Feature Archives

North Oakland residents and the family of Gary King, Jr. continue to show their outrage over the fact that the police officer who shot Gary is still on the force. On Wednesday, October 3rd, they gathered for a protest at the Oakland Police Department, 455 7th Street (between Broadway & Washington) at 3pm. On Thursdays, demonstrations are held at 3:00pm on the steps of Oakland City Hall. A Benefit Cafe Night will be held on Sunday, October 21st at the Long Haul in Berkeley- all proceeds will go to Gary's family.

On September 26th, the DEA raided five locations that it claimed were connected to Tainted, Inc., which is a supplier of medical cannabis "edibles" that can be found in dozens of medical marijuana dispensaries in California. Heavily armed federal agents seized cannabis plants and medicinal edibles, arrested three people and killed at least one employee's dog. Edible cannabis products provide an alternative to smoking cannabis and are preferred by many patients. The products made by Tainted, Inc. are available only through medical cannabis dispensaries and carry prominent warning labels.

On September 20th, a police officer shot and killed a man on the street in North Oakland. Gary King, age 20, had just exited a store on the corner of 54th street and MLK. Apparently an Oakland police sergeant approached him for questioning. The details of what happened next are unclear, but it seems that it involved the officer using a taser. King pulled away and it appears that during his attempt to flee, the officer shot him twice in the back. A memorial with candles and personal items is set up at the place where the shooting occurred. On September 24th, over 100 family, friends, neighbors and other concerned people protested at Oakland City Hall against the murder of Gary King. There will a protest every Thursday at 12 noon at Oakland City Hall

The Iraq Moratorium called on everyone to take some public action to stop the war on Iraq - on Friday, September 21st and every third Friday of the month from now on. In San Francisco there wereactions Friday at 1187 Franklin at 10am and at Market & Montgomery at 5pm. In San Mateo, 150 people gathered for an evening rally. In Berkeley, there was a rally at Acton and University. In Palo Alto there was a rally at Lytton Plaza. In Oakland, was a march on the docks starting from the West Oakland BART station. There were also be rallies at many other location around the Bay Area.

A spirited and festive crowd descended upon Emeryville's posh Woodfin Hotel Saturday morning, September 15th. The crowd gathered to announce and symbolically enforce the revocation of the hotel's permit, claiming that the hotel had failed to meet its conditional operating permit by refusing to pay $250,000 in back wages to workers, and a $50,000 fine to the City of Emeryville. This was the culmination of a lengthy and successful campaign waged by the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE).

On September 15th, an antiwar protest took place Washington DC to coincide with the report by General Petraeus on the "surge" in Iraq. Protests and peace rallies also took place in many cities across the United States. In Berkeley, a "Community Peace Rally and Concert" was held at People's Park starting at 1pm.

On August 29, the University of California Police Department staged an early morning operation at the Memorial Oak Grove located on the South East of the UC Berkeley campus. UCPD officers erected a ten foot high chain-link fence along the perimeter of the tree-sits to prevent supporters from bringing food and water to the tree-sitters. Support marches are leaving from the Oak Grove at noon on both Friday, August 31st and Saturday, September 1st. An emergency hearing was scheduled for Thursday at 1:30pm in Alameda County Superior Court, to consider whether the fencing of the oak grove is a violation of the current court ordered injunction.