Oscar Grant , Oakland: Dozens of arrests, 12 facing major felonies for “2nd Oscar Grant Rebellion”

July 9, 2010 by denverabc

Although this capitalist news article claims 78 people were arrested, most
other news agencies are claiming at least 83 arrests. We are posting the
contents of this article because it’s the only one we’ve found with a
detailed breakdown of the arrestees and their charges. Solidarity to the
warriors of the 2nd Oscar Grant Rebellion!

OAKLAND — A total of 78 people were arrested Thursday night in downtown
Oakland during protests that followed the Johannes Mehserle verdict, a
spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.

Mehserle, a former BART officer, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter
Thursday for the shooting death of Oscar Grant III on a platform at the
Fruitvale BART station in Oakland on Jan. 1, 2009.

The majority of those arrested, 66 people, will be released Friday because
they only face misdemeanor charges, many for “unlawful assembly,” which is
not obeying an order to disperse, Alameda County sheriff’s Sgt. J.D.
Nelson said.

The others face felony charges and will be kept in custody, Nelson said.

Six of the 12 people are facing felony charges for breaking parole, and
other charges include arson, causing property damage, and using an
explosive device, Nelson said.

Of the 78 people arrested, 60 were male and 18 female.

Nineteen of those arrested are from Oakland, 28 are from the Bay Area
outside of Oakland, 19 are from California outside of the Bay Area, and 12
are from out of state, Nelson said.

Nelson did not have any information about whether the people from out of
state were the so-called “outside agitators” who instigated the
destructive parts of the protest, but he said it was not out of the
question.

“You have to question why they came from out of state, and why they were
in the streets in the middle of the night,” he said.

Several businesses were damaged along Broadway between 12th and 20th
streets, where most of the protesters gathered. A few banks, a Whole Foods
Market, a Foot Locker shoe store, and a Subway sandwich shop were among
the businesses that were damaged.

Protesters smashed windows, some looted stores, busted down doors, or
sprayed graffiti on storefronts.

Of the 66 people arrested who are scheduled for release, only 16 have been
released as of shortly before 11 a.m. because processing is slow since the
jail facility is understaffed due to budget cuts, Nelson said.