Mass Arrests in Oakland: Loud Protests over Oscar Grant /Mehserle Sentencing

Police might as well prepared Marshall Law in Oakland, because they arrested everyone in sight near 6th and east 17th. They declared the entire block a ‘crime scene’ and said everyone within it were arrested as agitators. Police claimed that a rock was thrown at them. Over 150 people were arrested including folks who weren’t even part of the march.

Here’s the link to our special Hard Knock Radio/ Flashpoints broadcast on the Johannes Mehserle sentencing with myself and Sabrina Jacobs…Our guest included Oscar Grant’s uncle Cephus Johnson aka Uncle Bobby,Jack Bryson who’s sons were on the Fruitvale BART platform w/ Oscar when he was killed….We also spoke with Grant family lawyer John Burris, LA correspondent Thiandiswe Chimurenga, M1 of dead prez, Minister Keith Muhammadof the Nation of Islam , Jesse Strauss Dennis Bernstein and Miguel Molina of Flashpoints and Alan Gomezof Puente Arizona.

Here’s a link to the show

http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/65170
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Tonight Oakland Police showed us what Marshall Law was all about as they conducted mass arrests in East Oakland around 6th and East 17th. All in all over 150 people were arrested and likely to be taken to North County or Santa Rita for the weekend.

This all began when about 500 marchers left downtown where city hall is located and attempted to march to the Fruitvale BART station where Oscar Grant was murdered. OPD had devised a boxed in strategy which was described as a scrimmage line. With the use of helicopters, dozens of patrol cars and undercover cops spread throughout the crowd, police in a series of manuevers tried to corral marchers into a block and immobilize them.

The marchers were a multi-ethnic crowd featuring people of all ages and classes. many were disappointed with the outcome and felt that justice was not served.

The overwhelming majority of the marchers were peaceful, in fact this was affirmed early on KGO News who had a reporter in the crowd. As the night went on the narrative changed when it was reported that some car windows were broken. Even though this wasn’t done my 99% of the marchers it was the excuse the police needed. One of the marchers described the police as increasingly aggressive when they found it it difficult to contain 500 people.

When folks arrived at 6th and East 17th the police in riot gear had all sides blocked and declared the area a crime scene. Many of the folks had no idea what that meant and why they were not allowed to leave. Police then announced that everyone except the press would be subjected to arrest. Some marchers were getting conflicting information where they were told they could leave, but when they attempted they were told they could not.

Police were on bull horns telling the crowd ‘This is a crime scene Do Not Resist the Police.” Again no one had any idea why it was a crime scene and what that meant.

Observers from Lawyers Guild were told that a rock was thrown at the police and everyone in the march were going to be arrested as ‘agitators’. This was the story given when I was out there.

Imagine our surprise when we got home and saw the evening news running stories saying that someone had snatched a gun from the holster of an officer, and someone else had hit an officer with a car. That wasn’t the 500 people in the march, those were two individuals, both who have been arrested.

We later heard that everyone was arrested for unlawfully assembly. None of this information was made known to the veteran reporters who called into our L’Onda radio show on KPFA including a veteran cop watch leader who was with the marchers as an observer and not allowed to leave with the accredited press.

The police also claim that folks had broken other windows. The question raised is why blame everyone in the march? Police had undercover officers amongst the marchers, they weren’t aware of who specifically violated the law? Why not give folks an opportunity to disperse versus arresting everyone wholesale?

Do Not Resist the Police seemed to be the new mantra from an oppressive force that has now gotten away with murder.

Folks observing the mass arrests were talking about the outlandish remarks attributed to sentencing Judge Robert J Perry. This included him telling the Grant family that with President Obama in the White House folks should not see this incident as racial.

He parroted all the talking points of the defense and pretty much blamed Oscar Grant for his own death. Please listen to the radio interview we posted up that features report backs from several people who sat in the courtroom including Grant’s Uncle and news reporter Thandi Chimurenga.

Here’s the link:http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/65170
Many are trying to figure out ways to remove him from the bench.. here’s a link to that process http://www.ajs.org/ethics/eth_impeachement.asp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrqf_7nki8Y&feature=channel

Police systematically booked people. from what we observed they seemed to be separating organizers from 'ordinary folk's

Jack Bryson's two sons were on the platform and witnessed Oscar get killed. He was still in shock over some of the outrageous things Judge Robert Perry said before sentencing Johannes Mehersle. He wants see him recalled

There were hundreds of police out in the streets..They out-numbered protestors

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=564744&id=882195719&l=a5315b96a3

Jill Clayburgh Dies At 66; One Of 25 Greatest Actresses In Hollywood

Jill Clayburgh, voted one of Entertainment Weekly's 25 greatest actresses, has died at 66 years old and after a 21-year battle with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, according to The Boston Channel. The New York City born daughter of a wealthy family produced an incredible body of work that's spanned 30 years.

