Activists from Occupy Oakland attacked police on Saturday during attempts to take over civic property, injuring three police officers.
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The Associated Press reports:
Police were in the process of arresting about 100 Occupy protesters who failed to disperse Saturday night, hours after officers used tear gas on a rowdy group of demonstrators who threw rocks and flares at them and tore down fences.
Police Sgt. Christopher Bolton said the arrests came after protesters marched through downtown Oakland a little before 8 p.m. Saturday. Some protesters entered a YMCA building.
Meanwhile, about 100 police officers surrounded City Hall while others swept the inside of the building to see if any protesters broke in….
Police used tear gas and “flash” grenades on the group Saturday afternoon after some demonstrators threw rocks and other objects at them. Police said three officers were hurt, but they released no details.
Police said the group assembled at a downtown plaza Saturday morning, and demonstrators threatened to take over the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center. The group then marched through the streets, disrupting traffic, officials said.
The crowd grew as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging from about 1,000 to 2,000 people.
The protesters walked to the vacant convention center, where some started tearing down perimeter fencing and “destroying construction equipment” shortly before 3 p.m., police said.
Police said they issued a dispersal order and used smoke and tear gas after some protesters pelted them with bottles, rocks, burning flares and other objects.
The Occupy Wall Street movement, which President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats supported last fall, has provided the Obama campaign with the “99 percent versus 1 percent” meme which has supported its attempts to target Republicans as the party of the “rich.”
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