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7:30 AM: As you probably know, Thursday night a largely peaceful demonstration in Oakland took a bit of an unpleasant turn after the verdict of involuntary manslaughter was announced in the trial of former BART cop Johannes Mesherle.
According to police spokespeople, a total of 83 protesters were arrested in Oakland last night, after damage to a number of businesses in the area.
At publication time Friday morning, readers are reporting that downtown Oakland remains peaceful and seems to be cleaning itself up. “There are a lot of cops out here” texts one “but everything seems OK. People are tired.”
BART has reopened all its stations after closing the 19th Street station last night, and BART spokesman Jim Allison
All BART stations are open this morning and the first trains of the day are running on time, an agency spokesperson says all trains are running on time.
UC employees who work in the area have been told that “UCOP management has confirmed that no damage occurred to UC buildings in the downtown Oakland area as a result of last night¹s demonstrations, and Oakland police do not expect additional activity this morning.” Employees are expected to report to work as usual, and that they’ll “be allowed to leave work early should mass demonstrations be expected or reappear later in the day.”
According to SFPD, there were no demonstrations or unrest in San Francisco last night, with a spokesperson affirming that officers will still be out in force across SF today.
10:20 AM: The Alameda County Sheriff’s Department has released a revised number of arrests from last nights demonstrations in Oakland, and, per commenter Briana’s request, we have some demographics.
Sgt. JD Nelson says that there were 78 arrests (earlier reports said 83) at last night’s protests, 66 of which were on misdemeanor offenses that will be “cited out” (that is, the folks will be released with tickets) today. Of those 78, he says that
— 19 were from Oakland
— 28 were from the Bay Area, outside of Oakland
— 19 were from California, but not the Bay Area
— 12 were from out of state
So, about a quarter of the arrestees were from the area in which they were protesting, which backs up Briana’s assertion that people should be careful about “assuming that looting is ‘typical of those people in Oakland.'”
11 AM: According to a letter sent to UC employees who work in downtown Oakland, staff is being urged to leave the area by 3 PM Friday in anticipation of another rally tonight.
The rally, which they say is planned for 6 PM, is expected to happen “at or near Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland.”
Here’s the full letter:
Dear Oakland-based UCOP colleagues:
We understand that another rally related to the Mehserle verdict is
scheduled for 6:00pm tonight at or near Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown
Oakland.As a safety precaution, Oakland-based UCOP employees may leave work at
3:00pm today.**Special instructions for Franklin Building employees: To help avoid
elevator delays and traffic bottlenecks, Franklin Building employees who use
the parking garage should leave as follows:
> Floors 5-8 may leave at 2:30pm> Floors 9-12 may leave at 3:00pm
At present, the Oakland Police Department does not anticipate rallies on
Monday, July 12, so all Oakland-based UCOP employees scheduled to work
Monday should come to work as planned unless instructed otherwise. Please
continue to watch your UCOP email.We continue to monitor the situation closely and we¹ll update employees
accordingly.
12:48 PM: Some more details on the 78 people arrested last night: as noted earlier, 66 people, will be released today because they only face misdemeanor charges, many for “unlawful assembly,” which is not obeying an order to disperse, Alameda County sheriff’s Sgt. J.D. Nelson said. However, only 16 have been released at publication time because processing is slow since the jail facility is understaffed due to budget cuts, Nelson said.
Out of the other 12 facing felony charges, 6 face charges for breaking parole, and other charges include arson, causing property damage, and using an explosive device, Nelson said. They will be kept in custody.
Of the 78 people arrested, 60 were male and 18 female.
Nelson did not have any information about whether the people from out of state were the so-called “outside agitators” who instigated the destructive parts of the protest, but he said it was not out of the question.
“You have to question why they came from out of state, and why they were in the streets in the middle of the night,” he said.
Here’s a roundup of coverage of the verdict and reactions published since we signed off last night, last updated at 2:45 PM
SF Ex: Peaceful Oakland gathering turns chaotic
ABC7: Mehserle convicted of involuntary manslaughter
ABC7: US Justice Department to review BART shooting
SF Weekly: Video: Cops At Oscar Grant Demonstration Read the Riot Act — Literally
Chron: After dark, mobs form, smash windows, loot
Chron: Cops arrest 83 in raucous Oakland protests
AP: Oakland businesses clean up after violent protests
SF Weekly: Suspected Looter Leaves Cell Phone in Wrecked Oakland Coffee Shop
AP: Tacoma vandalizing linked to Oakland protests
Sf Biz Times: Riding the Mehserle Express
SF Biz Times Sake: A rioter’s drink of choice
