COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

http://youtu.be/tIYkAHmEW4Q Instructions for Civil Disobedience [Video] by Pat W ARTICLEINVITE See in slideshow SAN FRANCISCO — On Oct 27th, San Francisco PD sent letters to businesses around OccupySF warning of increased activity that night (see letter). The police had also issued a letter to the OccupySF camp warning of arrest. Both letters mirrored the steps leading up to the Oakland assault. A group of occupiers began tracking police activity that night and discovered several bus-loads of police with riot gear waiting at a staging area on Angel Island. (source) Expecting a violent police raid, calls for support went out on Twitter and over 1,000 people arrived. This video filmed at 9:15pm documents instructions for forming and holding human blockade lines to protect the camp. And how to deal with tear gas and arrest. Expecting to be stripped of cell phones and pockets emptied, volunteers used markers to write a phone number for legal aid on their bodies. Shortly after 10pm, state senator Leland Yee human, union leaders and five city supervisors joined the crowd rallying at the camp. They stayed until 4am when spotters confirmed the police assault force was dispersing. Later, it was reported Mayor Ed Lee personally texted the police force to 'stand down'. Here is a CBS News segment and article on that night: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/10/27/city-supervisors-state-sen-lee-address-occupy-sf-protesters/