Oakland Councilman seeks violence to crush Occupy Oakland protesters

Oakland Councilman seeks violence to crush Occupy Oakland protesters

By Lynda Carson -- December 21, 2011

Oakland -- Oakland City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente, has been outraged that the population of Oakland including unions, families, workers, and students have joined in and supported Occupy Oakland, in their constitutional right to protest against big business and the wealthy ruling elite during protests in the city, and the Port of Oakland.

During a vote at last nights Oakland City Council meeting, longtime controversial City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente, was defeated in his bid to unleash more violent measures such as more guns, tear gas, tasers, rubber bullets, bean bag projectiles and other violent measures of suppression to crush Occupy Oakland protesters, that have twice in recent months shut down the Port of Oakland. Tens of thousands of protesters including many families with children, and the family of Mayor Jean Quan have been involved in the on-going protests against the interests of the rich and powerful that have left this country in economic ruin.

Councilman De La Fuente failed to round up enough votes (6 votes needed) to pass a resolution that would have allowed much more aggressive violent suppression tactics against protesters in the Occupy Oakland movement, for using their constitutional rights to protest in the city, and Port of Oakland.

If passed, this resolution would have allowed for a much more aggressive use of the same type of brutal suppression tactics that have gained world wide negative attention in recent months against Occupy protesters by the police, including the evening when Iraq War Veteran Scot Olsen was critically injured by brutal suppression tactics employed by the Oakland Police Department. Blood flowed on the streets of Oakland that evening, and the streets of downtown Oakland became flooded with tear gas, flash grenades and bean bag projectiles, used by the police that evening against defenseless protesters.

In recent years, even the United Nations condemned the use of wooden bullets and other extreme measures used in Oakland against protesters and demonstrators at the Port of Oakland, by the police.

Longtime controversial and two-time mayoral candidate, Oakland City Councilman Ignatio De La Fuente, believes in violence to solve problems and has or did have a permit to carry a gun in recent years, and was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in Oakland nearly a year ago around December 24, 2010.

According to his De La Fuente's city website, it states that "Ignatio De La Fuente was born in Mexico City on January 1, 1949, and that he immigrated to California at the age of 21 and subsequently became an American citizen." The website does not state when Councilman Ignatio De La Fuente became an American citizen.

Around late 2000, De La Fuente faced a hearing in Sacramento over a Writ of Mandate, involving an alleged election fraud. Allegations of election fraud persisted then against De La Fuente, and a Quo Warranto suit was sought by Oakland resident Ronald Zimmerman. The hearing for the Writ of Mandate was presided over by Judge John Robles.

Questions about De La Fuente's citizenship came into question when documents revealed that De La Fuente failed to sign his own Declaration of Candidacy when running for office, and that he had a woman named Lupe Valdez sign his own Declaration of Candidacy in place of his own signature. It was also revealed that De La Fuente declined to check off any of the yes, or no boxes, on a voter registration card when asked under penalty of perjury if he was an American citizen.

First elected to the Oakland City Council in 1992, it was reported during late 1996 that Oakland City Councilman Ignatio De La Fuente was at the Port of Oakland to welcome Transportacion Maritima Mexicana (TMM), and Mexico's national containerships back into the bay, and Port of Oakland. During the 90s, it was also widely reported that TMM was owned and operated by the Carlos Hank / Rohn family, some alleged notorious billionaire drug lords of Mexico.

In an August 24, 1999, New York Times article it opens by saying, "Congress is close to forcing a major expansion of economic sanctions against international narcotics traffickers and the businesses that work with them." TMM responded in the article by saying, "If your a legitimate company and you're targeted, you should have a way to defend yourself before you get on the list," (Drug Kingpin List) said Luis Calvillo, a spokesman for one of Mexico's largest international transportation companies, Transportacion Maritima Mexicana (TMM).

Based on documents from the Operation White Tiger Task Force in San Diego about the alleged drug-related activities of the Carlos Hank family (Owner of TMM), the very popular film called Traffic (Winner of 4 Academy Awards) with Michael Douglas, portrayed the story of the high-stakes and high-risk of the drug trade occurring in California and Mexico.

Additionally, during late September 2004, around 100 unionized Oakland city employees protested at the mayoral campaign kickoff of De La Fuente who is also a union leader, and more controversy arose in 2005 when De La Fuente's son, Ignacio Rafael De La Fuente Jr., faced charges of rape, and went before Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith, only later in 2007 to be sentenced to 14 years in prison for rapes committed against 4 women.

In 2007, the Oakland Police Department asked the FBI to investigate De La Fuente's accusations that investigators inflated rape and assault charges against his son in an effort to embarrass the council president as he was trying to run for mayor.

During last nights council meeting, Council President Larry Reed (Known by many as Mr. Law & Order) threatened to chase Occupy protesters and Oakland's citizens from the council meeting if they did not keep their mouths shut, and Reed rudely left the meeting along with Councilwoman Desley Brooks before the meeting had ended, and before Occupy Oakland protesters fully had their say about the resolution of violence, being promoted by Councilman De La Fuente.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Martin Luther King, would have been proud of the protesters that spoke out against the resolution of violence being promoted by Councilman Ignatio De La Fuente, at last night's council meeting.

Among the many speakers at the council meeting, "You don't waive your rights that are given to you in the bill of rights because you interfere with commerce," said Michael Rubin at the council meeting, and Scott Cambell who was shot in the leg by police with a bean bag projectile, said, "It's clear that police brutality is an institutionalized fixture of the Oakland Police Department."

Despite the untimely departure of Councliman Larry Reed and Councilwoman Desley Brooks from the council meeting, Oakland citizens, union members and Occupy protesters spoke out against the resolution of violence that would create more violent confrontations between the population of Oakland and the police, during lawful constitutionally protected protests, and demonstrations being organized by Occupy Oakland.

The council meeting failed resolution promoting more brutal police violence against protesters in Oakland, came on the heels of international news broadcasts showing the violent bloody brutal crackdown of protesters in Egypt by the brutal military and police, in that country.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com