Oakland Police Used 'Overwhelming Military-Type Response' Against Occupiers

A woman pauses in front of a memorial for Scott Olsen, an Iraq veteran who was severely injured during a standoff between Occupy Oakland and Oakland police, near the Occupy Oakland encampment on October 27, 2011 in Oakland, California. Former U.S. Marine and Iraq war veteran Scott Olsen remains in the hospital after he was struck in the head with a projectile during a standoff with Oakland police on Tuesday evening. Two days after police evicted Occupy Oakland protestors from their Frank Ogawa Plaza encampment, protestors have begun to move back into the plaza and are setting up tents. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Oakland police used "an overwhelming military-type response" to disperse Occupy Oakland demonstrators and fired at a former Marine and Iraq war veteran who was critically injured in the clashes in October, according to a court ordered report released Monday.

The Oakland Police Department has been under investigation by third party monitors since 2003 after reported misconduct and repeated use of unlawful force. The department came under renewed scrutiny during last year's Occupy Oakland protests that saw large amounts of police brutality; Oakland police received more than 1,000 misconduct complaints during the protests.

In the most televised case, peaceful protester and former US marine Scott Olsen was shot in the head with what is now reported to be a 'beanbag round', causing severe brain damage. More...

Greek style riots hit Occupy Oakland

Occupy Oakland protesters vandalized businesses and smashed bank windows, as they tried to shut down the city with a series of marches today.

Thousands of Wall Street protesters marched through the streets of Oakland, where demonstrators had called for a 'general strike' in an attempt to bring the city to its knees.

Emotions have run high in the city since last week when an attempt by police to break up a camp lead to the serious injury of an Iraq war veteran.

Ultimately only around five percent of city workers took the day off work, officials said.

The demonstrators' attempt to close down Oakland port, America's fifth biggest, also failed.

Perhaps frustrated at their inability to disrupt city business, protesters on the second march of the day turned violent, smashing windows at a Chase bank branch a few blocks from the city's downtown.

Graffiti was also painted on the bank. Employees tried in vain to close up the broken windows with boards and other materials, while one private security guard looked on helpless. More...