Quan Chased from Occupy Oakland Rally

Mayor Quan of Oakland is just another "liberal". This from "The Bay Citizen" - please follow link to original.
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Quan Chased from Occupy Oakland Rally

Mayor Jean Quan, who approved the removal by force of Occupy Oakland this week, apologized Thursday, even as protesters chased her from a rally and defied her requests not to camp by erecting 30 tents, a child care center, a library and a small garden.

Quan was greeted with cries of “Go home!” and “Citizen’s arrest” when she attempted to address hundreds of protesters gathered near City Hall late Thursday evening. The mayor retreated into the building after some demonstrators rushed at her, refusing to let her speak, witnesses said.

An hour earlier, Quan, who has been battered with criticism over Tuesday’s raid and violent aftermath, released a statement in which she directly addressed the protesters.

“I am deeply saddened about the outcome on Tuesday,” Quan said in the statement. “It was not what anyone hoped for, ultimately it was my responsibility, and I apologize for what happened.”

A video was later posted on the mayor's Facebook page showing Quan reading the statement from her office; noise from the Occupy Oakland rally can be heard intermittently in the background.

Some of the protesters said they supported Quan and expressed disappointment that she had not been able to speak.

“I would have liked to hear what she had to say,” said Elias Welsh, whose 75-year-old father was arrested during the Tuesday morning raid. “If we disagree with it, we’ll defy it. But we should at least hear what she has to say.”

But many treated the mayor, a longtime activist, with open contempt.

For most of Thursday, Quan wavered over whether to address protesters at Occupy Oakland's daily meeting, known as a general assembly. She told friends and aides that she planned on attending the proceedings at 6:30 p.m.

Quan finally appeared at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza around 10:30 p.m., just as the general assembly was ending. The mayor, apparently alone, walked up one of the wheelchair ramps toward the amphitheater stage.

By the time she reached the platform, protesters had realized who she was and surrounded her, according to witnesses. Some screamed epithets, including “bitch.”

Quan quickly retreated up the steps of City Hall, trailed by jeers. She disappeared into the mayor’s office. The lights remained on until at least 11:30 p.m. but it was unclear whether Quan was inside.

“Don’t just come out here demanding the mic,” a protester who identified himself as Darren said after Quan had left. “Innocent people got hurt over what you do.”

Oakland resident Alexandria Thompson said Quan would have no influence over the protesters.

“Once you have a movement like this, you can’t stop it,” Thompson said. “The whole world is sympathizing with what’s happening here. She’s not the mayor people thought she would be.”

In her statement, Quan issued a list of “requests” to the protesters. In addition to direct communication, allowing for access to emergency personnel and maintaining safe conditions, the mayor asked the protesters “not to camp overnight.”.

But dozens of people ignored her. On Wednesday, protesters pulled down a chain-link fence surrounding the lawn area that was the site of the previous encampment. By Thursday, the fence had been repurposed as a geometric work of art, and the contours of another tent city had begun to take shape.

The new Occupy settlement appears certain to grow: Protesters served chickpeas and rice from heated vats Thursday night and added to a posted list of needed supplies, including additional tents, portable toilets, tables, first aid kits, batteries, tarps, sleeping bags and food.

In many ways, the protesters — not the city — appear to be dictating events. As some members of Occupy Oakland began to repopulate the plaza, they said that Quan would be allowed to speak, as long as she stood in line like everybody else.

“The camp says anyone can come down and speak to us in a truly democratic fashion,” Adam Jordan said before Quan appeared. “If she’s not coming out, we’re not coming in.”

Other protesters told City Hall officials Thursday morning that interim police Chief Howard Jordan would also be welcome to speak, if he came without his uniform.

Quan has continued to face harsh criticism in response to Tuesday's raid, even from her closest allies, and has been portrayed as tentative and out of touch. The mayor was in Washington, D.C., at the time of the raid; when she returned later that night, she phoned City Hall staffers and even reporters for information about the violence raging in the center of her city.

On Wednesday, Quan assumed full control of the city's emergency operations center, where she directed police response to that night's protest, according to officers who were also in the room.

Josie Camacho, the executive director of the Alameda Labor Council, and Quan's longtime friend and unpaid legal advisor Dan Siegel both denounced Quan after police shut down the encampment. Siegel said Wednesday he was considering resigning.

But after a series of meetings Thursday, Camacho, Siegel and others again appeared to support Quan. Siegel said Thursday he has no plans to resign.

“We told her, if we let this movement continue, we will have a lot of pride for stepping out there,” Camacho said. “And we will have your back.”

Quan now appears to be aligning herself — and by extension, the city — with the movement. Earlier Thursday, she apologized to Scott Olsen, an Iraq war veteran who suffered a serious head injury during Tuesday night's protest, and encouraged him to speak with police.

“We are a nation in crisis,” Quan said in her statement. “Oakland more than most cities faces budget cuts, unemployment and foreclosures. We are also a Progressive city. And as a long-time civil rights activist and union organizer I want my City to support the movement."

According to Siegel and Camacho, Quan is considering ways to allow the protesters to set up camp in public spaces, with the assurance that health and safety conditions would be met and that city health workers, fire and police would be allowed to provide services and perform inspections. If protesters remained in tents past 10 p.m., the mayor’s office said they would likely receive citations, but would not be arrested.

“We can really envision down the road that we’re building this movement,” Camacho said. “We’re allowing people to stay where they want to stay. When do you see homeless and students and families come together in a shared space? Isn’t that the way this society is supposed to be?”

Later, when asked if Quan would give protesters an ultimatum, Siegel responded: “I don’t think the protesters are interested in being told what to do.”