The crowd, described at mid-morning as in the hundreds, is peaceful and Oakland police and other agencies are nearly invisible so far at the general strike called by Occupy Oakland. No disruptions for BART through downtown after anti-BART protesters called off a separate action, but AC Transit buses are being routed around 14th and Broadway near Frank Ogawa Plaza.
Add: The Chronicle says at least 13 percent, or more than 268 Oakland teachers took the day off to attend the strike. The Oakland Tribune is live-blogging.
Among the morning’s observations:
- At 10:30, the Trib’s Hannah Dreier blogged: “No one has spotted a uniformed police officer since dawn...”
- The 850 UC system employees, whose offices are downtown, didn’t come to work.
- Richmond mayor Gayle McLaughlin took a verbal poke at Oakland Mayor Jean Quan while addressing a contingent of protesters: “As an elected official, you need to know which side you are on or you will get caught in the intersection, as Jean Quan did.”
- A group of young women in clown costumes were seen flooding out of the 12th Street BART station before 9:40.
- Mayor Quan said fewer than 5 percent of city employees took advantage of floating holidays or furloughs to call in absent.
- Early rumors that the Port of Oakland was shut down proved false, although activity there apparently has slowed.
Image: KTVU 2
