The day finally came last week when I drew the short straw and was shipped off to cover the war zone known as Occupy Oakland. With my trusty camera and urine-resistant shoes, I was ready for deployment…
The Occupiers are a strange race: a mix between disenfranchised blue-collar workers and militant anarchist hippies. The ability for these two to cohabitate in one area is a fascinating sight… one filled with music, singing and the undeniable stench of marijuana, referred to in the camp as “The Devil’s Lettuce”.
Wandering through the makeshift city, one will find a variety of explanations for this movement: We need jobs! Banks are responsible for the recession! Death to capitalism! 9/11 was an inside job! Legalize the Devil’s Lettuce! For what they lacked in direction, they made up for in gumption. And gigantic signs.
Without any general leader, planning seemed to be achieved through rumors and the occasional flier circulating through the crowd. Today’s goal: March on the Port of Oakland and shut that sucker down! The problem with this style of planning is that it isn’t very precise, leading many to wander along the 2 1/2 mile port looking for the designated site.
Eventually the entrance was discovered, and thousands converged on the port. To be honest, it was a somewhat frightening sight… that bridge was the only way in or out, and if the teargas started flying, it could get ugly really quick. Suddenly storm coverage doesn’t seem worth complaining about anymore.
The best part of the day for me came shortly after this, as 10,000 people marched past my live truck (which says FOX on the side) and hurled F-bombs at me. Few stopped to talk and discover that a FOX affiliate is not the same thing as The Fox News Channel, but those who did shrugged off the answer and laid into me with some more anger and hatred. You know, I’m part of the 99% too, people! I just have a job.
But the port was eventually shut down as protesters swarmed the trucks and shipping crates. A line of cops kept them from entering the port itself, but otherwise they held back from engaging the crowd. It was a largely peaceful demonstration, and as the sun began to set, most of the folks made their way back out into the community.
Later in the night, some anarchists started breaking windows and the teargas began to fly… but fortunately my tour of duty had concluded, so I was on my way home for the victory parade. At the end of the day, they managed to keep a bunch of truck drivers from getting paid (part of the 99%), restaurants and stores in downtown Oakland are being forced to close (part of the 99%), and I cried myself to sleep after being cussed out by an army of my friends and neighbors. Also someone pissed on our live truck and a drunk guy almost pulled his wang out during our live shot.
Stay classy, Oakland.