What started out as a peaceful protest of Wall Street and an effort to shut down the 1% has turned into a sometimes chaotic scene. We all have a right to protest for a good cause, but things began to fall apart when protesters decided to set up camp at the Ogawa Plaza which others frequent daily for business.
Granted, protests are meant to shake things up a bit to get everyone's attention, but the objectives were not thought out very well. If so, protesters would have anticipated some of the resistance and opposition and could have had a plan to deal with them.
A lot of us are all for protests and believe in Occupy Oakland, but didn't really understand why there was no leadership or plan when the first protest erupted. There would have been a different outcome had their actions been planned strategically and with some leadership, such as other peaceful marches in our history.
When things got out of hand the evening of Nov. 2, after what looked like a very big turnout and a good march, many are asking who decided to vandalize and try to invade nearby businesses.
To make matters worse, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said, according to the Oakland Tribune, "We don't have a lot of extra money. It will mean the community gets less services. Last week's costs for the police department were $700,000."
According to the New York Times, some of the protesters were starting to argue with demonstrators who became violent, which is never good when you're attempting to be one voice for a good cause.
While watching the news Thursday morning and seeing the behavior of some, I found it hard to feel as optimistic about the effectiveness of the point that protesters were trying to make. As we watch the news and see the disruptions unfold, it looks frightening because rioting in the streets and demanding change is becoming common around the world.
is a member of the 
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Occupy Wall Street, and the people who make it up, are in EMERGENCY status. People are now homeless who have been thrown out of their homes because of corrupt business practice. People have lost their life savings because of greed.
THAT is what Occupy is protesting. All the rest, the Police overtime and different protest tacticts are merely the finger pointing at the moon and NOT the story. We are journalists and it's our duty to report the story, not the fluff.