"Beat the shit out of anarchists" flyer found in Oakland

Bring 'em on.

Be Careful what you wish for "doom"

Disregard it.

These people sound like vigilantes. They will actually assist with the creation of Martial Law.

Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said Friday that he is seeking to fire two officers, demote a third and suspend 15 others for their treatment of Occupy Oakland protesters, whose downtown clashes with police drew worldwide attention.

Jordan also revealed that one of his officers - not an officer from an outside agency - fired a beanbag that critically injured Iraq war veteran Scott Olsen on Oct. 25, an incident that galvanized the Occupy movement. Olsen was one of more than 1,000 people who rallied after police cleared an elaborate encampment outside City Hall.

The internal investigations play a key role in the department's efforts to show it can police its own officers - the central issue in an impending court battle over whether the force will be placed under federal control.

Jordan said the investigations, which are not complete, as well as the department's evolution in crowd-control tactics during the past year, demonstrate it is capable of reform.

While a majority of officers did well in controlling demonstrations that involved tens of thousands of people, he said, "There are a few officers who acted inappropriately. I have taken action to hold them accountable. In the end, I want our officers to exercise good constitutional policing."

Occupy activists said they were pleasantly surprised by the possible discipline of officers.

But the sanctions sought by Jordan were met with anger by the president of the police union, who said desperate city leaders are using rank-and-file officers as scapegoats. The officers are facing stiffer punishment than Occupy activists who "vandalized and destroyed downtown," said Barry Donelan, head of the union.

"Oakland is clearly focused on persecuting police officers and not in any way focused on prosecuting crime," said Donelan. "The hardworking officers who were deployed to deal with Occupy Oakland never asked for those circumstances, but clearly the city's lack of leadership and lack of planning put them in an untenable situation."
Major mistakes cited

In June, a city-commissioned consultant concluded that the Police Department had been insufficiently prepared on the night Olsen was wounded - and made pivotal mistakes - thanks to diminishing resources and a "failure to keep pace with national current standards."

City officials said state law bars them from naming officers facing discipline, and they declined to go into detail about what investigators had found that warranted the punishments.
Excessive force alleged

In general terms, Jordan and City Administrator Deanna Santana said many of the officers used excessive force in deploying beanbags and batons, failed to supervise subordinates and failed to activate chest-mounted cameras.

The 15 recommended suspensions are for up to 30 days, without pay.

The officers who face suspension have not yet been disciplined, and the two officers Jordan wants to fire are on paid leave. Each officer has a right to a pre-disciplinary hearing in front of a commanding officer who forwards recommendations to Jordan, who must weigh in again.

Jordan said a few cases - including the wounding of Olsen - were also the subject of criminal investigations that could lead to charges.

Olsen's attorney, Mark Martel, said he was heartened by Jordan's disciplinary decisions.

"Wow," Martel said. "That sounds like a meaningful action. It's not what I'm used to with these types of situations. ... It sounds like they've taken it seriously. That's gratifying."

Martel, who plans to sue the city, said he hadn't known definitively that an Oakland police officer had shot his client with the beanbag. Olsen, he said, had suffered severe brain damage and multiple skull fractures, requiring him to learn how to talk again.

In another incident widely viewed on YouTube, protester Scott Campbell was recording police when he was shot with a beanbag. Campbell, speaking from the Palestinian territories Friday, said he still has a "dent" in his leg.

"It encourages me to believe that the city and the OPD are willing to recognize that serious violations took place and that at least some officers will face consequences," he said.
Negotiating on settlement

Campbell said his lawyers have been in negotiations with the city on a settlement.

A majority of the 1,127 Occupy-related complaints against officers stemmed from three events: the street clashes of Oct. 25, the "general strike" on Nov. 2, and a rally on Jan. 28 in which activists tried to take over a vacant city convention center.

Under state law, officers must be disciplined within a year of an incident.

Jordan said he had already issued written reprimands to 23 officers and assigned three to counseling and training.

The investigations were handled by the Police Department's internal affairs division as well as five outside contractors whom the city collectively paid more than $700,000.
Reform efforts

Both the city's handling of Occupy protests and its effort to investigate complaints are seen as tests within a decadelong effort to carry out a number of reforms ordered by a federal judge.

Civil rights attorneys are asking a federal judge to place the department under receivership for failing to implement all of the reforms. A hearing is set for Dec. 13.

An independent monitor overseeing the reforms criticized Oakland police for using "military-type" tactics against Occupy activists. But Jordan said a lot has changed in the past year.

During demonstrations on May 1, officers swooped in on individual suspects instead of making mass arrests, kept their beanbag guns holstered and used tear gas sparingly.

"This is an evolving process," Jordan said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Oakland-to-punish-cops-in-Occupy-clashes-3943773.php#ixzz29EmcdJ5a

They're pissed because they are getting 30 day suspension with out pay and their plan is to crack some skulls to get even. Watch your selves out there. Anarchists unite. Leave no comrade behind.

FUCK THE POLICE

Sounds like a setup...

Weapons encouraged to combat the violent terrorists committing property damage and bringing on martial law?! This must be J. Edgar Hoover approved or a real numb nut civilian avenger.

