters squared off against police in riot gear to protect Chapman and Lownsdale Squares, where protestors have been camping in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy movements across the globe. As of this writing, many of the protestors cleared out and tents are being torn down, but, in light of their victory of last night and this morning, they are regrouping. Portland Mayor Sam Adams really can’t expect people to give up so easily.
In the meantime, things at Occupy Oakland last night were quiet and peaceful, with few signs of police presence. A small open mic was followed by music and mingling. Though some have cleared out their tents, many are committed to defending Frank Ogawa/Oscar Grant Plaza despite eviction notices delivered twice in the past week.
Supporters of Occupy Oakland, let’s follow last night’s example in Portland! The small contingent of campers at the plaza needs your help! We need bodies ready to be on the ground at a moment’s notice in order to protect our camp and keep our movement strong. Mayor Jean Quan and other prominent members of the City Council and Chamber of Commerce, which represents corporate interests in Oakland, want us out. If they can sweep us under the rug, they can go back to business as usual—working on a multi-million dollar downtown renewal project that is meant to “revitalize” the city but in reality has pushed out thousands of marginalized Oakland residents and gentrified much of the downtown area. Allowing them to move our encampment is agreeing to turn our roar into a whimper, to “protest” in a way that safely accommodates the interests of those who care nothing about Oakland’s 99%. They already control our money, our jobs, our products, our homes, even our public spaces—are we going to let them control our protest, too? Last week, Mayor Jean Quan said, “Occupation is a tactic, not a solution.” She needs to know that destroying the camp is a tactic, not a solution. We’re here to stay until the fight against the government and the corporations is won.
Be ready, Oakland. Keep updated on Twitter and Facebook. Commit to helping. Commit to coming down and linking arms to keep the Occupation in the plaza!
http://occupiedoaktrib.org/...
10:20 PM PT: You'd think the police wouldn't want to be working at 4:00 AM...
OaktownMike Michael Siegel
Ok #occupyoakland raid to be at 4am (per multiple sources). Look for your legal observers in green hats + remember NLG hotline 415-285-1011.
10:29 PM PT:
alyssa011968 Alyssa
At some cream of wheat for dinner now just have to finish coffee and will be on way back to #OccupyOakland
occupyoakland Occupy Oakland
Get downtown by 2 or 3 at the latest. All out to defend the #OaklandCommune! We will not be moved! #occupyoakland
10:33 PM PT: I'm going to sleep shortly. Not going to stay up until 3:00 or 4:00 AM for the raid to start. If someone wants to start another live blog please go for it. Otherwise people can update in the comments. I'm just hoping I don't wake up tomorrow to find out that someone has been killed.
10:41 PM PT: Huge article on raid tonight. The whole thing is a must read. Here is the beginning:
The Oakland Police Department is planning an enormous operation to evict hundreds of Occupy Oakland protesters from their encampment near City Hall early Monday morning, according to police and city offcials with direct knowledge of the plans.
Oakland has agreed to pay for 700-to-1,000 officers from numerous agencies to be deployed over the next three days, according to an Oakland official who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity. The operation was shaping up as the largest and most expensive police action in Oakland in recent memory.
The cost of the operation could reach $1 million, the official said. Combined with the city's previous effort to evict the protesters, including at least two violent clashes, cleanup and private security that may be hired to prevent the protesters from resettlign on the plaza, the overall cost of Occupy Oakland could reach $5 million, he said.