The Oakland general strike called by Occupy Oakland drew thousands Wednesday for mostly peaceful rallies and marches. But the scene turned chaotic early Thursday after protesters took over a vacant building and police moved in, firing tear gas and flashbang grenades.

Early today, protesters tried to block one entrance to the Port of Oakland, with fences and Dumpsters. They have since dismantled it. City crews are cleaning up downtown after the night’s melees.

12:45 p.m. City: 80-plus arrested after midnight, several buildings vandalized

Oakland police arrested more than 80 people in demonstrations after midnight, according to a press release updating the outcome of overnight protests.

Five civilians and three police officers were injured. Many private businesses and public building were damaged, according to the city.

“Around midnight, a select group of people intent on engaging in illegal activity — including vandalizing property, lighting fires, and assaulting the police–splintered into smaller groups and spread throughout the area in and around Frank Ogawa Plaza,” according to the city’s press release.

“The Oakland Police Department responded to a late-night call that protesters had broken into and occupied a downtown building and set several fires. Several private and municipal buildings sustained heavy vandalism. Dozens of protesters wielding shields were surrounded and arrested.”

The crowd estimate was pegged at 7,000 when the crowd shut down operations at the port.

“Crews from the City of Oakland’s Public Works Agency worked through the night to board up broken windows and doors, clear debris, remove graffiti, pick up litter, and secure damaged buildings in the downtown area, particularly around Frank Ogawa Plaza,,” according to the citys update.

” Public Works crews have been redirected today to facilitate clean-up efforts. The City’s priority is to return downtown Oakland to a more functional status as soon as possible. The City is assessing damage to downtown businesses.”

12:30 p.m. Anti-vandalism proposal to go to full camp meeting

Campers have reached an anti-vandalism consensus and will likely return to how to stop the vandals at tonight’s 6 p.m. general assembly for a vote. They are currently voting on when/how to apologize to business owners.

Milani, a camper who did not want to give a last name, spoke against apologizing to businesses. She said it wasn’t just outsiders committing vandalism.

“The person I saw putting toilet paper up, they’re a facilitator at the general assembly. The person spray painting, they’re on the events committee.”

Another camper disagreed, and proposed starting a “good neighbor” committee

–Hannah Dreier

11:40 a.m. Occupy Oakland campers consider cleaning up, apologizing for vandalism

The tent city is holding a meeting to decide what to do about smashed windows, graffiti and other vandalism downtown. When the meeting started, there was disagreement about who was responsible, whether it was from outside agitators or from the camp or other sources.

They are also considering formally disavowing the damage and personally apologizing to business owners affected.

One West Oakland resident came to yell at them and threatened to “break off their little fingers” if they came to her neighborhood.

A woman facilitating the meeting asked “What are we going to do to take back our movement when we see people breaking windows and writing on walls?”

Another person disagreed, saying, “They shut down five schools in Oakland and then they cry and complain about letters on a wall.”

–Hannah Dreier

10:20 a.m. Tent city to talk about destructive anarchists

The campers will be discussing at their morning meeting how to keep out the destructive anarchist element.

“It’s not us, it’s a bunch of guys who wear black masks,” said Michael Porter, 24, who works full-time selling DirectTV and has been camping at the Occupy Oakland site. “It’s messing with our movement. They leech off our numbers — they only show up when there’s a rally.”

Porter will be leading a discussion at the meeting starting soon.

“There’s a handful of us trying to confront them but they just gang up on you.”

10 a.m. City Hall windows smashed overnight

Community safety organizers trying to set up news conference at City Hall this morning found windows smashed in the Sgt. Ervin Romans Hearing Room on the first floor, 14th Street side. Rocks remain on the carpet with broken glass and one still rests on a chair.

Romans was one of four officers killed in a 2009 shootout with a convicted in rapist in East Oakland.

9:10 a.m. Graffiti scrawled all over downtown, with conflicting messages

Graffiti is everywhere around 14th and Broadway. It appears there was a struggle between people who were bent on destruction and those trying to keep the peace.

