On March 4, one hundred and forty-nine public speaker's cards were turned in prior to the Oakland City Council meeting. Public comment was unanimous against a city-wide DAC. Council members, after having revealed on February 18 an interest in reigning in the expansive surveillance system that city staffers have pushed, followed through by passing a resolution at about 1am on March 5 to proceed with a scaled-down Port-only version of the DAC.

Public speakers included Linda Lye from the ACLU of Northern California, Nadia Kayyali from the EFF, Michael Thomas of the NLG, Mohamed Shehk from the Asian Law Caucus, representatives of the Oakland Privacy Working Group, Jack Heyman of the ILWU (retired, Local 10), current Mayoral candidate Dan Siegel, former Oakland councilmember Wilson Riles Jr., and dozens and dozens of other concerned citizens. A great number of speakers expressed concern for those who would likely suffer the most under an ever-present surveillance system: African Americans, considering the long histories of violence by Oakland police and oppressive and destructive government programs such as COINTELPRO; undocumented families and communities, who would face further marginalization and disruption under such a system; and Muslims, who have bore the brunt of post-9/11 surveillance abuses by federal and local law enforcement authorities, a large contingent of whom were present to speak against the DAC from the Lighthouse Mosque. From the public galleries in council chambers, calls of "shame, shame, shame" rang out after the vote to proceed with Phase II development of the Domain Awareness Center, now officially called the Port Domain Awareness Center.

Read More with Video | Flood City Hall! Sink The DAC!

See Also: Asian Americans Advancing Justice Letter to Oakland Council on DAC - Vote NO | Unchecked Mass Surveillance of the Entire City of Oakland is Not OK (ACLU-NC) | EFF Fights Back Against Oakland's Disturbing Domain Awareness Center | NLG-SF Letter To Oakland City Council Regarding Proposed Domain Awareness Center | EFF Letter To Oakland City Council Regarding Proposed Domain Awareness Center | The Anarchist Case against the Domain Awareness Center | Reportback From The March Against Police Repression