Clayburgh's first major role was Portnoy's Complaint in 1972. That was followed by her amazing role in An Unmarried Woman in 1978, for which Clayburgh received an Oscar nomination. Jill received yet another Oscar nomination for her role in Starting Over in 1979. But Oscar success escaped her and over time, top roles passed her by.

But Clayburgh, along with Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, Shirley MacLaine, and Pam Greer, carved out an iconic image of the empowered American woman, the symbol of social change in the 70s.

Eventually, television would benefit from Clayburgh's talent, as she starred on such shows as Ally McBeal and most recently Dirty, Sexy Money.

Clayburgh is survived by her husband Tony Award-winning playwright David Rabe, and her son, Michael Rabe and daughter, actress Lily Rabe.

Keith Olbermann: Suspended from MSNBC

Keith Olbermann was suspended from MSNBC on Friday for making campaign donations to three Democratic congressional candidates, violating NBC’s News ethics policy.

MSNBC TV President Phil Griffin announced in a statement: “I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay.”

The donations were first reported by the Politico website earlier in the day. Olbermann acknowledged the donations in a statement to Politico, saying he gave the maximum legal donation of $2,400 to Arizona Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords and Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, who waged an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate against Tea Party candidate Rand Paul.

The charismatic, debonair and dramatically verbose host of MSNBC’s highly rated TV show “Countdown” - Olbermann is the sort of “on air” personality that you either love or just cannot stand.

With Fox ownership and TV hosts contributing millions to Republicans and allowing Tea Party candidates to openly solicit contributions on air - free of charge, it would seem a direct correlation between media bias and the almighty dollar (giving money to campaigns) has undoubtedly been proven true by FOX after all - who has only one policy about journalistic ethics: NOT ALLOWED.

Still I cannot excuse MSNBC for their lame handling of this seemingly harmless deviation on Olbermann’s part of the MSNBC employee policy.

Already, the FaceBook groups are promoting the boycott of MSNBC until Olberman is allowed to return. Keith’s absence will only hurt MSNBC’s ratings in the short and long term. I suppose rules are rules, but it will be difficult for millions of loyal viewers to fill the void until Keith Olbermann is once again allowed to freely bash the "right wing-nuts" as only he truly can.

Olbermann’s usually prolific Twitter feed was noticeably silent on the entire issue.

Jean Quan | Oakland Mayor's Race Update: Quan News Outrages Oakland Cops

The news that Oakland Councilmember Jean Quan may be the next Mayor of Oakland has outraged Oakland Police Officers. This blogger just got a call this evening from a long time friend who's name I will not reveal and who's working "out in the field" on the streets of Oakland after the Mehserle verdict, who said "Hey. It's busy out here, people on the street, but we've got it really well contained. We're way over-prepared for this, this time."  (Which explains why he was able to take time to call this blogger.)

Then his tone changed. This is someone who doesn't get that upset a lot; not this time. He said "You know me. I generally don't pay attention to politics, but whoa! This shit out here is nothing compared to what I was told. You're politically in the know, so I call on you. Is it true, we're going to have Jean Quan as our Mayor!? If that's the case, I'm outta Oakland, and I'm taking as many people as I can with me." (He didn't mean that the way you might think.)

"This shit's ridiculous," he said."What was the count?" (I explained it was 51.9 for Quan to 48.9 for Perata.) "Man. It was that voting system (referring to Ranked Choice Voting). That shit. That. The people I talked to were so confused by that. They didn't know who they were voting for."

So we continued to talk about the ballot design and how a person may be tripped up by it, then he said "That's shit's wrong.  Someone can't.  We can't have her as our Mayor."  So I asked him what he had against Councilmember Quan.  Boy, I got an ear full:  "Well, of course there's the issue of the 80 police officers.  But she's been hostile to police and our needs....And when she was at (Oakland City) Council, she was reading The New York Times while the discussion around the 80 or 85 cops was going on.  She was indifferent.  I hope this doesn't happen."

My friends view doesn't reflect my own, and I can't confirm or deny the New York Times claim, but it's really important to record what's being said out there in public, and a call from an Oakland Police Officer is a valuable look into how Oakland's rank-and-file feel about what happens in Oakland politics.   One thing is clear, the Oakland Police don't like Quan.

Moreover, they totally hated what they saw as a "political grandstanding effort" by Quan and Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan when the pair got in a line with the Oakland Police in an effort to clear the streets of people after the last Oscar Grant /  Mehserle protest.  As one cop told me at Perata's event "I'm almost 300 pounds. Do you think I need protection and help from Quan."

Like this blog post or not, it's an honest view of the road ahead for Mayor-Elect Jean Quan, should the numbers hold up.

For it's part, the Perata Campaign had this to say via email:

It appears that there might be a reversal of fortune.
We're unclear about Alameda County’s processes and await a final and accurate count.
The mystery of Ranked Choice Voting continues.

Stay tuned.

Unemployment News: Tax Cuts for Rich or 12 Million New Jobs

Washington has a clear choice: tax cuts for the richest Americans or create 12 million new jobs in this country, according to Heather McGee, director of Washington DC’s office of Demos (a nonpartisan public policy group). Demos will be releasing the results of a study on this very subject within weeks.

