Police a no-show for Oakland nighttime protest

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- A large protest blocked downtown streets in Oakland last night, but police never showed up.

More than 100 "Break the Curfew" protesters rallied against Oakland's crackdown on night demonstrations. This time though, the crowd was not disrupted.

The protest lasted about three hours. Demonstrators marched through downtown Oakland. At one point, they blocked traffic at 14th Street and Broadway. No police officers showed up.

"I've been organizing for 15 years and I've never held an action or a march where police have not showed up at all," said Roselyn Berry, a protest organizer with Bay Area Black Youth Project.

Oakland Police Department issued a statement saying, "The department was prepared to respond in the event that the demonstration became unlawful, threatened public safety, or incited vandalism or property damage."

"I was relieved because honestly a lot of times we come together peacefully and it's our right to do so and we're over-policed," Berry said. "I see my folks get arrested."

Last night's march was peaceful. Still, some Oakland business owners feel officers simply weren't doing their job.

"They're supposed to be there. That's their job, to protect people and their property from violence," said Joe Abraham of American Auto Upholstery and Glass.

Joe Abraham hasn't fixed the windows of his shop on Oakland's Auto Row. They were smashed during a protest three months ago.

"They couldn't protect it," Abraham said.

His neighbor Nancy Groom uses her boarded up windows as a billboard, demanding answers from city leaders.

"We expect the police to back us up. We expect City Hall to back us up," said Nancy Groom, co-owner of Precision Motors.

Mayor Libby Schaaf's office would not comment on last night's lack of police presence, but she did send a statement explaining marchers on roadways may be cited or arrested.