Libby cracks down on unlawful peaceful protest (San Francisco, Oakland: 2015, law)

[GalacticDragonfly]

Flash Grenades Launched, Arrests Made As Oakland Demonstrators Defy ‘Stay On Sidewalk’ Rule « CBS San Francisco

So, on one hand it appears as though city council has listened to the city, and enforced the laws as they were written and approved by the electorate. Perhaps we'll see an end to the smashing and looting of Downtown Oakland stores, that have cast an image of "pointless anarchism and protesting" that a minority of people in Oakland partake in.

On the other hand, the indiscriminate nature of these enforcements are questionable. Escorting the protestors are one thing, and even though these protests are as obnoxious as they are pointless, one must wonder if cracking down on one of the numerous harmless/pointless protest like "End violence against black women", or what not is illegal.

Why not just crack down on a protest once there's been looting and rioting, it's illegal to try and arrest people based on the probability of committing a crime. I'm glad Libby got over the poor image of OPD after the horrific crackdown on the first Occupy protest, and is no longer tolerating people shutting down transit systems, shutting down main streets, and smashing stores and stealing from local business, but is cracking down on every unlawful assembly necessary?

What's the City-Data Bay Area consensus?

[ServoMiff]

Nobody (other than they themselves) really know for sure whether the looting/rioting during these protests are from true "protesters" of the issue at hand, or if they're opportunists looking to run afoul of the law and using these announced protests as platforms to do their damage.

You've stated it in your second paragraph. I haven't seen many protests, no matter how noble the cause, that have actually brought about meaningful change in my lifetime. The Rodney King protest was likely the first one I recall as a teenager and those issues are still with us today, unfortunately.

I'm not well versed on this stuff, but what exactly is a "lawful" assembly? If all the protesters had to do was not protest at night where the cover of nightfall provides the motive and opportunity for vandals, then it seems like this wouldn't have been an issue, right? Is it a knee-jerk reaction from Schaaf? Probably, but can you blame her after the last one?

I had a job interview scheduled for May-day, and the protests scheduled even for the daytime got my interview postponed, and I ended up losing out on the opportunity because of my schedule beyond that date. So, there are real-world consequences for the actions of these protesters, and I felt it. I'm sympathetic to the issues out there, but there has to be a better way that doesn't have collateral damage as a result.

[ambient]

I saw it's about damn time. The lunatic protest nazis in Oakland needed to be cut down to size years ago. It long ago veered away from legitimate protest to a free-for-all environment where every criminal is welcome to come in for some vandal tourism. You want to change it, you need to start with enforcing existing laws and kicking asses when people do un-permitted stuff like this.

[GalacticDragonfly]

Originally Posted by ServoMiff

I'm sympathetic to the issues out there, but there has to be a better way that doesn't have collateral damage as a result.

The usual response is that you're privileged or spoiled, and that you should respect useless protest by opportunistic narcissists trying to trend a twitter hashtag rather than bringing meaningful reform. These lunatics recently apprehended a city council meeting, in the name of "representing the people", by crashing a meeting set up by elected representatives, actually forming a coup and undermining actual democracy.

Without the presence of short-term memory social media, I'm very doubtful the protests would be this numerous, boisterous, and inefficient. Any critique against them is a form of bigotry, and any enforcement of laws like "You can't shut down subway systems; you can't smash Auto Row; you can't loot downtown; you can't blockade streets" is always an example of police brutality.

The solidarity protests are the best however, because like the Baltimore one on Auto Row, and like the Ferguson one in Berkeley, the rampant obstruction, property damage, and fighting is always present. The excuse of "solidarity", just means "we can wreck this town like the town did something wrong, but because it's solidarity with a non-local event, there's nothing anyone can do to appease us". It's just narcissism, they may be sincere, but their erratic behavior is idiotic, and growing unlawful. Nothing intellectual or strategic about it, besides making a nifty Vine clip.