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Protest Over George Floyd’s Death Happening in Oakland Tonight

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Photo from a Justice for Oscar Grant protest from Mask Magazine

As you well know by now, George Floyd was murdered on Monday by Minneapolis Police officers in what amounted to a public lynching. The video evidence is so irrefutable that even vile, racist, hate mongers like Rush Limbaugh and Mitch McConnell say the cops look guilty. You know it’s fucked up when that happens.

There is a little bit of good news: Derek Chauvin, the officer who used his knee to crush George Floyd’s neck and kill him, has been arrested and charged with 3rd-degree murder and manslaughter. We’re a long way off from finding out if he will end up serving any time. Unfortunately, even if he does, it may not be much. If you recall, Johannes Mehserle, the cop who killed Oscar Grant, did less time than Michael Vick did for dog fighting (don’t get me wrong, dog fighting is evil and vile, but one would think killing a human would warrant far more jail time).

Over the past few days, people around the country have been protesting the murder of George Floyd, especially in Minneapolis, where protesters burned a police station to the ground last night. Tonight a protest is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza (aka Oscar Grant Plaza) outside City Hall. The Chronicle reports that the Oakland PD “has increased staffing to facilitate freedom of speech, while also maintaining public safety.”

A peaceful protest of about 60 people happened yesterday in downtown Oakland and nobody was arrested or cited.

Tonight will most likely prove to be much larger. From my ample experience in protests, as long as the police don’t antagonize the protesters, or destroy property while pretending to be them, it should remain peaceful.

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Broke-Ass Stuart - Editor In Cheap

Broke-Ass Stuart - Editor In Cheap

Stuart Schuffman, aka Broke-Ass Stuart, is a travel writer, poet, TV host, activist, and general shit-stirrer. His website BrokeAssStuart.com is one of the most influential arts & culture sites in the San Francisco Bay Area and his freelance writing has been featured in Lonely Planet, Conde Nast Traveler, The Bold Italic, Geek.com and too many other outlets to remember. His weekly column, Broke-Ass City, appears every other Thursday in the San Francisco Examiner. Stuart’s writing has been translated into four languages. In 2011 Stuart created and hosted the travel show Young, Broke, and Beautiful on IFC and in 2015 he ran for Mayor of San Francisco and got nearly 20k votes.

He's been called "an Underground legend": SF Chronicle, "an SF cult hero":SF Bay Guardian, and "the chief of cheap": Time Out New York.