There were messages like “kill cops” and “not until the last capitalist is hung with the entrails of the last bureaucrat.” Next to that, somebody had graffitied a heart with the words “Nonviolence works better.”

The window at Tully’s was smashed in and boarded up, and a sign was put up with yet another heart on it that said “Action not done by the people”.

9 a.m. Barrier at port entrance dismantled

Organizers say the barrier at the port entrance was purely symbolic. “Our strategic place for now is to go to individual gates,” said Kimberely Schroder, a protester who lives in Oakland’s Fruitvale District.

There was a confrontation between ILWU and protesters, because workers were being threatened with garnished wages.

“We wanted to be in solidarity with the longshoremen without if affecting others,” Schroder said. “We did the best we could, now we need to regroup.”

The port issued this statement:

Operational Update from the Port of Oakland — Nov. 3, 2011 as of 8:30 AM

Port Getting Back to Work

Workers in the maritime area of the Port are beginning to return to their jobs and seaport operations have partially resumed, though the situation remains fluid. Operations at the Oakland International Airport and real estate areas continue as normal from yesterday. Port employees have been directed to show up at work as normal pursuant to regular work schedules

The most current field reports confirm that in the Port area there were no injuries, no property damage, and no major security problems from last night’s demonstrations. There was a limited incursion into a private rail facility, and trespassers were escorted off peacefully.

There are current reports of one limited public street closure at one of the several entrances into the maritime area of the Port, at the intersection of 3rd Street and Adeline. People returning to work at the Port should avoid this intersection.

All of us at the Port of Oakland extend our appreciation to those who conducted and ensured a peaceful, safe demonstration in the Port area yesterday. The need for safety and security continues today, so that people can get back to work. Any additional missed shifts represent economic hardship for maritime workers, truckers, and their families, as well as lost jobs and lost tax revenue for our region. Continued disruptions will begin to lead to rerouting of cargo and permanent loss of jobs, a situation that would only exacerbate the ongoing economic challenges of our region.

The Port will continue to provide operational updates throughout the day.

8:40 a.m. Protesters take down the fence; ILWU invites them to breakfast

The protesters are taking down a barricade of fence at Third and Adeline streets.

It’s not clear if they have acquiesced to a proposition from the president of the local ILWU chapter to undo the barricades and go to breakfast.

Richard Mead had asked them to dismantle it, saying it’s time for folks to go back to work. “They inspired the world,” said Richard Mead, president of ILWU Local 10.

It might take a day or two to clear all the backup at the port, because of last night, he said.

Kimberley Schroder, a protester at the scene, had initially said the group was lukewarm to the idea.

Only six protesters were left.

About the violence downtown last night, she said “Certain people are more prone to violence and w’re trying to mitigate that.”

7:45 a.m. Truckers frustrated by blockade

A tractor-trailer truck driver without a load driving west on Adeline got into a shouting match with the dozen protesters.

“Go home! We got families we have to feed,” the trucker shouted.

At the scene was Fabio Ribeiro, a manager at PCC Direct Delivery who operates three warehouses at the port.

He expressed disappointment because port businesses had worked with city yesterday to get work done early in order to avoid being affected by the general strike.

He was dismayed to see protest activity still going on this morning.

“Why isn’t police out here?” Ribeiro asked.

He said there are 1,100 who are owner -operators just idling in the port. A lot of perishables are just sitting in their containers, he said.

Meanwhile, word is spreading because there are fewer trucks coming in at the Third and Adeline entrance. Truckers are going to other entrances.

“They are blocking the flow is always going to hurt the economy,”Ribeiro said of the protesters.

“The 1 percent doesn’t care and the 99 percent is going to pay for it later: us.”

Frank, a longshoreman who didn’t give his last name, said workers are waiting for direction from their employers. ILWU

“Our employers have not told us what to do. We don’t know what’s going on.”

Between 200-300 longshoremen are waiting for direction about whether to come to work, he said.

The 3 a.m. shift didn’t work because of the protest, he said.

