Oakland Officials Seek Vandalism Video, Photos From Protests
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Oakland city officials are asking members of the public to submit video or photographic evidence of vandalism associated with recent protests.
After protests on May 1 that led to 39 arrests and acts of vandalism including the torching of a police car, city officials are reaching out to community members for help in prosecuting those responsible.
"Oakland champions the First Amendment rights of demonstrators," City Attorney Barbara Parker said. "However, we will not tolerate individuals hijacking demonstrations to trash our town and act out in destructive or harmful ways."
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[ Occupy May Day | Oakland ]
[ Occupy May Day | SF ]
The city has retained an investigator to review video and photographic evidence and plans to file lawsuits to recover damages as perpetrators are identified.
The city attorney's office has filed lawsuits against three people so far who were arrested for vandalism during previous Occupy Oakland protests. One was allegedly seen smashing the windows of a city building with a chair on Nov. 3, 2011, while the other two allegedly spray painted on public property on Jan. 28, 2012.
Members of the public can submit videos or photos to stopwindowsmashers@gmail.com or be mailed directly to the Neighborhood Law Corps at 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, 6th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