Republicans know how bad the unemployment news is in America, they caused most of the problems which led to massive outsourcing and rewarded those corporations with tax cuts to boot.

Now the Republicans are insisting that the election results last Tuesday means that Americans want tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, when nothing could be farther from the truth.

In an interview tonight on MSNBC’s Countdown (minus Keith Olbermann), McGee went on to disclose:

“I think it's a really strong move obviously for President Obama and the democrats to continue to push for the middle class tax cuts that were really their signature achievement in tax policy since Obama became President. Not that many people know this, actually President Obama gave the middle class the single largest tax cut in American history, during the recovery act.

Democrats really need to be pushing the Republicans to justify tax cuts for wealthiest Americans at a time of massive unemployment.”

The republicans keep saying they're willing to borrow $700 billion (this fiscal year alone) to lower taxes for the top 3% because it will create jobs. Once you're willing to borrow $700 billion aren't there more effective ways to use it to create jobs?

Demos and McGee seem to think so.

“Absolutely. We know, in fact, tax cuts cost the U.S. more than they create in economic activity. We're going to be issuing a report in a few weeks (Demos is) that talks about what it would cost to directly put the American people, out of a job through no fault of their own, back to work. You can get 12 million people back to work in this country for the $700 billion a year that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans would cost. I mean, if you frame it that way, I don't see how that's not a winning solution for the President and Democrats."

See the entire interview below.

It is really a no-brainer even thick headed Mitch McConnell and Mr. Boehner could figure out - should they abandon their unjustified dedication toward the RICH and actually do the right thing for America. What do you think?

Oakland Mayor's Race Shocker - Jean Quan Is Unofficially Mayor Of Oakland

The unthinkable just happened. Oakland District 4 Councilmember Jean Quan outpaced Former California State Senator Don Perata 51 percent to 48 percent and unofficially won the Oakland Mayor's Race.  If the results hold, Quan becomes Oakland's first female mayor and its first Asian mayor.

This news is according to the Alameda County Registrar's Office. Congratulations to Mayor-Elect Jean Quan, if these results hold up. The numbers are really, really close.

The results, the product of the new Ranked Choice Voting system, went through 10 computerized rounds. Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan and Councilmember Kaplan transferred the largest number of votes, so it must be surmised that their strategy of supporting each other actually worked. If you think about it, and look at the numbers, that means three-fourths of the second choice results were for Jean Quan. That's amazing.

This is really funny, in a good way. It means the system worked, even if some may not be happy about it.

"That means I'll have to leave Oakland," one City Hall insider said to this blogger. Indeed, Councilmember Quan wasn't the favorite of some insiders because she's frankly perceived as a rather indifferent at times. And I will not shy away from my public statement that were it not for that, Jean would be the best candidate.

So, in a weird kind of way, the best candidate won. The reason I'm happy is because we had a really democratic system that did work. It gave a level of much needed unpredictability to a race that seemed predictable.

YAHOO!

Now, it's a sad day for Don Perata, who was already announcing his first action, that of reinstating the 80 Oakland Police Officers. But now, that's probably going to be off the table.

A Note To Mayor-Elect Quan

Mayor Elect Quan is blessed to be in this position. But this blogger hopes she remembers to just be nice to everyone and greet Oaklanders with a smile and a hand shake. We need that now. God has given you an amazing blessing. I know you have it within you to be a great mayor, all you have to do is be a great mayor. Good luck.

Keith Olbermann Suspended By MSNBC

MSNBC/AP

The Associated Press has reported that prime-time host Keith Olbermann has been suspended by MSNBC because he contributed to three Democratic candidates' campaigns during this election season.

In general, it is always a very scary situation that brings up a lot of ethical questions when a journalist wants to take an active part in politics - due to the hope that journalists would be objective without publicly portraying their own personal biases while apart of a news outlet - news outlets such as MSNBC have their own specifics within the contract.

The AP article explains what NBC News contract entails:

"NBC News prohibits its employees from working on, or donating to, political campaigns unless a special exception is granted by the news division president — effectively a ban. Olbermann's bosses did not find out about the donations until after they were made. The website Politico first reported the donations."

Olbermann has made NBC aware that he donated $2,400 to the campaigns of Jack Conway, Raul Grivalva and Gabrielle Giffords.

It is interesting to note that Fox News is all for letting their hosts donate to politics - Sean Hannity is very open with his donations & News Corp (Fox's parent company) donated $1 million last summer to the Republican Governor's Association (Fox still claims not to have any conservative bias).

Jon Stewart says it best when he interviewed Fox's Chris Wallace and called MSNBC a "double-A ball" in comparison to Fox:

"You can't defeat Fox by becoming what they say you are. The only way you can defeat them is by an earned credibility, not an earned partisanship. They're making a mistake by becoming an equivalent to Fox rather than a brand new journalistic organization."

This is a quite controversial matter that will definitely be reported on more in depth in posts to come.