from the we-don't-need-any-more-jackboots-thank-you dept.
Oakland Wiki reports
Urban Shield is a war game police training simulation that takes place annually in Oakland. Additionally, there is a vendor show that [markets] firearms and other kinds of emergency things at the Marriott downtown. The 8th annual Urban Shield was held Sept 4-8, 2014.
[...]
There was a protest rally against Urban Shield at the downtown Oakland Marriott Hotel, on Sept 5, 2014 from 4-6pm. The protest was organized by the "Coalition Against Urban Shield", a group of about 26 anti-war and anti-poverty organizations. Hundreds of people came to the protest and at one point protestors blocked off Broadway between 9th and 11th. Additionally, there was a barbecue and march to the rally in the afternoon, 12:30pm-4:30pm.
The event and protest received a large amount of coverage, probably because the anti-police-militarization protests in Ferguson after the police shooting death of Michael Brown were just a few weeks prior.
On Fri. Sept. 5th, Mayor Jean Quan said in a press conference that Urban Shield wouldn't be returning to Oakland for a third year:
"The City Administrators Office will be asking our agent not to pursue another contract", Quan said in a statement issued Friday evening. [CBS]
A protest with barbecue. These folks know something about effective organizing.
(Score: 2) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday September 10 2014, @09:33PM
Although I'm glad to see the protest succeed, given the demographics of the area this kind of thing was inevitable.
I doubt this would happen again if Urban Shield moved to Phoenix, or San Diego, or Dallas, or San Antonio -- and if the Urban Shield organizers were smart, they'd do exactly that.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday September 10 2014, @10:27PM
You might think that effective left-wing protest was inevitable in a liberal bastion like the Bay Area, but I've seen some ridiculously incompetent protest organizers in my time. I've seen protest leaders screw up the basics, like:
- Having a coherent message and sticking to it
- Informing the potentially sympathetic public about when and where, and what to bring
- Being polite to passersby, so that they'll be more likely to be supportive of your cause (or even join in your protest)
- Not antagonizing the police without a very good reason
- Having a media strategy
- Creating a list of speakers in advance, so that it's respected leaders and competent speakers that the audience and media hear rather than random nutjobs
- Making sure your protest has a critical mass of people who know how to recognize and deal with agent provocateurs that unscrupulous law enforcement agencies use to turn peaceful protests into violent protests (e.g. these guys [youtube.com])
One reason the Civil Rights Movement was so successful was that they did all of this in spades. They had a list of signs you were allowed to carry, and a dress code (generally, your Sunday best), and everything that happened on stage was scripted and rehearsed. They also had a very organized system of training people to be nonviolent but not cooperative in the face of police brutality, and a keen understanding of how to direct media organizations. This is how they ended up with so much film of nicely dressed and completely peaceful protesters being beaten up by police getting shown around the country, and why it actually changed people's minds about the issue in question.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 10 2014, @10:35PM
Speaking as a random nutjob, I resemble that remark.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 10 2014, @11:47PM
The whole purpose of the protest was to try and take away their toys. Of course it's going to antagonize them.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11 2014, @11:22AM
Antagonizing police leadership and antagonizing the street officer standing in front your sign-carrying, marching butt are two completely different behaviors. And if you think that a beat cop wants to spend all day in tactical body armor carrying a select-fire Sig 550, you should think again.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday September 11 2014, @02:38PM
There's a big difference between "End Police Murders" and "YOU WANT SOME OF THIS, PIGS?!?" After all, there are many good cops out there who do not in fact want to kill civilians, and many police will never fire their weapon during their entire career, so the first message, while hard on police chiefs and the like, isn't antagonizing the street-level cops. The second one, by contrast, is trying to pick a fight with the cops.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday September 11 2014, @12:13AM
Excellent post. Nail on the head.
I saw a lot of that protester bungholery while participating in an Occupy movement-hosted Free Bradley (before he was known as Chelsea) Manning march here in San Diego. San Diego actually has a lot of liberals and moderates, and even countrywide even moderate and non-political types were generally in support of the concept because they knew something was wrong and had to be said. Nevertheless, at least the local movement failed because the protesters violated many of the rules you listed above.
First of all, a lot of them looked like they just woke up under a bridge. Nobody thought or cared enough to buy and distribute cheap and clean fresh Hanes T-shirts and disposable razors so the filthy unkempt crowd could be presentable for at least a few days. Here's a hint for the future, guys -- grab a fresh shirt and a shave, maybe even a shower, and don't look like a piece of shit who failed at life -- moderates and those considering pitching in won't if they think they're gonna deal with an uncredible lunatic fringe.
