Oakland City Council Grants Reprieve to Ill-Considered Martial Law Proposals: photos & audio

In a City Council meeting that ran close to five hours, an overflow crowd of hundreds of Oakland residents showed up to speak out against the proposed trifecta of new police authority dubbed "martial law" by opponents: a loitering ordinance, a youth curfew, and expansion of gang injunctions in the city. Perhaps one or two dozen members of the public came to speak in favor of the proposals. Especially problematic with the proposals were the means by which they reached the City Council. Rather than following the standard process of proposals being examined and voted on by the Public Safety Committee before possible forwarding to the full council, council members Larry Reid and Ignacio De La Fuente attempted to rush these new measures into law by bringing them straight to the council, without proper consideration. Indeed, the Oakland police department itself seemed ill-prepared to take on the new authority it was requesting. After hours of council business unrelated to the proposals, and impassioned public comment from dozens and dozens of Oakland residents, the council voted to send all three proposals back to the Public Safety committee for a more thorough vetting. [Full audio below]