Count a half-dozen journalists among the 400 plus people arrested during the weekend’s Occupy Oakland protest. Among them: Mother Jones’ intern Gavin Aronsen, who blogs about it at the MoJo website. An excerpt:
I wound up in a back corner of the space between the YMCA and a neighboring building, where I met Vivian Ho of the San Francisco Chronicle and Kristin Hanes of KGO Radio. After it became clear that we would probably have to wait for hours there as police arrested hundreds of people packed tightly in front of us, we maneuvered our way to the front of the kettle to display our press credentials once more.
When Hanes displayed hers, an officer shook his head. "That's not an Oakland pass," he told her. "You're getting arrested." (She had a press pass issued by San Francisco, but not Oakland, police.) Another officer rejected my credentials, and I began interviewing soon-to-be-arrested protesters standing nearby. About five minutes later, an officer grabbed my arm and zip-tied me. Around the same time, Ho—who did have official OPD credentials—was also apprehended.
Add: Others scooped up were Yael Chanoff of the Bay Guardian, John C. Osborn of East Bay Express and freelance cartoonist Susie Cagle (the second time for her).
