When they back down -- That's when #3

OccupyOakland was rocking along, but the mayor was not happy. And she was going to do something about it. The city said go, but the protestors would not be moved. They stayed. The police came. And a messy confrontation was the result.

anaychi 10/25/2011 9:25 PM RT @occupyoakland: #occupyoakland attacked by 500 cops in suprise assault. tear gas, rubber bullets, shotguns, flash bang grenades. Many injured.

That was the story from the protestors. The mayor had a different version.

citygirlrides 10/25/2011 10:29 AM A general peaceful solution is what Quan is calling police violence on #occupyoakland.

According to the mayor it had been a generally peaceful solution. But there were too many cameras, too much video.

car_mina 10/25/2011 9:25 PM RT @RayBeckerman: Story & video of #occupyoakland police violence http://t.co/uBRumA1E #ows

A TV station helicopter was filming from overhead. Many videos were made on the ground as the mele was going on. And this was the story.

BZFM 10/25/2011 10:28 AM BREAKING: Oakland Police Use Rubber Bullets, Flash Grenades, And Smoke Bombs To Evict #OccupyOakland http://t.co/Px3Ahwzu #OWS - WTH?

One injury was severe.

yellowtbirdconv 10/27/2011 8:28 AM RT @petittonton: #ScottOlsen survived 2 tours in Iraq but is now unconscious after being hit in head by a police grenade @OccupyOakland. VIA ~ @democracynow

ingebirds 10/27/2011 12:01 AM RT @OccupyPics: Oakland cops shoot Iraq vet in head; fractured skull, swollen brain, critical condition http://t.co/ea3jW0Qf #occupyoakland #occupyla

He survived two tours of Iraq only to suffer a skull fracture at the hands of the police. And all hell broke loose. And much of it was in the new media.

Sarah Kessler wrote about comments on the mayor's profile page on Facebook (Kessler, 2011). By the next morning, October 26, there were 3,500 angry messages posted on the page. Then the mayor turned comments off. But soon they were back on and the result was 11,000 negative comments by the next day.

Support for OccupyOakland came from near and far.

khunray 10/27/2011 8:16 AM RT @TheBigPharaoh: This is epic. Protesters in Tahrir tomorrow will march to the US embassy to protest the violent crackdown of #occupyoakland protests.

DanaAlFarhan 10/27/2011 8:06 AM RT @occupyoakland: Egyptians revolutionaries announced they will march in #Tahrir on Oct 28th in solidarity with #OccupyOakland. Cairo and Oakland are 1 hand!

Cairo and Oakland are one. We, Egyptian revolutionaries, will march in support. OccupyOakland which had been about 2,000 Twitter messages a day, and was only one of many, many of the Occupy Together locations suddenly was fixed in the attention of the world.

It did not let up, and even the media unexpectedly gave the protestors' description.

FIRExNECK 10/27/2011 8:03 AM RT @jsmooth995: Dear Mayor Quan: when even MSNBC's Morning Joe crew is using terms like "police riot," you've really got some problems. #occupyoakland.

And it began to have local political consequences.

murderingmouth 10/27/2011 9:01 AM RT @sfbreakingnews: LIVE: Reporter confirms mayoral candidate John Avalos has joined the line of occupiers. #occupysf #occupyoakland #ows #news #politics

The mayor's opponent had joined the occupiers. And the Oakland solid front began to disintegrate.

paulxharris 10/27/2011 9:22 AM Oakland police and mayor now turning on eachother.What an amazing turnaround from Tuesday http://t.co/GmqrhRQd #occupyoakland #ows

Finally, at 10:07 AM the word they had all been waiting for.

thinkprogress 10/27/2011 10:07 AM BREAKING: Oakland Mayor backs down, says she supports 99% movement and will minimize police presence http://t.co/qVyq5BHu #occupyoakland

BartStratton 10/27/2011 11:44 AM People power achieves victory in #OccupyOakland. Other groups inspired, emboldened #occupyeverything #OWS

The mayor backed down. She supports the 99% movement. And there will be minimal police presence. She held out for two days, but that was the limit. People power won the victory.

How do you know you won? You know you won when they back down.

Conclusion

It was cold. The ground was hard. The food was lousy. What sustains OccupyOakland as they keep on keeping on? One answer is when you are winning. Winning spurs commitment. You are going to change the world. But how do you know you are winning? This is the third answer to that question. You know you are winning when they back down.

I wanted to tell the story the way they were telling it. It is their voice in the tens of thousands of Twitter messages as the events unfolded. They accounted the events. I recounted, and I wanted to do it in their voice. They did not speak as one, but almost all rejoiced when they had won.

Reference

Kessler, Sara, (October 26, 2011) Oakland Mayor Takes Heat on Facebook After Police Fire Tear Gas at OWS Protestors http://mashable.com/2011/10/26/oakland-mayor-ows-facebook/