He walked up to the barricade and tried to have a conversation with protesters, but said they didn’t tell him anything.

7 a.m. Protesters’ blockade prevents truckers from entering Port of Oakland

Fences and Dumpsters dragged across the roadway at 3rd and Adeline streets are preventing trucks and other vehicles from entering the port this morning. About a dozen protesters have had some scuffles with truckers.

Monique Agnew got in front of a truck with a camper shell that was forced its way in. When it charged, she hit it with a sign she was carrying.

She said she has been there for several hours.

“These people tried to kill us. I can’t believe they are being that aggressive over a paycheck, over your own people fighting for you.”

Most trucks are just turning around and going back the other way, down Middle Harbor Road.

One big rig is having trouble turning around, though, since it can’t turn around because the street is too narrow.

6 a.m. Looting an art store

Before dawn, a Bay Area News Group reporter came upon someone looting an art studio through a hole in a window, at the corner of Broadway and Telegraph. She claimed to be Snoop Dogg’s cousin and said “this is all ours.”

She claimed the hole she entered through was already there. She was taking art from inside the studio and kept covering face whenever being photographed.

She told the reporter to “be careful.”

The reporter followed her as she returned and disappeared inside the Occupy camp carrying stolen paintings.

3:30 a.m.: Protesters call it a night

Organizer Mario Fernandez, 27, got on a megaphone, performed the customary mic check to get the crowd’s attention and said: “It’s late. I feel that we should go back to camp for a 3:30 a.m. rally.”

But they are not rallying. It was a joke. They’re going to bed.

A handful of determined strikers were sent to the picket line at Third and Adeline in the remains of an effort to keep the Port of Oakland closed.

About 15 protesters remain near the police line, which is still about 200 strong. But, police, too are beginning to leave.

— Sean Maher

3:28 a.m. Protest has mostly ended

Only a handful of protesters remain, with a few sitting in front of a line of police on Broadway. Those who remain say they are committed to peace and will not antagonize the officers.

3:12 a.m. Crowd continues to dwindle, but some action continues

There’s probably only 100 protesters left. The helicopter is back overhead. An ambulance is arriving.

The crowd has continued to thin out, however the police helicopter has turned on its spotlight.

2:50 a.m. Calm settles in

Action is winding down.

At the police line on Broadway, a man plays “Blitzkrieg Bop” on a mandolin.

2:49 a.m. Riot police begin to disperse

Some of the riot police are dispersing, to cheers from the protesters.

The fire department arrived to put out trash fires on by BART station at 13th and Broadway.

Earlier, a man walked by pushing a bicycle yelling, “Police are not our enemy!”

2:35 a.m. Crowd’s energy is waning

The front line of the protest is mostly quiet, although some protesters continue to yell. Police aren’t moving. Drums continue in the camp, but the crowd’s energy is waning. Chanting has all but ceased.

2:10 a.m. Injured man is taken away in ambulance

After protesters called for help several times, an ambulance finally arrived to take away the injured man.

Graham Holoch, a student at the California college of the arts in Oakland, was a volunteer medic who tended to the man, using medical supplies he brought in a backpack.

“When we got him on the stretcher,” he said, “his vitals were pretty shaky.”

Holoch said he believed the man had been shot in the knee with a rubber bullet and gassed.

His friends called the man’s relatives and his pastor.

“He seems fine, but it’s definitely better to get him medical attention,” said Holoch, who is also a photographer.

As paramedics carried the man to the ambulance, a bruise could be seen on his knee.

Before leaving, one paramedic told the volunteer medics: “By the way, we do support what you’re doing.”

— Sandy Kleffman

2 a.m. Dozens arrested

Interim police Chief Howard Jordan says between 30 and 40 people have been arrested in downtown Oakland, although he could not provide an exact number.

Police have also reclaimed the Traveler’s Aid building, as he said protesters were preparing to light the building on fire.

Meanwhile at the camp, about 150 protesters continue to beat drums and chant while others are sweeping up — getting ready for bed and trying to tidy up a little.

