Statement on Violence at Occupy Oakland Move-in Day March and Demonstration

February 1, 2012

The Occupation Party position on protest and direct action is clear: We advocate non-violence. Events in Oakland, California, on Saturday, January 28, 2012, prompt us to state this again.

We exercise our rights to peaceable assembly and free speech, and bring change to our political process and government through nonviolent means.

Therefore, we condemn the violent actions taken by a minority of protestors in the Occupy Oakland Move-in Day demonstration on January 28, 2012.

However, we embrace the right of all people to defend themselves when confronted with violence.

Therefore, we join the National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NLGSF) in condemning Oakland Police and Alameda County Sheriff’s Office violence, mass arrests, brutality, use of excessive force, and abuses against Occupy demonstrators and those arrested at the demonstration on Saturday, January 28, 2012.

Non-violent direct political action is an essential part of bringing change to our political system. It enables all people to participate: young and old, people of color or those with pale skin, mothers and fathers with babies in strollers, people with able bodies or people with disabilities, the fearful and the brave, those who have been downtrodden or abused. The 99%, who have not had a voice for so long, have many faces. If we are to bring change to the system then all of us need to participate in order to overcome the voice of money.

We support creative political action. Violence is not creative. It is destructive on many levels. It undermines the institutions we cherish. For, when there is violence, people do not feel safe enough to assemble or practice free speech.

We do not support breaking into public buildings, damaging and destroying public property, or burning the United States flag.

We engage in political action because we love our country. We are patriots, and we want to see the benefits of our democracy reach all citizens, not just those with money. Therefore, we reject the burning of the United States Flag. Flag burning has no context in the current discussion.

We call on the Occupy Movement to reject violence as an option or tactic. We call on the Occupy Movement to use its creativity, its many human resources, its innovative general assembly approach, and its skill at building consensus to find new ways of direct political action.

We invite you to join with us in rejecting violence as a tactic.