Port protesters meet with police to discuss April 7, 2004

Tuesday April 6, 2004
Direct Action to Stop the War (DASW) met with the Oakland Police to discuss this year’s April 7th protest at the docks. The conference was attended by about twenty five people and lasted an hour. Oakland Police Chief Richard Word was accompanied by two other police officials, Deputy Chief Peter Dunbar and Lieutenant Dave Kozicki. Councilmember Jean Quan was there, and Councilmember Nancy Nadel was represented by Joel Tena. It was Councilmembers Quan and Nadel who had set this meeting up for us.

Most of the people present at the conference were from the various groups allied with DASW. Our spokespersons were Willow Rosenthal, Simon Walker, Scott Fleming, Osha Neumann of the National Lawyers Guild and several others. The meeting was chaired by Erik Shaw, who, along with Rosenthal, was mentioned in the recent U.N. report on human rights.

“I want to replicate May 12th,” Chief Word told us, and that one line pretty well sums up what came out of this conference. Last year’s demonstration at the docks on May 12th had been a successful event. There had been no violence and no arrests that day.

We discussed a good many details with Chief Word, making requests, asking questions, and getting clarifications.

Chief Word promised to respect our First Amendment rights and told us the OPD will not prevent us from entering the port. There will be roughly 100 police officers, Chief Word told us, but they will remain low profile and we won’t see them. The police liaison is the one we will see. There will be a negotiator.

One of our people asked Chief Word, “What if Homeland Security tells you to do something different from what you’ve just agreed to?”

“I don’t take orders from Homeland Security,” Chief Word replied. He added that he doesn’t even talk to Homeland Security. “I get my information about Homeland Security from what I watch on TV,” he said. Everybody chuckled.

In short, it looks like our anniversary port protest on Wednesday, April 7 will come off without serous problems. Nevertheless, the situation may at times be tense. It’s not a zero-risk project, but what’s at stake here is our First Amendment rights.

Please join us! Come and be counted!

****************************
TIME & PLACE

Wednesday, April 7, 2004

4 p.m.: OPD Rally - 455 Seventh Street at Broadway
Oakland, California
(down the street from 12th St BART)

5 p.m.: March from West Oakland BART to the Oakland Docks.
A shuttle will continue to operate for those who arrive at West Oakland BART after the main contingent has left for the docks.

********************************