Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Police have fired tear gas and flash grenades while arresting more than 300 people as anti-Wall Street protesters tried but failed to take over downtown buildings, including the city hall, in Oakland, California.

Protesters from Occupy Oakland - the local offshoot of Occupy Wall Street - first targeted the empty Henry Kaiser convention center on Saturday, before proceeding to a YMCA building and then to the city hall, police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said.

Watson told the AFP news agency that three police officers had been injured, police vehicles vandalised and shop windows shattered. "We will be dealing with this into the evening, for as long as it takes," she said.

Occupy Oakland, ousted from its protest camp in Frank Ogawa Plaza on October 25 amid clashes with police, had earlier announced a weekend "rise up festival" to be held in an unspecified empty building.

They had also threatened to try to shut down the port, occupy the airport and take over city hall.

"Amazing day," read one entry on Occupy Oakland's Twitter feed late on Saturday. "We didnt get in the building, but fought like our future depended on it. I love u all!"

In a statement from earlier on Saturday, police said the initial arrests took place when protesters ignored a dispersal order and assaulted officers with rocks and other objects.

The demonstration, which started out peacefully, brought together an estimated 2,000 people, who marched towards the convention centre that includes a 5,500-seat arena, theater and event spaces.

Once there, several protesters tried to tear down a fence and occupy the building, according to media reports.

Police said the crowd began destroying construction equipment and fencing while officers were pelted with bottles, metal pipe, rocks, spray cans and burning flags.

After the marchers were dispersed, about 500 of them regrouped and continued their protest at Frank Ogawa Plaza.

"If the cops are willing to defend property over people, I think that shows where the city's priorities are," said Carla Orendorff, a student at University of California Davis.

'Stop using Oakland'

Saturday was the most turbulent day of protests since November, when Oakland police forcefully dismantled an Occupy encampment.

An exasperated Mayor Jean Quan, who faced heavy criticism for the police action last autumn, then called on the Occupy movement to "stop using Oakland as its playground".

Protests against inequality and corporate influence on US politics began last September in New York and quickly spread around the country.

Oakland and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent
cities.

Most of the demonstrators were removed from the streets at the end of the year.

In Oakland, the police department received heavy criticism for using force to break up earlier protests. Among the critics was Mayor Jean Quan, who said she wasn't briefed on the department's plans.

Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns'' about the department's handling of the Occupy protests.




*Agencies