As the Occupy Oakland camp continues to deteriorate into a violent, dirty incubator for anarchists, the mayor of Oakland is calling on occupiers from other movement throughout the country to condemn violence happening in her city. As a Democrat, it seems she isn't willing to condemn the movement as a whole, but rather pick which occupiers she can handle, and which ones she can't.
Faced with ever-increasing violence between police and Occupy protesters, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan is seeking help from a new source: Occupy Wall Street.
Quan plans to ask leaders of the national Occupy movement to convince their Oakland cohorts to shun violence during their protests over economic inequality, officials said Monday.
"This splinter group inside Occupy Oakland - the ones who advocate violence - are not in sync with the rest of the movement," said Sue Piper, Quan's spokeswoman. "People who have been involved with the national movement - and a lot of people who live in Oakland - are really fed up with this splinter group. This is not what Occupy is supposed to be about."
City officials estimated that about 400 people were arrested Saturday night after protesters' attempt to take over the vacant Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center near Lake Merritt. Three police officers and several protesters were injured in a melee that stretched across downtown.
I say: more tear gas. That'll do the trick.