Related to the above problem is that a lot of them were riffraff just along with the ride, who just wanted to yell and disrupt traffic, that didn't even know why they protested. No joke, on the official video, a journalist asked a protester why they were here for Bradley Manning and the protestor replied literally, "Um, he, like, leaked that stuff..." The crowd were so desperate for extra heads that they made no effort to self-regulate and institute a dress and behavior code, and as a result bums and other weirdos attracted to the free food piled up around the protest site leaving trash, filth, and piss all over the place. Despite having a lineup of coherent, educated, credible speakers' aside of them the cleanest people around were costumed neckbeards and other people who clearly did not give real-life a try.
To be fair, they were polite and nonviolent, but the figureheads were so extreme that you had to wonder if they were agents-provocateurs or just pissed-off at life and looking for an outlet.
Perhaps we should have your post printed onto signs and distributed throughout the protest movements. Most kids nowadays (as well as many of the hippies during the Vietnam days) don't know the first thing about real protest, although actually getting outside is a good first step -- most people just bitch about it on Facebook, maybe sign a White House e-petition only to be told to fuck off by The Administration.
One other thing that should be added here is, although you should not become violent, you shouldn't be afraid to be arrested or even beaten for your cause.
(Score: 2) by Lagg on Thursday September 11 2014, @01:35AM
I wish more people understood how fruitless of an endeavor those stupid petitions and letters are to state reps. I do them anyway, but I know full well that they became even less effective than they already were (and that's saying something) like people petitioning the white house because Valve didn't release a video game update (yes this happened). But still, I know they're pointless. I hope that at some point I'm in a position where I actually can protest. Being in a desert hellhole tends to put a stop to that quite quickly though. Biggest gathering here is the ant hills.
http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11 2014, @12:50AM
Note: Thexalon is currently at +3 Funny and should instead be either insightful, informative, or interesting.
Mods: Try to read the actual comment instead of modding whatever it was modded before.
-- Eth-F.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11 2014, @01:40AM
Note: The post in question has one and only one funny moderation.
Try to know what you are talking about instead of writing whatever was in your brain before.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11 2014, @05:46AM
Can't argue at all with what you are saying about protests but I have to wonder what they were doing at the Oakland Marriott in the first place. Some deserted buildings in some urban area in need of a shot of convention cash would seem more appropriate. Detroit perhaps? Not just for the training simulations but for the weapons and other equipment shows. Who are they bringing in for "training" and who is footing the bills? Needs to be some research into what kind of money is changing hands and what it is being used for. It is entirely possible they are just getting out of the spotlight.
How many blue collar conventions are at the Marriott anyway? How is the bar priced these days? One drink for the regular price on a case of beer where a blue collar worker is going to buy it? Or would it just cover a twelve pack?
(Score: 2) by TK on Thursday September 11 2014, @02:11PM
Detroit? Really? The convention-goers are cops and people who sell equipment to cops. If your city is bankrupt, it's hard to get budget approval for new riot shields when your old ones still work.
The fleas have smaller fleas, upon their backs to bite them, and those fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 10 2014, @09:42PM
An effective protest without violence against a bus? I believe it not.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday September 11 2014, @01:51AM
Even predators can get the message [nationalgeographic.com], especially if you spit on them [youtu.be]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11 2014, @02:10AM
Holy hell, it took more digging than I expected to figure out which Oakland they were talking about. I am not far from one, it has an 'Oakland Marriott', and a Broadway. I went to the wiki and page after page simply called it Oakland, as if it is the only one in all of existence. Eventually, searching for the mayor's name resolved the issue.
The arrogance of Californian culture continually astonishes. It is a shame that the rest of the world think all Americans are like them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11 2014, @02:44AM
> The arrogance of Californian culture continually astonishes
Get over yourself. There are very few cities with unique names, yet unless otherwise specified everyone knows which one people are talking about.
Paris, Texas
London, Ohio (and Kentucky and Ontario)
Athens, Georgia (and Tennessee and Ohio)
etc...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11 2014, @03:44AM
You are proving the point about arrogance. Oakland is not as well known as Paris, London, or Athens.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11 2014, @07:01AM
> Oakland is not as well known as Paris, London, or Athens.
Plenty famous enough though.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11 2014, @03:53PM
I'd never heard of it prior to this article. (Eurolentil here.)
(Score: 1) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Thursday September 11 2014, @08:20AM
Dallas, Victoria...not to be confused for Dallas, USA
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 2) by TK on Thursday September 11 2014, @02:13PM
You forgot about Ontario, California. Really confusing when you refer to it as Ontario, CA. As if that would clear up the confusion.
The fleas have smaller fleas, upon their backs to bite them, and those fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11 2014, @02:51AM
Haha cant take this seriously and I live on the east coast. You go though with your rust belt pride. Deep inside you knew which oakland...tell the truth
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11 2014, @03:42AM
When there is political unrest and militant police actions in the news, do you think of Detroit or the Bay?