Despite the misleading headline in the Oakland Tribune on July 21, 2005, the suit against the city steming from the police attack against anti-war protesters and longshore workers has NOT been settled. 14 of the 58 plaintiffs, including all of the longshoremen, have not settled for their injuries sustained in the bloody police attack which has been cited as the most violent at the start of the war in Iraq by a UN Human Rights Commission report. The role of the California state anti-terrorism agency (CATIC) needs to be fully exposed. What transpired at the secret meeting with the police and representatives of the Port of Oakland, the Pacific Maritime Association, the maritime employers’ group, and picketed companies Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) and American President Lines (APL) 3 days before the police attack? Then-Police Chief Richard Word was quoted by the New York Times as saying police where mobilized at the behest of the maritime companies. And throughout all of this, why was “so-called progressive-turned-reactionary” Mayor Jerry Brown supporting, then covering up for the cops? Could it be that he’s running for top cop in the state, i. e. Attorney General?
The trial is set for January of 2006. We demand the truth be told.
Jack Heyman
Most seriously injured anti-war demonstrator will receive $500,000
By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER
07/21/2005
OAKLAND - A West Oakland woman who was injured after police fired on anti-war protesters with “less than lethal ammunition” in April 2003 will get $500, 000 to settle her lawsuit against the city and Police Department.
Willow Rosenthal, founder of City Slicker Farms, was hit in the back of her right calf with a wooden pellet during the protest at the Port of Oakland. She has at least $80, 000 in doctors’ bills and underwent several surgeries for internal bleeding and skin grafts.
Rosenthal and her attorney, James Chanin, declined Wednesday to discuss the settlement until it is formally approved by the Oakland City Council on Sept. 20, after the council returns from its summer recess.
The council also agreed to settle two other cases stemming from the port protest, which prompted the Oakland Police Department to overhaul its crowd-control policies and prohibit the firing of wooden dowels and stinger grenades to control unruly gatherings.
John Nishinaga, whose fingers were broken during the protest and remain damaged, will get $85, 000. Cliff Close, who suffered cuts and bruises, will get $7, 500, said Chief Assistant City Attorney Barbara Parker.
In February, the council paid $154, 000 to 24 people who claimed they were hurt in the demonstration that sought to highlight the port’s role in shipping munitions and other supplies to be used in the war in Iraq.
Of the 58 people who sued the city after the melee, all but 14 have settled their lawsuits. Unless those are resolved as well, a trial is expected to begin in January.
Many protesters were hit in the back as they retreated from lines of riot gear-clad police on motorcycles and on foot. One woman was hit in the jaw, while a dock worker outside the gates was hit in the hand and needed surgery to repair his broken thumb.
Rosenthal, among the most severely injured, remains heavily scarred and was dealing with pain many months after the incident.
Criminal charges against 24 activists and one longshoreman were dropped. Several groups returned to the port on the first anniversary of the protest for a peaceful demonstration.
City officials have defended the officers’ actions, saying the order to open fire with wooden pellets, beanbag rounds and stinger grenades was given after protesters blocked traffic at the port and began throwing rocks and bottles at officers. However, a video of the confrontation released by the city does not show demonstrators attacking police.
In a separate case, the council agreed to pay $25, 000 to two reporters who were arrested while covering an anti-war protest in the city in March 2003.
Rashida Askey and Cleveland Valrey Jr. were reporters for the San Francisco Bay View newspaper, which focuses on the African-American community and the Hunter’s Point-Bay View neighborhood in San Francisco.
Askey’s teeth were damaged during the confrontation with police, said her attorney, Walter Riley. Valrey was not injured.
