In the eight months since I last updated this blog, I began working as a daily reporter for the Bay Area-based wire service Bay City News. This has been an extremely educational position, and has put me in all kinds of interesting circumstances, from watching the San Francisco Giants warm up on the field of AT&T Park, to being arrested in Union Square during the tail end of a protest over the San Francisco police shooting of Kenneth Harding, to sitting next to the White House Press Corps to see President Obama’s stump speech in San Francisco.
But probably the most interesting, and unexpected, story that emerged during my first few months as a daily news reporter was the branching of the Occupy Wall Street protest throughout the world. In the Bay Area, Occupy SF came first, but I was surprised by the rapid growth and clarity of message from the early stages of Occupy Oakland. While Occupy SF was struggling to maintain a handful of campers on the sidewalk in front of the Federal Reserve building, Occupy Oakland established a small city outside of Oakland’s City Hall. And from there, no one could have predicted what would follow.
While not intended as a retrospective on the Occupy Oakland protests, here is a collection of my Occupy coverage over the last few months as the stories were published:
Oct. 20 ‘Occupy Oakland’ Encampment Becomes Bustling Community
Oct. 25 Tear Gas, Smoke Grenades As Police Give #OccupyOakland Protesters Order To Disperse
Oct. 26 Iraq War Veteran Critically Injured During #OccupyOakland Protests
Oct. 26 #OccupyOakland Marchers Disperse, Some Return To Plaza
Oct. 27 Veteran Injured During #OccupyOakland Protests’ Condition Improving
Oct. 27 As Police Appear To Back Off, #OccupySF, #OccupyOakland Celebrate
Oct. 30 Brief Confrontations With Police As #OccupyOakland Demonstrators March Saturday Night
Oct. 30 Mock “Official” City Website Offers False Apology To #OccupyOakland From Mayor Quan
Nov. 2 Thousands Of #OccupyOakland #GeneralStrike Protesters Continue To Demonstrate At Port
Nov. 3 Tear Gas, Smoke Grenades Thrown As Police Arrest Many At #OccupyOakland #GeneralStrike
Nov. 9 Occupy Oakland encampment must go, four city council members say
Nov. 9 Protesters Reconvene After Police Break Up Occupy Cal Encampment At UC Berkeley
Nov. 10 Fatal Shooting Near Occupy Oakland Apparently Unconnected
Nov. 13 Mayor Jean Quan met with Occupy Oakland protesters to discuss relocation
Nov. 14 Former Marine Injured In #OccupyOakland Demonstration Releases Statement
Nov. 14 Tree Sitter Remains In Frank Ogawa Plaza After #OccupyOakland Raid
Nov. 20 Six Arrested In Early-Morning Raid On #OccupySF Encampment
Nov. 21 Police Clear Occupy Oakland Camp from Snow Park
Nov. 23 Occupy Oakland Gets Evicted Again
Nov. 30 Occupy Oakland protesters tell judge that city violated its crowd control policy
Dec. 7 Occupy SF Demonstrator Taken To Hospital During Standoff With SFPD
Dec. 9 Union leadership critical of Occupy plan to shut ports
Dec. 12 Port Official Says Today’s Occupy Oakland Demonstration Caused “sporadic disruptions”
Dec. 14 University Officials, Legislators, Civil Rights Leaders Call For Conduct Standards For Campus Cops
Dec. 15 Livestreamer Hopes To Turn Occupy Oakland Reporting Into Full Time Job
Dec. 15 Occupy SF And Union Members March On ICE Office, Wells Fargo
Dec. 21 Oakland City Council Avoids Vote On Port Closure In Raucous Meeting
Dec. 29 Police Remove Occupy Oakland Protesters from Foreclosed Home
Jan. 5 Occupy Oakland protesters try to push way into City Hall
Jan. 8 6 arrested during anti-police march
Jan. 15 Two arrested at peaceful anti-police march in Oakland
Jan. 22 One arrested during mostly peaceful anti-police march in Oakland
Jan. 28 Oakland Police Say 200 Arrested During Occupy Actions (Later updated to over 400, but this was the initial information provided.)
Feb. 2 Oakland police remove ‘Aquapy’ boat from Lake Merritt
Feb. 5 No Arrests at Oakland Occupy Protest
Feb. 12 Two Arrested During Anti-Police Protest
