(no subject)

[openscarf]

The violence started as it got dark. The cops have been great, calm, serious, stoic, in my view. Arrested people as the vandalism started. It was started by the anarchist crowd. A Footlocker shoe store was the first store to be smashed in and looted. Then a bank, Sears, car windows smashed, fires were set. As of yet, no one dead. Some of the news coverage has been histrionic. All afternoon, certain news outlets seemed to want the worst to happen. One channel has provided very calm coverage. Love them.

It's weird to watch live. The vibe has been much heavier than the first protests over a year ago. Sirens, big booms of some sort of flash bang disbursement device. Little booms, yeah, guns? I don't know. Scary. For hours now. The helicopters left when it got dark, which made it quieter, but I kind of wish they were still around.

I live about a mile from where it started downtown. (it started as a super peaceful demonstration). The vibe is distressing. I've been amped up since about 4. Lots of triggers. I feel almost completely undone. I'll be up all night. It almost feels like a duty.

I've been emailing and texting with some people, but I don't know how long they'll be awake.

What is really fatiguing is that we'll go through this again when Mehserle gets sentenced.

There seems to be more cars going up and down my street than normal. The Whole Foods, was smashed in and that is super close to me, but far from the original mob. It gets scarier because it becomes less and less organized and predictable, people break off.

There are hundreds of cops in Oakland, they brought them in from other towns. I've been impressed by the chief, Bates.

My friend was on 24 east around 8 and said there was a solid line of cops driving in from the east.

Comments

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

The man was convicted; why the violence?

[dadadadio.livejournal.com]

I was reading the account on OL overnight. The thugs waited for the peaceful people to go home and used the cover of darkness to commit their unwarranted crimes.

For the most part it appears people are disappointed and angry at the lesser verdict but able to channel the emotions in a constructive way.

Then there's the man walking down the street with a hammer breaking windows for no reason except he's a lowlife scumbag.

5-14 years is a wide range for the judge to work within but if all he gives is probation, which is possible, last night will seem like a block party.

My jury of Monkeys hopes for the max.

[yummydeb.livejournal.com]

I hope you're okay, I can only imagine how stressful and frightening it is...

[openscarf.livejournal.com]

@wlotus, the BART cop got the lowest of the 3 charges, involuntary manslaughter. Some people acknowledged that it's baby steps, for a cop to be charged at all with killing an unarmed black man-who was on his back restrained by some 200 pounds of knee in his back. For the cop to 'mistake' his gun for a taser, many people feel he lied. I personally would have preferred at least, voluntary manslaughter. Apparently they're going to start civil proceedings, like the did with OJ. Also, there were no black people on the jury. They only took about 7 hours to deliberate.

However, it was so impressive the work social groups did in Oakland, counseling and teaching youth that rioting would solve nothing and instead encouraged them to express themselves, which they did in many venues. They were taught the economic and social consequences of rioting for the vandalized business people, the city and possibly themselves. The protest itself was peaceful. The cops stayed back. Black youth were being interviewed and they understood and were advocating peace. Most people were advocating peace. And then it got dark.

I've seen the anarchist element at peace marches, long long ago when the Iraq war hadn't quite started. I marched 3 or 4 times in San Francisco. Huge marches. Towards the end of the allotted time, they appear. Youth in black, with hoods and scarves over their faces. They travel in packs and they start running haphazardly through the crowd, their pace is faster, their energy is super volatile and they seem almost gleeful. They call them anarchists or antaganists. They start smashing up stuff, lighting fires, looting. They move quickly to different locations, its hard for the cops to keep up with them. They want the cops to go crazy on them. They want the cops to lose it. They have NOTHING to do with the cause of the march or demonstration. They just want mayhem. I'm sure they exist at every protest in any city.

Dadio, remember Holly, the girl with the short blonde hair who was jailed & people in OL (organized groups) were incensed over her jailing? She was accused of assaulting a cop with a screwdriver. She belonged to this group. She took her plea offer, the last thing I heard. Her innocence was a fairytale. The cop brutality on her was a myth.

I've heard they arrested around 80 people and something like 5 were from Oakland. What does that tell you?

And I'm disgusted with the "people's" media, the left, the non-mainstream. Not ONE word that I can see about how well it was handled by the cops. More inciting over the unsatisfactory verdict. I don't think ALL the mainstream media was focusing on the riots. Some were. But when the riots are happening, yeah, they're going to report on them.

And if there had been no riot cops, what would have happened in our town? Where is the appreciation for protection?

So where do this group of people like myself fit in? I don't think all cops and all mainstream media is ridiculous and unnecessary. I don't think all community media is accurate. Their bias is TOO much. Some of the left media and some of the mainstream media, from about 4 to 7, while it was still light, were running around town, almost wanting it to erupt. And OL? They kept posting the verdict on FB with tons of exclamation points asking their community to send them pictures, thoughts, etc.

It quieted down around midnight. But downtown is a mess. There are going to be lots of cops around all weekend.

It's just sickening. The Grant family said over and over and over, honor our son, nephew, brother, we are not violent.

[triplescorpio.livejournal.com]

It seems such a sad mess. I hope you are safe and it all ends soon.

[openscarf.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I appreciate it. I didn't expect to feel so completely depressed about it and humanity-(no drama here, ;-/)

I wasn't in physical danger, but the blanket of humanity is heavy, dark and suffocating.

Everywhere I look, I see people taking their "side" and being blind to anything else. To spark a discussion on FB? To get readership? Bah!

(Where are my biases? That's scary!)

Not everyone though I guess. I've seen people "leave" the discussions (not just this situation) in the various forums, so I think that's where I'm at now. And by discussions, I mean all politics, all social issues.

I think I just want to think & talk about spiritual themes, books, and writing now,and bore my friends here & elsewhere. ;-)

I'll see how that goes.