Anti-Repression Committee

Some ten members of the Oakland Privacy Group braved the cold and rain on Friday evening to bring Oakland the story of DAC: The Domain Awareness Center. One of the best non-artist First Friday booths evahhhh held the DAC exhibit – complete with both mock and real surveillance cameras, a beautiful banner, and a movie screen showing Minority Report style scenes from ‘1984’, the surveillance camera livestream, and a privacy poster slide show. Too bad the rest of Oakland had the sense to stay home and away from the shivering … Continued

Oakland has been paying big bucks to SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation) to implement its own version of 1984: the Orwellian-named Domain Awareness Center (DAC). On July 30th, 2013, despite universal opposition from those attending, the Oakland City Council unanimously approved a contract with SAIC for $2,000,000 to implement “Phase 2” of the DAC. The Awareness Center is supposed to integrate data from surveillance video, traffic cameras, vehicle license readers, drones and more to provide… security. Originally meant for the Port of Oakland, the Domain Awareness Center’s reach of purpose … Continued

At least a busload of Oakland activists traveled to Santa Rosa on Tuesday, October 29th, joining those from Santa Rosa and all over Northern California who came out to march, rally and mourn in protest against the rapid-fire execution of Andy Lopez at the hands of Erick Gelhaus, a Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy. It is sad and maddening, if unsurprising, that just days before Urban Shield took place in Oakland – glorifying police violence and military-style weaponry – Andy Lopez was executed by a man whose motto might as well … Continued

Some one hundred people gathered in front of the Marriott Hotel’s Oakland Convention Center for the start of Facing Urban’s Shield’s press conference at 11:20 AM Friday, October 25th. One by one the speakers denounced the activites going on in the Marriott – the glorification of the warrior cop known as Urban Shield. Seven or eight people spoke, including Scott Olsen, “Uncle Bobby,” Oscar grant’s uncle Cephus Johnson, and Dionne Smith, mother of James Rivera, a 16 year old murdered by Stockon Police in 2012. Many made reference to the … Continued

On October 22nd, one week hence, supporters and members of some 50 families of those executed by California police will converge on Sacramento in a National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation. They will demand an end to police violence. From California Attorney General Kamala Harris. They will demand proper investigations into their loved ones’ deaths – not the whitewashes that are typically performed by police investigating themselves and the tragic farce that is District Attorneys refusing to investigate the police. The … Continued

Laleh Behbehanian, one of Occupy Oakland’s finest, spoke at the 2nd Anniversary Party on 10/10/23 commemorating the beginning of the encampment at Oscar Grant Plaza. Here is the video of her talk, recorded by Mindy, and below, a few excerpts from the prepared text. Her theme was What is this thing we call Occupy Oakland? What is this thing we call Occupy Oakland? We know that it isn’t simply some group, or organization- it’s more than that. It is isn’t merely some space – it’s so much more than the … Continued

In light of Oakland Councilperson Noel Gallo’s recent fetish with the idea of curfews, here is an article published August 11th, 2012 in the Occupied Oakland Tribune (now inaccessible), when then Chief of Police Howard Jordan was spewing the same bullshit. —– By JP Massar “Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan wants a curfew. In the widespread absence of appropriate “parental controls” Jordan says a curfew is critical to reduce the risks posed by teens and younger children hanging out late at night in some of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods. … Continued

Adopted from an email report by one of the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity team members: Congratulations to our two intrepid hunger strike solidarity peeps who successfully completed their 60 hour fast at 11:59:59 Saturday night 9/7 in support of the prisoners’ 60 day hunger strike and their 5 core demands. The fast took place outside of Gov. Jerry Brown’s condo on Telegraph Ave. at 27th St. in uptown Oakland. I was present late afternoon Saturday when Jerry Brown arrived. One supporter, a lawyer, was in the lobby of the building … Continued