Chained Protesters Block Oakland Federal Building
Henry K. Lee and Kurtis Alexander, San Francisco Chronicle, January 16, 2015
A group of protesters chained themselves together and partly blocked the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on Friday morning in downtown Oakland, saying they wanted to reclaim the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The demonstration began at 6:30 a.m. and lasted for 4½ hours, the length of time the body of Michael Brown was left on the street after he was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., in August.
The protesters allowed full access to the building afterward and hugged each other to loud cheers.
More than a dozen protesters converged outside the twin-tower building at 1301 Clay St., which houses federal offices. Some had tubes covering their wrists and forearms that read, “3rd World Unite” and “Silence is Violence.”
Other protesters held signs reading, “Third World for Black Power” and “Global Resistance Against Police Violence.”
The entrance to federal courthouses in the south tower remained open.
Demonstrators said the U.S. government helps oppress blacks and citizens of third-world countries and that they were protesting to honor King’s “legacy of struggle and internationalism.”
“By engaging in this action, we want to make clear that as long as this war continues, there will be no business usual,” read a statement issued by the group Third World Resistance.
{snip}
