Youth Led Demo Honors Martyrs of the Rebellions

[ This is the line of cops that surrounded the remaining protestors, to the left out of frame, backed up to Lake Merritt. Protestors asked OPD directly and repeatedly if there was a dispersal order. No response. ]


Youth Led Demo Honors Martyrs of the Rebellions
Cops Fire Teargas on High School Students in Oakland

On Saturday, August 29th, a beautiful crowd gathered at Lake Merritt to mourn the death of the martyrs of the rebellions. It was called for by a group of anonymous youth organizers who led a prayer in Punjabi and preached the importance of keeping our comrades safe. The march kicked off with the following quote by Assata Shakur: "It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains."

The group took off down Grand amidst a massive police presence and after turning onto a residential road, police began tear gassing, beating, and arresting protestors. Courageous comrades young and old made a dynamic shield wall to protect the march as police continued to block exists and terrorize children as young as thirteen years old. The shield wall was able to move fluidly through the crowd pulled together to protect one another with a fierce loving and supportive energy.

The teargas and flashbangs were unsuccessful in dispersing the crowd or creating panic. The cops were pushing up against the back of the march while simultaneously flanking the sides and blocking roads. They used the LRAD to announce a dispersal order while they continued to block any exit. Despite these challenges, youth leaders were able to change routes to avoid being kettled and got the crowd back to the vigil safely with very few arrests. At the vigil, comrades were able to exit in small groups while a crowd held their ground against a large, aggressive police line that outnumbered the remaining crowd 2:1.

The city of Oakland and Libby Schaaf have made it clear that they are willing to teargas a youth led demo in a residential neighborhood in order to protect the business interests of Lakeshore, which is one of the earliest locations of anti-Black gentrification in Oakland.

The vigil remains lit and colorful at the Pergola of Lake Merritt and is being taken care of by local houseless community members.

Up until this point, OPD's strategy has been hands-off in the hopes of decreasing public outrage over police brutality and weakening the movement, while simultaneously terrorizing Black and Brown neighborhoods in West and East Oakland that are removed from the public eye. This second wave of police repression is meant to crush the remaining movement and scare people from coming out.

Now is the time to collectively reignite. They are hoping this abrupt increase of force will make the movement die down and scare us into submission. Now is the time to come back stronger than before and show them we won't back down. Libby Schaaf has hundreds upon hundreds of police being paid overtime in order to teargas and terrorize a march led by high school aged kids. This is unacceptable.