Protest Over Police Shootings in Stockton Gets Ugly

Crowds in Stockton, California massed for a protest against the police yesterday over the police shootings of Luther Brown Jr. and James Rivera. Brown was shot after grabbing an officer’s baton and beating him with it; he was a gang member. Rivera was shot after he tried to back over police officers in his vehicle during a traffic stop.

Hundreds of members of Occupy Oakland joined the protest, where they promptly began surrounding police officers and shutting down traffic. Police in riot gear were forced to call an unlawful assembly to clear the street. One of the local KCRA anchors called all of this “interesting activity.” While the reporter on scene said there was no violence, there were “several confrontations … at one point, a huge crowd gathered around a motorcycle officer, he backed his motorcycle up and got out of that crowd.” She admitted that they were afraid some violence would break out. The Occupy protesters, she said, kept approaching police and yelling at them. Businesses were closed down. Cars were blocked.