bespangled:

There was no riot in Oakland after the verdict. Whether you were for or against a riot in this situation is one question (some folks argue that the militant actions last January immediately after Oscar’s death were what forced the District Attorney to bring charges against Mehserle), but either way, what happened on Thursday was not that. There was some window-breaking, some looting, some graffiti — all of it within 4 blocks on Broadway, and all of which took place while hundreds of police had the crowd surrounded on all sides. It was not a riot, and calling it so does nothing but justify the police’s massive overtime pay and the media’s misplaced frenzy.

What was happening in downtown Oakland, instead, was a lack of leadership — and it showed. The event started with the community speak-out organized by the General Assembly (and which I ended up helping provide sound for at the last minute). Speaker after speaker, mostly young people, got on the mic to vent their fears and frustrations of the verdict and their own experiences dealing with the American police state. Like any open mic, some speakers were more eloquent than others, but the power of the event was its embrace of free speech. Everyone could speak their piece, and while they could, there was peace.

There was around 1,000 people on Broadway at that point, a relatively small crowd given the publicity of the case and the size of previous protests. The group assembled was mostly black, but with a decent amount of white people, and Latino and Asian folks here and there. Talking to friends and students of mine around the Bay, it seemed like many people stayed home out of fear of what might happen. In that regard, the police and media’s scare tactics – and our lack of organization – had already done much of their job.

At 8:00pm, the rally organizers announced that they were closing up shop, and encouraged people to “be safe and be peaceful.” I turned off the sound system, and all of a sudden, of the 1,000 people standing in the streets, no one knew what to do. There was no march to BART headquarters. There was no sit-in at the federal building down the block. There was no chants, no prayer circle, no decisive next step to make our demand for justice known. But no one was ready to leave either. So in the absence of any organization, and as the sun began to set, the energy in the air shifted. Everyone got nervous, or excited. What cop, or protester, or undercover cop posing as a protester, would make the next move?

After the Verdict: No Riot, but No Leadership Either « Josh Healey – Hammertime for your Mind