At 4:00 AM this morning, Oakland and Oakland Unified School District Police arrived en masse at the Lakeview Elementary School and ordered everyone, children, parents, and occupiers, out. The school had been the site of an Occupation for the last eighteen days. Lakeview peeps are calling for a reconvergence at the school at 5:00 PM today.
Two arrests were made. Fortunately, no police violence occurred, and most people evacuated the school voluntarily. The police allegedly did warn the school occupants that they would use chemical weapons if necessary.
Latest: The police are apparently now ticketing anyone who tries to take their picture at the school! (see bottom of diary).
Previous, related diaries:
Oakland Public School Still Occupied After Five Days!
Chop From the Top, or "When Children Are Under Attack, What Do We Do? Sit In, Fight Back!"
Here's how the raid came down. Once again, Kossack allie123 (twitter alyssa011968) was there tweeting and taking these pictures. Tweets are in chronological order starting approximately at 4:00 AM.
Emily Loftis @eloft
Cops are raiding lakeview school occupation right now. Waiting 4 dispersal order. #Ows #oo
Emily Loftis @eloft
They decided to kick out a bunch of families and teachers @ 4am.
worthoftheworld @worthoftheworld
Confirmed text from #LakeviewSitIn ~ Raid happening now. #OO #OccupyOakland
Cops converging pre-raid under the freeway next to the school
Emily Loftis @eloft
Dispersal order being given. they are threatening to use chemical agents on kids families n teachers. #oo #Ows
worthoftheworld @worthoftheworld
Havent mad dashed to oak in a while. #LAKEVIEWSITIN raid now. Come out!
Lakeview Sit-In @LakeviewSitIn
cops raiding camp. Plz let all media know. Rally at 5 at lakeview. Tell everyone
Alyssa @alyssa011968
#lakeviewsitin anyone there
Lakeview Sit-In @LakeviewSitIn
COME OUT AND SUPPORT US!!! RALLY 5 pm today! Outside Lakeview
Alyssa @alyssa011968
#lakeviewsitin #oo #OccupyOakland pigs from opd including canine unit, school district & housing auth http://campl.us/...
justice!sneeded @KatG4
#FTP is saying the public school is private property & no recordings R allowed #Lakeviewsitin
Occupied Oak Trib @OccupiedOakTrib
@LakeviewSitIn is being raided now! Car support requested to help move things off site.
Alyssa @alyssa011968
Joel the father will b arrested in building & Tim Terry will be arrested. #lakeviewsitin #oo #OccupyOakland we will see if pigs arrest.
Occupied Oak Trib @OccupiedOakTrib
MT @alyssa011968 cops came to @LakeviewSitIn at 4am gave dispersal order. even though kids here said they would use chemical weapons
Alyssa @alyssa011968
#lakeviewsitin #oo #OccupyOakland reconvergence 2night at 5pm and we will be blocking admin when try move here http://pic.twitter.com/...
Alyssa @alyssa011968
#lakeviewsitin #oo #OccupyOakland waiting to see if pigs arrest. ousd spokesperson said there will be no arrest http://campl.us/...
Emily Loftis @eloft
The cops are not letting legal observers in the school while arrests are being made @ lakeview school. #Ows #oo
On the steps of the school, removing the tents.
Emily Loftis @eloft
2 Occupiers sitting in the classroom refusing to leave the school. 6 officers in the room w them. #Ows #oo
Alyssa @alyssa011968
#lakeviewsitin #oo #OccupyOakland tents coming down.forgot 2say I asked school board spokesperson if mayor knew http://campl.us/...
Emily Loftis @eloft
Last night was my first night @ the school occupation. I was on for security @ the time the cops showed. #Ows #oo
Occupied Oak Trib @OccupiedOakTrib
RT @yvonnegraphy: Two arrests Joel Velazquez and Tim Terry just taken away by pigs, one parent, other alumni #LakeviewSitIn
Alyssa @alyssa011968
#lakeviewsitin sad day! #OO #OccupyOakland
wide shot of school, dispersal and cleanup after morning has broken
jenniedelicious @jenniedelicious
when you're willing to use chemical agents on kids as police, that's where i draw the line. you are a bastard.
Emily Loftis @eloft
Around 25 kids parents teachers occupying Oaklands Lakeview Elem before 4AM evacuation. They were protesting 5 school closings. #Oo
What had happened to trigger the police response? Why,
setting up a "People's School" to teach children over the summer... Radical teaching, after all, requires a radical response.
To celebrate the first two weeks of the sit-in protesting the closure of Oakland elementary schools and the launch of the People's School of Public Education -- a summer school parents and teachers started that focuses on social justice issues -- residents of the tent city hosted a community potluck on Sunday, as well as a screening of "The Inconvenient Truth behind Waiting for Superman" in the school building's auditorium...
Ann Berlak, a 75-year-old Oakland resident, organized the People's School was there on Sunday night to watch the film and eat dinner. "A lot of people helped put it together but it was my dream," she said of the school. Berlak, who retired from teaching at San Francisco State University's Elementary Education Department, was a volunteer pilot program teacher at Lakeview before it closed down... "We started talking about wanting a summer school," she said. "I've been teaching teachers to teach social justice now for about 40 years and I wanted to create a people's school for social justice."
No one knows what follows the raid, but...
Emily Loftis @eloft
Convergence of occupiers & supporters in front of school @ 5pm today. "This is just the beginning," one man said. #Ows #oo
Well, this just in. WTF indeed:
Elle of Oakland @OaklandElle
#FTP MT @AdamInOakland: #oakland #lakeviewsitin just got 3 tickets 4 rolling by & photographing #OPD putting cyclone fences up around school.
8:40 AM PT:
Mothereath @nahashhalash
Oakland is becoming a fenced town, soon coming guard towers.Thank you bean bag Quan and Jordan! #OWS #OccupyOakland #FTP #lakeviewsitin #OSF