After an afternoon of largely peaceful protests, confrontation erupted between police and protesters in downtown Oakland after nightfall.

By about 8 pm, a crowd of approximately 2,000 people had gathered at Frank Ogawa Plaza, mostly milling about. Then an Occupy protester announced through a loudspeaker than anyone who did not want to confront the police should leave via the nearby BART station, and the crowd began to thin.

A brief confrontation erupted shortly after 8 pm, when a middle aged white man wearing a three-piece suit and glasses appeared on the south side of Broadway and began to silently observe the crowd. Protesters began to ask him why he was there, telling him he wasn’t welcome and saying “Pig, go home.” The man then began to film the crowd on his cell phone, telling them he would post the video on YouTube. A member of the crowd knocked the phone from his hand, and the suited man accused him of assault. A crowd of eventually 40 or 50 people formed around the man, shouting, with some people throwing crumpled paper at him and telling him to go home. A man in the crowd thrust a hand at him, and the crowd chanted “Shake that hand,” but the man in the suit refused to shake it. About a dozen police officers in riot gear then escorted the man away towards the Clorox building.

Shortly after 8:30, a police officer was seen tackling a protester, although Oakland North reporters standing nearby where not able to determine what had precipitated the incident. Then suddenly the crowd and the police both began to move.

At 8:35, police officers announced that an unlawful assembly had been declared, shot a single flash bang grenade, and gave the crowd five minutes to disperse. Crowd members were warned that physical force as well as chemical weapons would be used on those who did not disperse, and police began ordering people to leave by moving north on Broadway. Officer warned people to leave via the sidewalk and announced that anyone who remained in the street could be arrested. Officers began to form police lines, closing off Broadway at the 14th Street intersection, as helicopters with search lights circled overhead.

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