Oscar Grant
The YAK Films crew, responsible for popularizing TURF dancing on the internets, posted up a tribute to Oscar Grant on the second anniversary of his death. Check it.
(via HELLA BREEZYS. Also, feel free to read more on the subject over at The Bay Citizen)
Previously on Uptown Almanac
As the entire internet knows, Mehserle was just sentenced to an appallingly minimal 2 year sentence, with credit for time served. People have been quick to point out that his punishment for the wrongful killing/murder of Oscar Grant is less than the sentence Vick received for torturing canines.
KevMo is already on the scene and reports that Foot Locker (above) has definitely learned from their past mistakes. So far the crowd is at about 300 and is generally subdued. More updates as the scene develops, but from the look of things it appears that SF might have finally upstaged Oakland in the riot department.
Previously on Uptown Almanac
Considering I've been wearing these beautiful lumps of dirty plastic and fabric for the past 18 months, I'll probably make my way to Oakland tonight.
(via Indybay)
Previously on Uptown Almanac
Are you fucking shitting me? A group of suburban trophy wives and red in the face dudes are getting all hot and bothered about the "injustices" being experienced by the man who murdered involuntarily killed Oscar Grant. We should protest this protest!
Snap, they're already one step ahead of all us liberal racists wanting step on the rights of white people speaking out against the discrimination they face every day.
Anyway, our East Bay correspondent Kristen Haney will try to swing by the scene Monday afternoon. Also, check out SF Citizen for more analysis.
She set ablaze a burning trashcan fire in my heart. And now I fear that even with these lotted Jordans on my feet and the riot police to my back, I may never catch up with her again...
(via SF Weekly)Previously on Uptown Almanac
Once people started looting Foot Locker, good old Frank sat down for a cigarette and peaced out. Once again, I'm amazed that Oakland managed to wear out a man who has seen it all.
Unfortunately, the artist's face is in the frame. Stop thinking this show is all about you, bro.
... let's just play a game of chess in the middle of it.
Previously on Uptown Almanac
I had not been in a riot since Boston's first World Series victory in decades, but let me say this: Oakland doesn't fuck around. Everything was pretty mellow, minus a few minor incidents, until about 7:45. Then the police decided they needed to disperse the crowd and all hell broke loose. Looting, vandalism, fights, and even more police storming the crowd. By the time the night was winding down, I had seen 5 dumpsters lit on fire, at least 2 dozen burning trash cans, the police beat no less than 3 people, and one flash grenade thrown into a crowd.
As things got really violent, some rioter figured out how to start cutting power to all the traffic lights and lamp posts in the area. After the second instance of cutting the power, a man in the same group as me stuck his 9mm in the air and shot it off. At this point the police decided to break up the crowd yet again and everyone ran towards Sears. At this point, people were taking out their leftover 4th or July fireworks and shooting them off into the crowd. In the mayhem, a car driving by threw a M1000 in my direction, blowing up right by my leg but. I was fine but it hit another man behind me so badly that he couldn't even walk from the shock. That's when I left.
Eventually everything got tagged. However, it all started with this AC Transit bus.
Very quickly after the protest spread, the police quickly fled the area, as did the AC Transit bus pictured above. In the mayhem, a deaf lady was run over by a vehicle and she was refused help for quite some time.
Before the mayhem, many people treated the entirety of Oakland like it was Sunday Streets. For example, it provided a rare opportunity to get your photo taken while kick-flipping in front of riot police.
Police moving in.
The news media basically jumped on every act of violence, literally sprinting to the slightest bit of chaos. Pictured is the media busting a nut over a small hole made in a Subway sandwich shop window.
The moment people started looting the Foot Locker (sorry for the shitty video).
You've probably already heard by now that people looted a Foot Locker.
This man was sad for the Foot Locker.
A riot is no excuse to use a freewheel.
Getting serious.
This girl was laying in front of the police line. I guess they felt the best way to get her out of the way was to kick her down.
The police were getting much more hostile at this point. While they threatened to use tear gas, they didn't end up doing it. However the started pushing the crowd back soon after this video.
After a glass bottle hit a police officer, they threw a flash grenade into the crowd. It landed on this Telemundo news van.
This is about when I really considered leaving: some guys lighting fires didn't like that this cameraman was filming it so they attacked him (and obviously I filmed it because I'm a moron.) They got him to the ground and started kicking him. What I didn't film were people breaking up the fight and getting the guy away. Three people from the initial attack decided they wanted to destroy his camera and went after him again. They hit him a few times and eventually broken the lens off another photographer's camera who was trying to break up the second fight. Eventually the cameraman ran toward the Fox Theatre. A cyclist went after him and the cameraman pushed him off the bike and kept running. The police stood by and did nothing. Eventually the cameraman ran to the riot police with two other men in pursuit until the riot police let him go through the line.
People eventually decided that Foot Locker was not enough and looted Sears.
Previously on Uptown Almanac
Unless you're like my roommate who just woke up 15 minutes ago in a drunk/hungover stupor, you're probably already aware that ex-BART cop Johannes Mehserle has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Depending on your source, he faces a 5-14 year prison sentence (up from 2-4 years because the crime involved a firearm). Considering that a drug related felony could potentially land you more time than he'll get for shooting a detained 20-something in the back while everybody filmed it, it's no surprise that people are pretty upset.
The Uptown Action News Team will have more live coverage of the potential unrest in Oakland soon whenever the fuck we feel like it.
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