Occupy Oakland plans more antipolice rallies Oakland

Tensions between Oakland police and Occupy protesters escalated Sunday, a day after an antipolice rally downtown turned violent and resulted in six arrests.

Protesters pledged to hold weekly demonstrations against the police, who they say have been overzealous in enforcing no-lodging, trespassing and other laws to break up Occupy encampments.

"The solution is very obvious. All (Mayor Jean Quan) has to do is stop enforcing these laws," said Occupy Oakland activist Phil Horne. "If they set reasonable rules, we'll abide by them."

Clashes with police have been a hallmark of Occupy Oakland since October, when police made their initial clearance of a camp in front of City Hall that had become a gathering spot for economic injustice protests modeled on Occupy Wall Street.

Saturday night, protesters marched peacefully from City Hall seven blocks to police headquarters carrying "F- the police" banners, hoping to draw attention to what they described as ongoing police harassment, oppression and abuse.

As protesters approached the police station, officers in riot helmets stopped marchers along Washington Street near Seventh Street, where protesters started a bonfire and some threw bottles at officers from the back of the crowd. During the protest, protesters spray-painted a letter "A" with a circle around it - the symbol for anarchy - on a media van, and broke windows at a Starbucks coffee shop and on patrol cars, authorities said.

Police chased protesters to Ninth and Washington streets and made arrests. Officers penned in the other protesters on Ninth Street between Washington and Broadway before declaring an unlawful assembly. The remaining protesters decided to leave.

Officer Johnna Watson, an Oakland police spokeswoman, said six people were arrested for a variety of offenses, including assaulting officers, resisting arrest and vandalism. One protester was carrying a quarter stick of dynamite and was booked for possession of an explosive device, Watson said.

Protesters said officers failed to give a dispersal order before chasing them down and beating some of them. At least two protesters were hit by bean-bag bullets, and one was treated at Alta Bates Medical Center for a broken arm and lacerations, protesters said.

"The police are doing to us exactly what they do to a lot of people in this city," said Occupy activist Jaime Omar Yassin. "This isn't just about police brutality against Occupy - it's a rejection of the way the police work generally."

To address the increased hostility between police and protesters, Oakland's Citizens' Police Review Board is hosting a forum Feb. 9 to discuss alleged police misconduct and possible solutions.

Ideally, the protesters would stop confronting the police and start focusing on broader political and economic challenges, said board member Thomas Cameron.

"If they really want to see some changes, they need to get their ass out and vote. And get their friends to do it, too," said Cameron. "Complaining about the police is just misplaced energy. I think a lot of these people are just being unreasonable."

Occupiers don't plan to participate in the forum because they distrust city organizations, Yassin said. In addition, they don't support any Occupy-related discussions between city officials and members of the Interfaith Council, like the one that occurred Thursday which city staff touted as a productive step toward allowing ongoing demonstrations.

Meanwhile, lawyers for the protesters are gearing up to fight charges against those who've been jailed.

"It's ironic - (the mayor) wanted to clear away the protests but they've become bigger than ever," Horne said. "We're front and center."