The Occupy Oakland protest was the largest in a series of rallies in several cities as the Occupy Wall Street movement that began Sept. 17 tried to grab national attention.
A group of about 300 protesters, many of them men wearing black, some covering their faces with bandanas and some carrying wooden sticks, smashed windows of a Wells Fargo bank branch while chanting "Banks got bailed out. We got sold out."
The protesters spray-painted an expletive on the exterior wall of the bank and blocked the front door of a branch of Citibank, forcing customers to use a rear door.
"We want to see justice for the criminals on Wall Street," said Caroline Pincus, 53, of San Francisco.
Protesters and city officials said beforehand that they believed the activities would be peaceful, despite lingering anger from last week's injury of an Iraq War veteran in a clash between demonstrators and police.
Mayor Jean Quan, a Democrat who has been criticized for her handling of the protests, said she supports the goals of the movement, which began in New York City six weeks ago and has spread to dozens of other cities.
Protesters say 1% of the population controls a disproportionate amount of the nation's wealth and power.
"It's pretty impossible to change things when our elected representatives are beholden to the people that pay for the campaigns that get them elected," said Susan Tate, 63, a retiree from Oakland.
Protesters in New York, Boston and Philadelphia also marched on Wednesday, some expressing solidarity with Oakland’s event.
The protesters here marched late Wednesday afternoon to Oakland’s waterfront, home to the fifth-busiest shipping port in the country, to try to shut it down. Rumors circulated through the crowd earlier in the day that port workers had failed to show up for their morning shifts, but port officials said that was not the case and that all seven maritime terminals were operating during the day.
About 40 port workers out of 325 did not report for work on Wednesday, said Craig Merrilees, a spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which did not authorize a strike.
But by early evening, Mr. Merrilees said, the port was shut down.
“Nothing is coming in or out of here right now" he said.
He said workers were en route for the 7 p.m. shift, but he “highly doubts” they would be able to get through protesters.
The port has been closed for several hours in the past during similar mass protests, he said.
City offices remained open on Wednesday, though city officials reported that 5 percent of workers were absent and believed to be participating in the strike. About 300 of the Oakland Unified School District’s 2,000 teachers also took the day off and schools reported small increases in student absences, according to district officials.
The marquee of the Grand Lake movie theater replaced movie titles with a statement reading: “We proudly support the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Closed Wed. to support the strike.”
Ms. Jean Quan, meanwhile, urged protesters to patronize and not penalize the downtown businesses that remained open. The mood at the protest remained jovial throughout the day as ice cream vendors, pushing their carts, joined the marchers, though some graffiti appeared on the walls of banks and there were reports of several broken windows at banks and other businesses
Police officials said no arrests had been made as of Wednesday afternoon.
In addition to the city residents who took part in the protest, people drove in from across the state to participate.
Lenore McAllister, 30, arrived from Danville, about 22 miles east, with her three children, ages 4, 3 and 1. Her 4-year-old daughter held a sign that read, “Toddlers are the 99 percent and even we share.”
Her children thought they were at a parade, Ms. McAllister said. “I support the Occupy Oakland movement,” she added. “I’m here to teach my children to share by teaching the banks to share.”
All about: Oakland, United States, Los Angele, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Oakland City Hall, Occupy Oakland, Jean Quan
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