Anti-police demonstrators disrupted people gathered with law enforcement officials at a gun violence memorial in Oakland, California, on Saturday, videos show.
Around 200 people attended a memorial for victims of gun violence where mothers who had recently lost children mourned and a handful of “Antifa” protesters briefly clashed, Intercept investigative journalist Lee Fang said on Twitter.
“White privilege is standing here, you think you have a right to be here! You don’t have a right to be here!” a woman attending the memorial yelled at the anti-police protesters, video shows.
Today, Rally for STAND UP #SAFEOAKLAND crowd of 300 joined Oakland Police Chief LeRonne L. Armstrong, Chief Cespedes of Violence Prevention, City Council members and Community. pic.twitter.com/CJk8EnFFbO
— Oakland Police Dept. (@oaklandpoliceca) July 10, 2021
Another woman attending the memorial told the protesters that “black children are dying in the street every day” to which a demonstrator interjected, “yeah, at the hands of the police,” one video shows. A male attendee stepped in and told the protesters, “that’s a lie … what do you have against safety in Oakland? What do you have against stopping the violence?”
Several of the attendees stepped back to confront the anti-police protesters and told them they were disrespecting the memorial and everyone there, video shows. The protesters accused law enforcement officials of using the attendee’s pain “as a shield.”
“Why are you trying to disrupt something that’s trying to be positive?” a man asked the protesters, video shows. “You’re disrupting something that’s positive, we’re trying to save our people, you are not our people, get the fuck out.”
Several of the memorial attendees told the protesters to lower their masks and asked whether they were from the area, though none of them answered on camera, video shows. (RELATED: Violent Crime Surged In These Cities After Mass Black Lives Matter, Anti-Police Protests)
The Oakland Police Department and community leaders planned the “Stand Up for a Safe Oakland” gathering to remember homicide victims in the city, NBC Bay Area reported Saturday. Oakland police officials have reported 71 homicides in 2021, and expect around 135 killings by December if the incidents continue at the same rate.
“It is time that we come together, and we unite behind reducing gun violence in the city of Oakland,” Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said, according to NBC Bay Area. The anti-police protesters reportedly brought a banner accusing the police department of domestic terrorism and read out the names of people they claimed were victims of police violence in the area.
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