OAKLAND, C.A. (AP) — Police and protesters in a California city faced off late Saturday after an evening of mostly peaceful demonstrations seeking racial justice.
More than 100 people were involved in the protest that included rocks, bottles, lasers and other items being used to assault officers, Oakland police said on Twitter. The unrest led to “half a dozen arrests,” police said.
One officer was injured, according to police, though the extent of the injury wasn’t immediately released. An unlawful assembly was declared and the crowd was ordered to disperse. Police said some gas and smoke was used to force demonstrators away.
Many people have participated in protests across California since the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Blake, 29, was shot in the back seven times last Sunday as he pulled away from an officer and leaned into his SUV, in which three of his children were seated. A family attorney on Tuesday said Blake was paralyzed, and it would “take a miracle” for him to walk again.
On Saturday in San Jose, a crowd spray-painted graffiti on Mayor Sam Liccardo’s home with phrases that included “BLM,” Jacob Blake and profanities, fired paintballs and burned a flag. His neighbors quickly banded together to clean Liccardo’s home.
Liccardo said in a statement Saturday he was away visiting a relative at the time of the incident. The mayor said the vandalism does not detract from his support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Many of these same neighbors’ homes bear ‘Black Lives Matter’ signs, and they represent the true spirit of the movement, and of our San Jose community,” he said. “They contrast sharply with the roughly hundred so-called ‘protesters’ who stood by silently — or even cheered — as a flag was burned,” and messages including profanity “were scrawled on our home.”
In Sacramento, police said about 75 people marched from Chavez Park donning helmets, body armor and shields. Two people were arrested, according to police tweets, including one person accused of pointing a laser at officers and another accused of resisting officers. Police said the crowd began to disperse around 10 p.m.
