Occupy activists disavow rioting

OAKLAND, Calif. - Occupy Wall Street protesters had just a few hours to celebrate what they saw as their biggest victory so far: the peaceful shutdown of the nation's fifth-busiest port. Then the rioting began.

A day after some protesters clashed with riot police, set fires, and shattered windows in Oakland, demonstrators across the country condemned the violence and wondered whether it would destroy their cause.

"They don't speak for the majority of people who were here yesterday," said Hadas Alterman, a college student who was gathering trash at a tent camp near City Hall. "That was an hour of action, and we were out here for 12 hours and it was peaceful."

The protest outside the port, which reopened Thursday, was an escalation in tactics as demonstrators targeted a major symbol of the nation's commerce with peaceful rallies and sit-ins.

The violence that followed, however, raised questions about whether a movement with no organizational structure and no high-profile leaders can stop those they called troublemakers.

Few cities have reached the level of Oakland, which has a long history of tensions between residents and police.

Bob Norkus at the Occupy Boston camp said the riots did not represent the broader movement and likely would not have a lasting effect on it, either.

It "has to be nonviolent, or else it will just end. We won't get the support," he said.

Police in riot gear arrested more than 80 protesters in downtown Oakland, where masked protesters took over a vacant building, erected roadblocks, and threw chunks of concrete and firebombs. Five people and several officers were injured.

Raymon Curtis, who was protesting in Portland, Ore., said he did not believe the police in his city were seeking violence.

"I looked in their eyes and at first I thought it was a hard look," Curtis said. "Then, I realized it was the same look I had when I went to prison for the first time. They're terrified."

People who participated in daytime protests in Oakland returned to help sweep up debris and scrub off graffiti.

Shari Rivers, the manager of a Tully's Coffee on the City Hall plaza, was busy cleaning up Thursday morning after protesters broke windows, stole some property, and knocked over the cash register overnight.

"I cried. It's very disheartening. I am part of the 99 percent and have supported this movement," she said, adding that she blamed the city for letting the protest get out of hand. "This shouldn't happen in a U.S. city."