Oakland anti-police protesters once again hit the streets on Christmas day itself, intentionally choosing a holiday for their mayhem so as to prevent police officers from having a day off. Using the hashtag “#NoTimeOff” as their rallying cry, the small group of protesters purposely attacked and damaged the public Christmas tree on display at Oakland’s Jack London Square, a waterfront outdoor shopping and dining mall:
“And in a decidedly un-holiday spirit, some protesters vandalized Jack London Square’s large Christmas tree.”
In this photo by Leah Mills of the SF Chronicle, the protesters are shown yanking the Christmas lights off the tree, and smashing Christmas ornaments.
Twitter user Christin Ayers of KPIX posted this photo of the tree after the attack, showing the lower part of the display which got damaged before the aggressive protesters were chased away.
The Contra Costa Times reports that:
Photos posted on social media appeared to show shattered ornaments, strands of lights and branches littering the ground around the 55-foot Christmas tree at the square.
The protesters and their supporters have been tweeting slogans such as:
No Christmas for pigs #NoTimeOff
The protesters also smashed windows at nearby businesses, including a Subway and a Bevmo, before heading off to wreak more damage around downtown Oakland; the march eventually petered out late on Christmas night.
The protesters’ justification for their mayhem was to show that they “are committed to ending deeply institutional racism in police departments.”
Attacking Christmas trees on Christmas day is obviously the best way to make that happen.
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