corporate businesses got windows smashed, stuff stolen, vandalism - lets call that political action.
Nearly everyone who went to the demo and strike expected peaceful protest, and was pretty upset about the windows and graffiti during the day
after the port event, when most of the 40 000 left, maybe 1000 people, mostly young, a couple of hundred campers, turned downtown into a teenage flash mob party
they used the demo and the strike as political cover for basically stupid and counter-productive acts
there was a major action - the occupation of the Travellers building, which was to be the new Occupy Oakland social center, but had never been specifically discussed in the general assembly - they must have been watching riot porn videos from Europe, they set-up barricades, set fire to dumspters, occupied the building
then the cops came, what a surprise, and again, the wanna be black block went into riot porn mode
its the timing, the use of political cover of the great majority of the demo and strike participants to shield themselves from the responsibility
lets face it, they could of just asked for the Travellers space, after getting approval in the General Assembly
all this academic nonsense about violence/non-violence, property damage/vandalism...
the facts are, it was stupid and undemocratic and implicated everyone on the day who went in good faith
it turned the most important political event in many years into a teenage wank