Oakland police fired wooden dowels, ``sting balls'' and concussion grenades at anti-war protesters at the Port of Oakland early Monday, apparently the first time such crowd control weapons have been used on demonstrators in the United States since the war with Iraq began last month.
Police said they opened fire after some of the more than 700 demonstrators ignored an order to disperse and pelted officers with rocks and metal bolts. But protesters and two city officials at the scene disputed that account and demanded an investigation, saying police fired without provocation.
About 50 protesters and nine dockworkers reported injuries, including large welts and bruises to the back, chest, neck and face. Ten demonstrators and seven dockworkers went to the hospital. Police, who reported no injuries to officers, made 30 arrests.
The decision to use ``non-lethal projectiles'' shocked veteran anti-war activists and Oakland officials, who noted that San Francisco police handled far larger clashes with far less force and fewer injuries. More than 2,300 people were arrested in San Francisco for blocking intersections or office entrances in the first few days of the war, but police there never used rubber bullets or sting balls, which send out a spray of BB-sized rubber pellets and a cloud of tear gas.
The port protest was one of several anti-war demonstrations held throughout the Bay Area on Monday. Several people were arrested at the Concord Naval Weapons Station, while others gathered at the federal building in San Francisco.
In the South Bay, protesters picketed the Sunnyvale offices of Lockheed Martin.
But the demonstration at the port was the largest. Protesters met near dawn at the terminals of Neptune Orient Lines' American President Lines unit and Stevedoring Services of America. APL provides shipping services to the military and Stevedoring Services has a $4.8 million contract to run an Iraqi port.
The protesters formed picket lines to prevent dockworkers from going to work and to shut down parts of the port for the day. But shipping company officials asked police to remove the protesters, and it was at that point violence broke out.
When police opened fire shortly before 8 a.m., scores of protesters ran and ducked behind parked trucks to avoid being hit. Amid the smoke from concussion grenades, protesters screamed at police to stop and yelled for their friends.
``I was just marching in a big circle and the police lowered their guns at us,'' said Scott Fleming, 29, who took off his shirt to show five large welts, swollen and red, on his back and chest. ``I turned to run and I started getting hit in the back with wooden bullets. They just kept shooting at us, and I kept running. They were firing at close range.''
Some dockworkers also were hit.
``Our guys were standing in one area waiting to go to work, and then the police started firing on the longshoremen,'' said Henry Graham, president of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union Local 10. ``Some were hit in the chest with rubber bullets, and seven of our guys went to the hospital. I don't want to imply that the police deliberately did this, but it doesn't make sense.''
Police Chief Richard Word and Deputy Chief Patrick Haw rushed to City Hall for a meeting with Mayor Jerry Brown on Monday afternoon as protesters held an impromptu news conference where they displayed their injuries, along with bean bags and wooden dowels they said police fired at them.
``Some people were blocking port property and the port authorities asked us to move them off,'' Haw said. ``Police moved aggressively against crowds because some people threw rocks and big iron bolts at officers.''
Brown also defended the police.
``Oakland is second to none in support of peaceful protests,'' Brown said in a statement. ``But if people try to take over the port for the sake of stating their opposition, then we have a protocol we have to follow. It's unfortunate that people were hurt.''
But numerous witnesses dispute the police department's version of events, and Councilwoman Jane Brunner has called for an investigation. Joel Tena, a staff member for Oakland Vice Mayor Nancy Nadel, said, ``I was there from 5 a.m. on, and the only violence that I saw was from the police.''
Activists said they have a videotape showing what the police did.
``The Oakland Police Department has a history of misconduct, and they've been brutalizing Oakland youth for years,'' said Leda Dederich, an organizer with Direct Action to Stop the War, an umbrella group that orchestrated protests in both cities. ``So in some ways this is not a huge surprise. But it's in sharp contrast to the way the San Francisco police behaved.''
Some Oakland officials participated in the early morning protest.
``I got hit a few times with rubber bullets,'' said Dan Siegel, an attorney who sits on the Oakland School Board. Siegel pulled a sting ball out of the pocket of his business suit and said he was outraged that the police fired on a peaceful protest. ``The police totally overreacted. It's over the top.''
The demonstrations at the port were planned with the quiet support of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, which has an anti-war committee.
