This lively debunking of Occupy's most militant franchise is not a formal history. Rather, it's a contrarian critique meant to inform, entertain and provoke the reader.
Calling Oakland "the Westboro Baptist Church of Occupy," independent author Alan Kurtz deftly chronicles the arrogance and paranoia of wannabe revolutionists using a troubled American city as their playground. From seizing public parks and endorsing Black Bloc smashy, to being courted by organized labor as a "rent-a mob" after having twice shut down the Port of Oakland, to threatening public officials and vowing to blockade the airport, Occupiers obeyed a stark exhortation by one of their speakers: "Now is the time to spread hate!"
For half a year in 2012, Occupy Oakland owned downtown streets every Saturday night, marching on OPD headquarters, chanting "F*** THE POLICE," dragging and burning the American flag—all with constitutionally protected free speech impunity and all while loudly decrying life in a brutal police state.
After six months, however, it was clear that this little revolution couldn't. Eviscerated through infighting, dumped by disillusioned supporters, Occupy Oakland desperately reduced quorum for its vaunted General Assembly from 100 to 70, yet still attracted only a handful of diehards.
When its first anniversary rolled around, Occupy Oakland could—like an oldies station run by spent anarchists—do no more than reflect ...
