Three Occupy Oakland protesters have been charged with robbery and hate crimes for an incident at a bank action on Feb. 22, police said on Friday.
My account as published in Piedmont Patch: Protesters and police are, as usual, at odds about the facts of the case. A video taken by a protest livestreamer of the incident has apparently been removed at the advice of the National Lawyers Guild.
The Oakland police press release on the incident.
On February 22, 2012, at 6:00 p.m., the Oakland Police Department contacted a female victim after responding to a report of a robbery in the 4000 block of Piedmont Avenue. The victim told officers she had been walking down the street, across from the Wells Fargo bank, near a small group of Occupy Oakland protesters calling for a riot. The victim, who has been a resident of the area for over 20 years, suggested to the protesters not to riot in her neighborhood.
She was surrounded by three protestors and battered as they yelled vulgar epithets regarding their perception of her sexual orientation. Her wallet was taken during the crime. The victim broke away from the group, and called police who were able to arrest one suspect near the scene.
Response from an Occupy Oakland protester who said she helped organize the protest on Feb. 22, and said she witnessed the incident:
