A protest in Oakland, California turned violent Saturday night, with protestors setting fire to a courthouse, vandalizing a police station, and shooting fireworks at police officers.
The protest started as a peaceful march with about 700 people participating, but a small group broke off, wearing helmets and goggles, and began smashing windows, spray-painting graffiti and pointing lasers at officers, according to Oakland Police Department spokesperson Officer Johnna Watson.
The Alameda County Superior courthouse was set ablaze, and protestors threw rocks, ceramic paint-filled balls, and frozen water bottles through windows at the courthouse, federal building, and a police building in the downtown area of Oakland.
“This was different,” Watson said, according to the Associated Press. “This group of protesters had specific intentions to participate in one way or another — whether that’s carrying backpacks in with clearly very heavy items and the smaller group would actually be engaged in doing the damage — there is a nexus with all of the attendees.”
Several people were arrested, but no further details were given. There were no immediate reports of injuries and no cost estimate of the vandalism, Watson said.
“We celebrate passionate protest, but Oaklanders need to know that when they attend protests after dark, they may be providing cover for agitators who are more intent on stoking civil unrest than advancing racial justice,” Mayor Libby Schaaf said.
Schaaf warned that the violence and vandalism could be used by Donald Trump to send federal agents into the city, much like he did in Portland, Oregon.
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