Posted on 10 February 2012 by @kevin_seal
BY LYNDA CARSON – originally posted on Indy Bay
Oakland, CA — Counterinsurgency is defined as a political and military strategy or action to oppose and forcefully suppress insurgency.
Out of the playbook of dirty tricks used by the CIA and FBI to crush rebellions and insurgencies across the globe, a police support group called “Stand for Oakland” entered the arena of Oakland’s political landscape, in an attempt to crush Occupy Oakland, and the political dissent that has been challenging Oakland’s police and ruling elite in recent past months.
On the afternoon of Monday, Feb. 6, Occupy Oakland found itself confronted in front of Oakland City Hall by around 2 to 3 dozen members of the counterinsurgency group called “Stand for Oakland,” that claimed to be a grass roots group that was tired of Occupy Oakland taking up so many police resources, from their communities.
Around noon, conflict between the Occupy Oakland protesters and the police supported counterinsurgency group Stand for Oakland took place in front of City Hall, and in an abusive power play the cops grabbed a sound system that belonged to Occupy Oakland member, 20 year old Brian Glasscock, who said, “It’s a concerted effort by the Oakland police to destroy the occupy movement.”
Sporting a blue duckbilled hat, and pointing a finger at the police supporters arranged along the steps of City Hall, Oakland resident John Reiman, a member of Occupy Oakland, told the counterinsurgents, “You stand for the chamber of corporate crime for corporate Oakland, that’s who you people stand for!”
Occupy Oakland protesters held their ground against the counterinsurgents and in their own message said that they were fighting against police repression, and the brutal tactics of violence being used by the police against Occupy Oakland protesters.
After being briefly confronted by the police supported counterinsurgency group and pushed around by the cops, around 150 Occupy Oakland demonstrators left the plaza in front of City Hall, and marched to the Wiley Manuel Courthouse, for a court case that ended up being postponed.
The Occupy Oakland protesters were not fooled by the charade taking place with the local police support groups that tried to hoodwink the local population with their media stunt, into believing that Stand for Oakland was actually a real grassroots movement against Occupy Oakland.
Indeed, Stand for Oakland is not a grassroots group at all, and has been totally manufactured by police support groups with the full consent, support and cooperation of the Mayor, the Oakland Police Department, Oakland City Council members, wealthy merchants and hill residents, including the full support and blessings of Paul Junge, the Oakland Chamber of Commerce President.
As part of a dirty tricks campaign being orchestrated by the powers that be, Stand for Oakland is a counterinsurgency group that was organized by police support groups including members of Oakland’s Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils (NCPCs), involving key organizers Angela Haller, a Neighborhood Watch leader, and Nancy Sidebotham, a Community Policing Advisory Board member (CPAB), whose term expires on March 24, 2012.
CPAB has 15 members that are all Oakland residents that advise the police on local community policing matters in Oakland, and Nancy Sidebotham was appointed to CPAB by the mayor, and her term began on March 25, 2009.
Along with the lead organizing members of the police support groups such as Angela Haller and Nancy Sidebotham, Councilmember Desley Brooks was present in the crowd against Occupy Oakland, as well as Bruce Stoffmacher from the office of Councilwoman Libby Schaaf, and rich man Greg McConnel who fought against Oakland’s Just Cause eviction protections was there, including wealthy developer Phil Tagami who also joined in on the orchestrated attack against Occupy Oakland, by the police support groups.
To make the fraud taking place seem even more convincing to the public at large, most of the counterinsurgents even wore little green armbands that said “Stand for Oakland” in the effort to make it look like a real grass roots movement in opposition to Occupy Oakland. In addition, they had even gone as far as to recruit a few turncoats from the Occupy Oakland movement, including Jim Forsyth, to make the protest look real on TV news channels.
Additionally, District 4 Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) member Jill Broadhurst was a part of the orchestrated counterinsurgency protest that was generated against Occupy Oakland, and she stated that most of the people who came out against Occupy Oakland on Feb. 6, were from other crime prevention groups in Oakland.
In a recruiting notice for the counterinsurgency demonstration that was posted on “Welcome to Today in Montclair, 94611,” Stand for Oakland claimed that it is a group of residents, merchants, and downtown businesses who have been the silent majority in Oakland. In reality, the rich and powerful residents, NCPCs, merchants and landlord’s of Montclair are anything but the silent majority in Oakland, and they have a very loud voice in the arena of Oakland’s brutal politics, and they carry a very big stick indeed.
The Montclair notice to the wealthy hill residents from Stand for Oakland failed to mention that the protest being organized against Occupy Oakland was actually being orchestrated by police support groups, including the members of the NCPCs, Neighborhood Watch, and Oakland’s Community Policing Advisory Board members.
The main focus of the counterinsurgency notice sent out by the police support groups against Occupy Oakland was to say that they had grown tired of the property destruction and vandalism that have occurred at Occupy Oakland protests, and are concerned about the costs of policing the protests.
Additionally, the same police support groups including the NCPCs and Oakland’s Neighborhood Watch groups have been active in Oakland for years as the eyes and ears of the cops (as snitches), and usually are very active in working with the police to go after poor black people in neighborhoods with public housing projects for petty crimes such as loitering, drug dealing or prostitution, and they have been busy with efforts to shut down public housing projects throughout the city of Oakland.
The demonstration in front of Oakland City Hall on Monday Feb. 6, by “Stand for Oakland” was a sham of epic proportions being orchestrated by the police support groups against Occupy Oakland, and confirms that the powers to be in Oakland have given their full blessings and consent to unleash the brutal police support groups such as the Neighborhood Watch groups, the NCPCs, and the Community Policing Advisory Board members (CPAB), against the democratic protesters of Occupy Oakland, in the all out effort to criminalize, crush and destroy Occupy Oakland for it’s on-going political activities.
Lynda Carson may be reached at [email protected]
Note: Nancy Sidebotham was one of the lead organizers for Stand for Oakland in the orchestrated attack against the Occupy Oakland movement, on Monday Feb. 6, 2012.
Click here for more on Nancy Sidebotham: http://clerkwebsvr1.oaklandnet.com/attachments/23061.pdf
