Re: [Marxism] SF protests cop killing of unarmed man

[Charlie <charles1848@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

When I reported on the overwhelming anger in Oakland about the riot 
there and quoted one blog comment, Sky objects, "we dont want to hear 
you talkin about how police need more money!!"

Oakland has a small police department. That might be fine with Sky, but 
Oakland residents suffer a huge rate of robberies and burglaries, which 
are rarely investigated and solved. The robbers know this and are happy. 
Oakland working people are not.

The working people of Oakland are angry and disgusted by this riot. On 
the other hand, Phil Tagami, a developer who got rich building showplace 
palaces on City money reacted, "Stuff like this happens all the time in 
San Francisco with all the protests there. In Oakland, with our growing 
urban (center), we will have to learn to live with it." (Oakland 
Tribune, 01/09/2009)

The protest was organized without political focus. It made no 
institutional demand on the government, nor did it put forward a focused 
alternative, revolutionary or otherwise. I personally think that's one 
reason it became a riot of thugs and anarchists smashing teachers' cars, 
the window of a tiny braid shop, etc.

Sky also doesn't want to hear that the riot was conducted by street 
thugs known in Oakland in addition to anarchists from Berkeley and San 
Francisco. You have my testimony, so just put it on the scale. Here's an 
example: "A 20-year-old Oakland man, Andrew Lewis, was charged with 
felony possession of cocaine and misdemeanor vandalism." (SF Chronicle, 
1/10/2009) Press reports say that of the 105 arrests, 30 percent were 
Oakland residents and 70 percent were from other cities.

Charles Andrews


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