UPDATE - Scott Olsen To Undergo Brain Surgery, Statement From Oakland Mayor
Olsen's condition has been upgraded after an incident that has prompted calls for Oakland mayor's resignation.
Scott Olsen, the Iraq war veteran who suffered serious head injuries after being hit by a projectile fired by police during the Occupy Oakland protests, will require surgery to alleviate brain swelling. Doctors at Highland Hospital in Oakland have upgraded Olsen's condition from critical to fair, a source told the Guardian, though they would not discuss whether the 24-year-old had regained consciousness.
Olsen's roommate Keith Shannon, who served with him in Iraq, said Olsen would be undergoing surgery "within a day or two".
Shannon, who lives with Olsen in Daly City, a city south of San Francisco, said it was "great" that Olsen had been upgraded to "fair" status, but said concerns remained as to whether he may have suffered brain damage.
He was sedated upon arrival at the hospital on Tuesday night. His parents flew in from Wisconsin and were at his bedside on Thursday.
Oakland's police chief Howard Jordan has promised a vigorous investigation into the incident which has provoked heavy criticism across the US, sparking solidarity marches in dozens of Occupy camps in the country.
The Oakland protesters were back in force on Wednesday night, 24 hours after they were supposed to be gone for good, demanding the resignation of the city's mayor.
This time the police did nothing except circle around the demonstrators and discourage them from jumping on to an overhead freeway. More than 1000 protesters kept marching through the city streets until long after midnight, shouting an occasional "shame on you" at motorcycle cops and taking care to pick up their own litter. They even picked up pieces of a fence they had earlier pulled down and stacked them in neat piles around Frank Ogawa Plaza, in front of City Hall.
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, herself a veteran of street protests from Berkeley in the 1960s to a public demonstration against police brutality in Oakland just lastyear, is facing demands for her recall or resignation. "Mayor Quan, you did more damage to Oakland in one evening than Occupy Oakland did in two weeks," one hastily scrawled slogan left near the entrance to her offices read.
In a news conference, Quan sought to distance herself from the police action, saying she was away in Washington at the time and had not expected it to unfold the way it did. "I only asked the chief to do one thing: to do it when it was the safest for both the police and the demonstrators," she said.
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Statement from Mayor Jean Quan on the police action:
We support the goals of the Occupy Wall Street movement: we have high levels of unemployment and we have high levels of foreclosure that makes Oakland part of the 99% too. We are a progressive city and tolerant of many opinions. We may not always agree, but we all have a right to be heard.
I want to thank everyone for the peaceful demonstration at Frank Ogawa Park tonight, and thank the city employees who worked hard to clean up the plaza so that all activities can continue including Occupy Wall Street. We have decided to have a minimal police presence at the plaza for the short term and build a community effort to improve communications and dialogue with the demonstrators.
99% of our officers stayed professional during difficult and dangerous circumstances as did some of the demonstrators who dissuaded other protestors from vandalizing downtown and for helping to keep the demonstrations peaceful. For the most part, demonstrations over the past two weeks have been peaceful. We hope they continue to be so.
I want to express our deepest concern for all of those who were injured last night, and we are committed to ensuring this does not happen again. Investigations of certain incidents are underway and I will personally monitor them.
We understand and recognize the impact this event has had on the community and acknowledge what has happened. We cannot change the past, but we are committed to doing better.
Most of us are part of the 99%, and understand the spirit of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. We are committed to honoring their free speech right.
Finally, we understand the demonstrators want to meet with me and Chief Jordan. We welcome open dialogue with representatives of Occupy Wall Street members, and we are willing to meet with them as soon as possible.
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New clip of Olsen being shot by police.
Oct 27, 2011 at 9:07 PM
Reader Comments (17)
And Mayor trying to distance yourself from the situation by saying I was in Washington shows two things. Incompetance by not knowing you should of been there with the past history of the OPD and Stupidity for not being there knowing the past history of the OPD.... because of this and your staff, a Marine VET might die at the hands of his own people.......
Your resignation Please
No cover ups, no investigations, no bullshit. He is on video clear as a bell tossing a flash grenade into those people.
Anything less than felony assault charges and jail time is bs.
AND WE WILL SEE HOW MANY OF YOU FILTHY PIGS ARE STILL STANDING
YOU WANT A FUCKING WAR BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I noticed that. I also noticed the 99% mantra throughout the mayor's statement in a transparent effort to placate the protesters. The authors of that statement give themselves away as minions of the elite, however, in their proferred remedy: we'll do better going forward (but will do absolutely nothing to address past crimes). This statement is straight from the playbook of Wall Street Criminals' most prominent apologist, Obama himself.
The refusal and denial of crimes is the signature of TPTB.
One can only wonder what it will take to restore the Rule of Law in America (notwithstanding the latest insider trading crumb named Raj).
OAKLAND.
Why are police such pussies?
Fortunately for them, CBS & ABC's local news affiliates JUST HAPPENED to cut away from the demonstration RIGHT BEFORE the cops turned violent! The news crews said they had to suddenly "Refuel their choppers", wow, what a convenient coincidence for the Establishment trying to hide what is going on in this country.
Where were the hell to pays when Randy Weavers wife was killed by a sniper that shot her thru a door while she was unarmed holding her kid.
Where were the hell to pays when the ATF torched a church full of mostly women and kids? You know, the one in Texas? By the way those people at Waco werent killed over supposed illegal guns, they were killed because they were in the way of the Trans Texas cooridor, plans of which were recently scrapped. Where were the hell to pays when 9/11 happened and 3000 people died including responders that are still dying from sickness when no one believes it was muslims. No one trains on a single engine prop and translates that into suddenly being able to fly a multi engine jetliner. Only the most deluded would or could believe that. Where were the hell to pays then?
Personally im shocked and enraged at what shows in the video, shooting a guy in the face wasnt enough, throwing a grenade at him while he was down is unbelievable. He did nothing to provoke this action. The cops did nothing to render aid and actually tried to prevent it.
So enough is enough. Ive lived long enough and seen enough to know however that this is par for the course for the authorities and they rarely pay for thier actions. It looks to me as time for HELL TO PAY.
scott Bergstrsser
1579 Sycamore Dr
Oakley, Ca
94561