— Sean Maher

1:53 a.m. Protesters seek help for man they believe was hit with a rubber bullet

Some protesters said they believe the injured man was hit by a rubber bullet. About eight or nine people carried him on a stretcher to 14th and Franklin, hoping to remove him from an area where they fear more tear gas could be coming soon, in the wake of the police order to disperse.

With no ambulance in sight, protesters tried to enlist help from a police officer, but he just drove away.

Some said the rubber bullet may have hit a metal pin in the man’s knee, from a previous injury. This was not confirmed, however.

They are trying to call an ambulance.

— Sandy Kleffman

1:42 a.m. Police order dispersal on Broadway, protester is injured

The police just gave a dispersal order to break up “unlawful assembly” on Broadway between 14th and 15th.

A protester has been hit by an unknown object. Volunteer medics are tending to him.

It’s unclear if police are trying to clear out the camp or if they are just trying to push people back into it.

— Paul Rosynsky

1:11 Police appear ready to take the camp

At Frank Ogawa Plaza on the edge of the “Occupy” camp, there are some reports that police have unleashed tear gas and are moving in from two sides.

However, at 14th and Broadway, there no evidence of tear gas in the plaza. Yet, even from this vantage point, police do appear to be preparing to take the camp.

Inside the camp, protesters are tending to someone with a leg injury. It’s unclear the extent of the injury or how it was caused.

12:54 a.m. Tensions mount near camp

Protesters calling for no violence shouted down by chants of, “Whose streets? Our streets!”

Sheriff’s department has brought two prison transport buses onto Broadway.

Someone in all black just painted on a wall: “Until the last capitalist is hung by the entrails of the last bureaucrat.”

There are people playing guitar, a ukulele and fiddle leading people in song, dancing near the police line.

— Thomas Peele

12:43 a.m. Police converge near camp

There is a police line near the camp at the plaza.

So far, it appears to be a standoff. Neither protesters nor deputies are moving.

Protesters are cleaning up, pulling garbage cans back out of the street

Crowd facing sheriff’s deputies at 15th has grown, but remains passive.

It appears that it would only take a couple bottles or rocks for this situation to explode again.

— Thomas Peele

12:26 a.m. Police move in on protesters, peaceful demonstrators saddened

Police are moving in on both sides of protesters who are gathered in 16th Street, shooting tear gas.

No people are in the building. Swarms of people are leaving the area.

Several people with the Occupy movement are very disheartened by this. Watching from the outskirts, they said they were very sad and kind of angry that this was happening.

Police are reporting no injuries to officers and say some protesters were using homemade bomb launchers to fire M80s at police. They are believed to be some of the same vandals that trashed Whole Foods.

— Paul T. Rosynsky and Sean Maher

12:22 a.m. General strike retreats, fire doused

The general strike has fallen back to 14th and 15th at Broadway, near camp.

The fire appears to be doused.

12:14 a.m. Fire truck arrives; explosions fill the air

A fire truck has arrived to douse the burning barricade and the protest has devolved into a chaotic scene with witnesses reporting explosions and panicked people running down the streets.

One reporter said the explosions are from protesters throwing fireworks on the fire, but others report flash bangs and tear gas. A police officer said protesters were throwing M80s.

Police have given a dispersal order.

Midnight. Police converge on occupied building

Law enforcement officers formed a line on San Pablo at 17th Street outside the building and put on gas masks. There was a loud bang, followed by smoke on Broadway.

The barricade made by protesters on Broadway and 16th is on fire and the police have made a dispersal order over loudspeakers with a bullhorn. About 100 police are on scene and more are arriving.

They are surrounding the building.

Mayor Quan wants the protesters to call her. She has given them her phone number.

Police said protesters are throwing rocks at officers. Tear gas is flying.

11:59 p.m. Reports of tear gas deployed on Broadway

Multiple reports of tear gas on Broadway, as police mass at 17th and Broadway. Barricades the protester set up are burning and the building seems abandoned.