The violent crackdown last week by police in Oakland, California, against Occupy protesters was nothing new to local residents who have witnessed the city’s law enforcement behave brutally, and sometimes illegally.

 

In 2003, several Oakland police officers were accused of planting drugs on suspects. What became known as the Riders case has dragged on for nine years, as the department has failed to implement reforms ordered by a federal judge.

 

District court Judge Thelton Henderson criticized police leaders last week for not making mandated changes within the force. “This is no longer business as usual,” Henderson said. “I’m not interested in listening to promises about how things are going to be.”

 

The same year the Riders case began, Oakland police also shocked the Bay Area for their handling of an Iraq war protest at the local port. When demonstrators refused to disperse from the gates of two shipping lines, officers opened fire with wooden dowels, “sting balls,” concussion grenades, tear gas and other non-lethal weapons.

 

The protesters sued the city, claiming the police used excessive force, and won their case, as well as a $2 million settlement.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Judge Slams Oakland Leaders for Slow Police Reforms (by Shoshana Walter, Bay Citizen)

FLASHBACK: Oakland Paid $2 Million Settlement after Attacking Dozens of Antiwar Protesters in 2003 (by Zaid Jilani, Think Progress)