The following is an email regarding Occupy Oakland released by City Hall in response to a request by the Bay Area News Group. Thousands of these emails have been released and we will be republishing some here. Emphasis added.
Marleen Lee (@MarleenLee) is an organizer of the anti-Occupy Oakland group “Stand for Oakland.” This email was originally posted here, pages 129-131.
UPDATE: Just to clarify, the posting of this email is not an endorsement of the stupid and offensive remarks it contains. On the contrary, it is meant to expose the opponents of Occupy Oakland as the clueless reactionaries that they are.
—– Forwarded Message —
From: Marleen Sacks
Dear Oakland Officials:
Below is an email received from the Montclair discussion group regarding the numerous illegal activities occurring directly outside City Hall in the “Occupy Oakland” encampment. It does not appear that there has been any effort by City police to address the illegal encampment, nor the illegal activities going on within the camp. When will the laws of this City be enforced? Has OPD been given a directive not to interfere with this protest because members of Oakland government sympathisize with their cause, and/or do not want to alienate voters by cracking down on the protest? If this is the case, please be aware that the City will then be required not to crack down on neo-Nazi protests, Tea Party protests, Impeach City Official protests, or other protests that City officials may not be as sympathetic toward. This is because Frank Ogawa Plaza is a public forum for free speech, and the City must remain “viewpoint neutral” on its enforcement of laws and speech.
As this email demonstrates, many Oakland citizens are not happy about the City’s lack of equal enforcement of the law, and we want our laws enforced. You are already losing votes – just not from the sort of people inclined to break the laws, urinate and have sex in public etc.
Marleen L. Sacks
Hi
Just an update on “Occupy Oakland”. They had an information/organization meeting at 7:30 pm tonight. I sat in for part of it.
I thought you might be interested in knowing what’s going on…and who was there.
The air was perfumed with pot.
About 300 people in attendance at the amphitheater
They warned about preventing the spread of tuberculosis throughout “The Camp” [what they're calling it]
They also asked for donations of (Ladies, close your eyes.) condoms and — (Close them tighter.) —- dental dams.
They are actively and publicly working on building “text trees”, phone trees, and email trees to build a large mobile communication network.
Friday night they have a vigil for Troy Davis (The cop killer executed earlier this month.)
They’re expecting 1,500 for a “Labor march” this Saturday.
Danny Glover is to speak before them on Saturday afternoon
David Hilliard (sp?) Chief of Staff of the Black Panthers, speaks on Monday.
Berkeley Liberation Radio 104.1 FM will be airing live coverage beginning next Tuesday.
One of the take-aways I have from this is that they are surprisingly organized. I’m not sure opposition has anything like text, phone, or email trees. The “tree” approach makes communication a bit more intimate than broad cast approaches.
Many (most?) of the “occupiers” appear to be living so close to the edge…that getting arrested would be an improvement in their condition–and an expansion of their social network.
“Occupy Hollister” starts on Thursday 10/13.
