Looting in Oakland protests: Some justify it, others condemn it

A protester loots a Starbucks on 8th and Broadway during a protest against the grand jury's decision not to indict the white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager months ago in Ferguson Nov. 24, 2014 in Oakland, Calif. less A protester loots a Starbucks on 8th and Broadway during a protest against the grand jury's decision not to indict the white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager months ago in Ferguson Nov. ... more Photo: Leah Millis / The Chronicle Photo: Leah Millis / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 170 Caption Close Looting in Oakland protests: Some justify it, others condemn it 1 / 170 Back to Gallery

Some call it the natural outgrowth of an expression of righteous anger. Others call it nothing more than thievery and hooliganism.

Viewpoints over the destruction and looting that erupted at the end of the racially driven riots in Oakland this week spanned a wide range Wednesday, but one thing hard to find was any shop owner who thought the chaos was a worthwhile political statement.

As they swept up shattered glass and totaled damage over a swath of North Oakland, those whose stores were hit were angry that they had to suffer economic consequences for rage over the latest of a series of racial injustice issues — this one the fatal shooting of a black man in Missouri by a white police officer.

Weary of damage

They were joined in their irritation by several neighboring residents weary of damage in their town in recent years during similar riots over the Oscar Grant killing by a BART police officer, the Trayvon Martin killing by a resident in Florida and the galaxy of issues in the Occupy movement.

Social scientists noted that there is long precedence for rioting and looting in the name of justice, but that rarely, if ever, makes it right. Some protest organizers said it was unfortunate that some had to suffer loss in the riots, but many also said they didn’t want to limit anybody’s sense of expression.

The ones whose stores and neighborhoods were trashed didn’t quibble much over niceties.

“I think it’s uncalled for,” said 84-year-old Florence Ottoboni, who has lived in the Temescal neighborhood for more than six decades. “You can demonstrate, but don't go breaking windows and burning trash cans,” she said. “It's terrible.”

Manoj Tripathi, who owns a Subway restaurant on Telegraph that was badly damaged, said he got some relief that Mayor Jean Quan called him to apologize, and that Mayor-elect Libby Schaaf had stopped by to check the damage and say she was sorry.

“That's a good first step,” he said. "Now I'm looking for the second step — either you fix it (contain the protests) or accept responsibility for the fallout and pay for it.”

At least 35 people were arrested Wednesday for a variety of crimes, said Oakland Police officer Johnna Watson.

The night before, police arrested 92 people as rioters smashed windows, scrawled graffiti and looted stores along Telegraph Avenue, well north of where vandals broke into stores downtown the night before.

“When local businesses get trashed it makes no sense, and it takes away from the message of people coming out and saying the situation needs to change,” said 49-year-old Tom Darci, who has lived in the Temescal neighborhood for 16 years.

2 cops, deputy hurt

Authorities said two Oakland police officers and an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy were hurt but officials did not give details on the injuries. On Monday, three officers were hurt and police arrested 43 people on suspicion of crimes including assaulting officers, burglary, failure to disperse, resisting arrest, vandalism and public intoxication.

On Wednesday evening, a much smaller group of about 150 protesters gathered in Oakland at 7 p.m., with a large contingent of law enforcement then escorting marchers through downtown and West Oakland rather than maintaining a distance as they had the previous two nights of unrest. Still, at about 9 p.m., the protest turned more destructive with marchers breaking windows at a gas station and car dealership and spray painting graffiti throughout the area. Police made immediate arrests.

Tuesday’s demonstration started peacefully with several hundred people assembled to protest the grand jury’s refusal to indict Ferguson, Mo., police Officer Darren Wilson in the Aug. 9 shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

But rioters soon lit fires in streets and began attacking businesses. People stole paint from a Kelly-Moore store at 42nd Street and splattered white streaks across the intersection and up Telegraph. Storefront windows at a Walgreens were smashed, as was the glass front of a T-Mobile store that was also looted.

Rioters also destroyed five windows at Import Motors, a Mercedes, BMW and Audi dealership at 40th and Telegraph. A brick that came through one of the windows damaged a 1968 Mercedes 250 SE convertible, and people who entered the dealership stole close to $600, said Mark Manuel, the dealership’s foreman.

Richard Abrams, a UC Berkeley history professor emeritus, said justifying destruction in the name of protest is misguided at best.

Mob took booze

The behavior of those stealing beer, phone parts and dog food, as rioters did this week, betrays any condemnation of injustice, he said. At the end of Monday’s riot, a mob looted booze from a Smart & Final, and after throwing some of the bottles at police some protesters retreated uptown and sat around a debris bonfire drinking the stolen liquor.

“There’s a lot of stored-up anger, but most angry people don’t behave like looters,” Abrams said. “They don’t smash things for the thrill of it. I can understand walking onto a freeway and blocking it to make a point.

“But destroying a mom-and-pop shop in your neighborhood doesn’t have anything to do with civil rights. It’s terrifically outrageous.”

Vicki McGuire, a therapist who was part of the Occupy movement in Oakland, had a softer view of the destructive impulses.

“People feel like they’re not being listened to, that things aren’t fair and balanced in the justice system,” she said. “So sometimes it comes to this, as Malcolm X said — 'by any means necessary’ to get people to listen.”

Staff reporters Jill Tucker, Vivian Ho and Kale Williams contributed to this report.

Kevin Fagan, Hamed Aleaziz and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail: kfagan@sfchronicle.com, haleaziz@sfchronicle.com, esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KevinChron, @HAleaziz, @EvanSernoffsky