Events of November 10, 2011
And I thought I wasn't going to have anything to write about tonight.
Today at work was like any other day in Downtown Oakland.
-I crawled into the office due to lack of sleep from the night before. ( I was up late last night watching a live stream of the Occupy Cal Berkeley protests going on- thousands of protesters filled Sproul Plaza and of course mainstream news was off the air).
-I ate a very bland lunch because I had dance class later on tonight and didn't want to burp up spicy sauce.
-And I took pictures of the Occupy Oakland encampment around 2pm.
FAVORITE PHOTOS OF THE DAY:
The man in this last photo was talking about how the lights needed to be turned back on in the plaza. They had been out for a few days and the water had been turned off. Some occupiers suspected that City Hall was trying to slowly kick them out by using these tactics. With daylight savings time being over and the lights not on at night-it gets dark in the plaza pretty quickly.
At first the occupiers insisted that the shooting was not connected to their movement, but then I started reading tweets that said the victim and his cousin shared a tent together inside the camp. But then others insisted that information wasn't verified, so who knows.
In any event, Mayor Quan said the shooting underscored the need for the encampment to leave whether it was related to Occupy Oakland or not. I am not sure why she thinks that, because if anything, there has probably been less crime since the campers took over. Murder usually happens in dark isolated places and not with a hundred eyes watching.
As of 11:45pm, tweets were flying around the camp, wondering if they are going to be raided by the cops again tonight. If they are, it would be the second time a raid has happened after an anniversary party. The last raid was after their Two-Week Celebration.
Tomorrow, I head off to Occupy SF! I am excited! I haven't had a chance to get over there yet and take pictures.
Stay tuned!
And I thought I wasn't going to have anything to write about tonight.
Today at work was like any other day in Downtown Oakland.
-I crawled into the office due to lack of sleep from the night before. ( I was up late last night watching a live stream of the Occupy Cal Berkeley protests going on- thousands of protesters filled Sproul Plaza and of course mainstream news was off the air).
-I ate a very bland lunch because I had dance class later on tonight and didn't want to burp up spicy sauce.
-And I took pictures of the Occupy Oakland encampment around 2pm.
FAVORITE PHOTOS OF THE DAY:
Occupy Kitty!
Women's Tent
This is where women can just chill- The Red Tent. Symbolic of ancient cultures that provided a place for women to bare children and have other womenly adventures in private. I think I should put a Red Tent in my cubicle at work and crawl in it when I have cramps.
The Whole Funk and Nothin but The Funk
As the afternoon wore on, my boss left our office around 3:45pm to head for Sacramento. Having Veteran's Day off tomorrow, today was our Friday. At this point, it was just me and one other co-worker in the office.
Around 5pm, I begin to hear helicopters and didn't think much of it. Then I heard sirens, but I hear sirens everyday in Oakland, so I continued to work. The only event that was happening tonight in the plaza was Occupy Oakland's One Month Anniversary Party. They were going to have music and dancing and asked everyone to bring cake. Surely the helicopters weren't looming above for just a party.
But all the noise just kept getting louder so I checked Twitter, and sure enough, there had been a shooting right outside Tully's coffee shop and right out side the Occupy Oakland encampment.
"Wonderful," I just thought.
Right when I heard it was by Tully's, my gut reaction was that it wasn't related to the Occupiers. For the most part, they stay inside their campgrounds- well at least the hardcore ones do.
But I had to see to for myself.
I know, I know, I don't generally take pictures at night, but I figured with all the cops there and the shooter gone, it would be a pretty safe place to be. Lightning doesn't ever strike twice in the same place, does it?
I walked over to the plaza and the crime scene had been roped off and news cameras were everywhere.
At first the occupiers insisted that the shooting was not connected to their movement, but then I started reading tweets that said the victim and his cousin shared a tent together inside the camp. But then others insisted that information wasn't verified, so who knows.
In any event, Mayor Quan said the shooting underscored the need for the encampment to leave whether it was related to Occupy Oakland or not. I am not sure why she thinks that, because if anything, there has probably been less crime since the campers took over. Murder usually happens in dark isolated places and not with a hundred eyes watching.
As of 11:45pm, tweets were flying around the camp, wondering if they are going to be raided by the cops again tonight. If they are, it would be the second time a raid has happened after an anniversary party. The last raid was after their Two-Week Celebration.
Tomorrow, I head off to Occupy SF! I am excited! I haven't had a chance to get over there yet and take pictures.
Stay tuned!
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