Oakland Marches for 3rd Night to Defy Nighttime Protest Ban

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Oakland Marches for 3rd Night to Defy Nighttime Protest Ban

May 27th, 2015

David Schulberg

Demonstrators in Oakland are planning the 3rd night march to defy Mayor Libby Schaaf’s recent ban on nighttime street protests. (Live video feeds below are scheduled to begin around 9pm Pst)

A peaceful march that was organized on Friday the 22nd as part of a national day of action called #SayHerName focusing on police violence against women of color was repressed in an unusual show of force that heralds the first enforcement of Oakland’s nighttime prohibition on street demonstrations. Tonight’s demonstration is the third in response to the violence the Say Her Name protest faced and to denounce the new night-time protest curfew.

In an interview, Mayor Libby Schaaf acknowledged that she ordered the prohibition on nighttime street marches in Oakland. However, she argued that it was a not new city law, but rather a reinterpretation of an existing one. (Document below)

“There have been no changes to any city policy or enactment of any new ordinances in any way to prohibit peaceful protests,” Schaaf told the Express.

OPD Officer Johnna Watson told the Express that the march on Saturday night, which resulted in 47 citations and 5 arrests, was stopped and ordered to disperse in the Jack London district because that area is a place at which the city has decided to enforce time, place, and manner restrictions on First Amendment activities. “There are specific reasons we don’t want marches to go into Jack London Square,” said Watson. “There’s been lots of damage in past marches, broken windows.”

Sunday night’s march was also blockaded by riot police from entering the Jack London Square district.

On Saturday night, during the physical detainment and arrest of fifty demonstrators in the Jack London district, many OPD officers either did not wear, or did not activate their body cameras, in apparent violation of the department policy.

Video with clips from Saturday night.

For safety reasons, due to lack of numbers, the action has been reschedule for Friday at 8pm. #BreakTheCurfew #FuckTheCurfew

— TruthCastersTV (@TruthCastersTV) May 26, 2015