Watch CBS News

Oakland City Council May Move To Block Future Port Protests

OAKLAND (KCBS) - The Oakland City Council plans to consider a resolution Tuesday night that would call on the city to make efforts to prevent another Occupy shutdown of the Port of Oakland. Several council members feel the impact of the disruptions is too severe.

Port officials said last week's protest resulted in a loss of $4 million to waterfront operations. Afterward, Oakland City councilman Ignacio De La Fuente said the port should have been kept open at any cost.

"We cannot allow these people to continue at will, any day of the week, picking and choosing when they're going to shut down our port, or when they're going to express their freedom of speech at the expense of other people," said De La Fuente.

The resolution under consideration would ask the city administrator to direct police to use tools available to prevent future shutdowns, even though Mayor Jean Quan already has that authority.

KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:

Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan said he feels the department's actions were appropriate.

"There's always going to be critics that will want us to go in with 1,000 cops and be heavy-handed, but those are the same people that are going to be criticizing us when we go in and use tear gas and move people, and for what?" said Jordan.

The Occupy Oakland website urged people to come to Tuesday's 5:30 p.m. council meeting.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.