I don't know if I buy the idea of illegal march.
But the hypothesis about protecting foreclosures is interesting. It might, however, be included in a larger hypothesis which is to prevent occupation of any enclosed space. I assume this is easier to do than protecting a public space because public spaces are expansible and open, whereas a private space is more cell-like and restrictive -- giving an advantage to the cops.
More things to know about the Oakland situation:
1. Here, cops police brown people and leave white people alone. OO is largely made up of white people. Not as much as other places, but still. It's confusing to the cops.
2. In terms of the large numbers of people participating in the marches/general strike or the people who show up after the cops do outrageous things, Oakland PD is very short handed. On the night of the clashes, my son totaled four parked cars while driving and texting, and he called the OPD to report the incident. The dispatcher told him no way could anyone get out to the scene cause everybody was busy.
3. Because cops are short-handed, they've been bringing cops in from the suburbs, which has resulted in some crap going on. First, these suburban guys think they're coming in to bust black heads (and that turns out to be false); second, they are in totally unfamiliar territory, which means they're more helpless and paranoid than normal.
4. The cops keep brutalizing vets. Either outright saints, like Scott Nelson, or something close to, in the case of the vet whose spleen they crushed. Cops don't really like to do that....so it's pretty confusing for them.
Anyway, a strange brew for making any predictions on how the cops would act in a given situation.
Joanna