This is some COINTELPRO shit and it should be taken down IMMEDIATELY. I think it's deeply problematic to post this kind of shit on Indybay and that the folks who work on Indybay should know better than to allow someone to post such obvious state-orchestrated crap. Please don't do help do the state's work by further circulating flyers like this. Please take this post down.

If you take the flyer down and someone gets hit with a bat on the 28th, some of the blame will be on the website mod because we failed to deliver the warning. I would suggest everyone take this warning seriously but do not give into the demands of this vigilante group that calls it self D.O.O.M.

I would suggest everybody dress up in all black to show solidarity. These silly people. They smell like a bunch of right wing bacon sausages. Too bad that level of testosterone isn't on our side fight for us and to protect us from the police. We could use some of that pinned up frustration at the FTP march. We need strong people at the front line.

Don't wonder off and destroy shit. Stay here with us and keep us safe. The police are not keeping us safe. They are against us. Help us reclaim the plaza. Protect us from the police. We know OPD is getting lots of help from the outside while they rail against occupy folks who are not from Oakland but come to Oakland. We see HOMELAND SECURITY EVERYWHERE. We understand their dirty little tricks and we are very wise to their moves and attempts at trying to manipulate people back into submission. We are not timid people. We are very powerful.

We know right-wingers and homeland security are doing everything they can to help the Oakland Police department to suppress OCCUPY taking back the PLAZA.

The silence in the street or the "illusion of peace" as they call it must end on Sept 28th and must not waver. We must remain strong. Form your affinity groups and protect us from the ultra violent police. WE SUPPORT A BLACK BLOC when the police overturn our old home.

Some of us admire and have participated in Occupy Oakland but do not like what it has become.

Black Bloc can be a useful tactic. However, the radicals who are currently using it in the Bay Area are not being thoughtful and strategic about its use. It's a weakness to be so reliant on it! That is why this flyer in our midst is causing so much angst.

There were people lived and hung around in the plaza before, during, and after the camps. It's NOT your home and it's not my home. This is what people can't stand about Occupy Oakland. It is full of entitled, selfish, immature people who fail to take other people's views and situations into account.

That being said, friends and I have discussed this flyer and we agree that it is very suspicious, and plain stupid. Whoever created it is trying to stir trouble. Don't think for a second that white anarchists in black clothes are going to get beaten with bats. It is a scare tactic. It may also be a way to incite hostility against people of color who are not affiliated with Occupy Oakland, or who may be critical of Occupy Oakland.

Did I say the 28th? Sorry. Meant the 25th.

We shouldn't be afraid to criticize black bloc participants. I think militancy is more necessary in a world where institutionalized greed has not only surpassed moral values but has violently and aggressively become the accepted norm of everyday life and uses violent police to defend its everyday violent agenda. We don't want to fight back and that is why we are in a lot of trouble right now. We seem to be afraid of organizing militant action through horizontal leaderless organization and even anarchists are afraid to attempt this so how do we move on if everybody is afraid of riot police training exercises and other anti riot cop training? We seem to be in a comfortable state of denial that this course of action was and still is next step we are afraid to take. Instead of taking the next step, we choose to turn our backs as if it is okay to turn our backs and do nothing but let the movement die. Training camps would be ideal if we ever decide to get serious about bringing back the movement. We can't just run into the same wall again and again with the police ill prepared every time and expect a different result because the police are gona smash on us no matter what we do every time someone tries to take over a space or a building and we really aren't prepared to riot and have never. So we don't have the experience. Is there someone who can teach us how? Just to clarify this, there are people in need of housing, food and clothing who are homeless and now that the OGP is gone THEY HAVE NOTHING while we sit comfortably in our warm homes behind our laptops with our tails between our legs.

When it comes to attack I think more strategy is need to protect occupy from violent police than going out of our way to break windows at banks. It seems very cowardice to attack banks and then undress into normal clothing to blend in with the rest of the crowd because if we prepared for the police in advance we wouldn't have to be afraid and could beat them back and remain in the streets dressed in all black with our masks like they do everywhere else around the world. We say we are a free nation but we don't really act like it.

We should be militarizing the struggle since the police have already militarized their struggle. Guess what their struggle is? Killing the movement for social, political and economic equality and freedom. We should know how to deal with police who bully and jail us. For a nation of free people who take pride in them selves we should not be afraid. Sure its fun to attack the property of the 1%. I get it but do we accomplish anything at the end of the day?? NO! Everyone goes home at the end of the day and capitalist relations continue the next day. THAT IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH! We don't learn or gain anything by attacking property. Maybe if we knew how to defend our selves against the police, property destruction ofthe 1% would be more effective but right now at the moment it is not and we are just kidding our selves.

Change will not come if we choose to go back to sleep rather than apply pressure everyday like we did when the camp was up. We can afford to go back to sleep but what about the homeless who have no place to go once the camp is shut down? WHAT ABOUT THOSE PEOPLE! DO WE JUST SAY FUCK THE HOMELESS BECAUSE I'M NOT IN THAT SITUATION? WHO IS FIGHTING FOR THESE PEOPLE?

Before we assume this was created by police, did they remember to replace the department letterhead in the printer with plain paper, or no?