Police Fire Tear Gas at Occupy Protesters in Oakland

[WestVirginiaRebel]

NY Times:

Riot police in Oakland dispersed hundreds of protesters with tear gas on Tuesday night as crowds tried to re-enter a plaza outside of City Hall that the authorities had cleared of an encampment earlier in the day.

After the forceful response to the Occupy Oakland protests, officers in Atlanta moved in early Wednesday morning to clear a similar camp in that city’s central Woodruff Park. At least 53 people connected to the protest group Occupy Atlanta were arrested, and the park was cleared by 2 a.m. Eastern time, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

By Wednesday morning in downtown Oakland, a dim cloud of gas still hung in the air over Frank Ogawa Plaza, images broadcast on CNN showed. A small number of police in riot gear stood by barricades around the plaza and a handful of protesters held signs nearby.

“It sounded like bombs,” said Joaquin Jutt, 24, a digital animator who was among the protesters on Tuesday night. “There was a stinging and burning in my throat, eyes and nostrils. My eyes burned like there was hot sauce in them.”

Protesters, many affiliated with the group Occupy Oakland, can be seen scurrying away from billowing clouds of gas and what appear to be flash grenades in video recorded from a high vantage point in an office nearby.
________

Sounds like even San Francisco is getting tired of the smell...

[RandyM]

Oakland mayor pulls a 180: occupiers allowed to stay. What a wuss.

 

Quan Pulls 180

 

Keith Olbermann has demanded that Mayor Quan resign. Not sure why. She's following the Obama Protocol to the letter.