Two weeks after a protest against federal immigration actions shut down the bridge to the U.S. Coast Guard base near Oakland – where a chaotic shooting left two people injured – the Coast Guard is moving to ensure that such demonstrations can’t happen there again.
In an email sent Monday to Oakland’s director of real estate, a Coast Guard official said the military branch was seeking “permanent control” of the bridge entrance, a small section extending from the intersection of Embarcadero and Dennison streets west toward the island.
In the email, Jordan Converse, the Coast Guard’s chief of planning and real property for Oakland, said the Coast Guard was interested in extending its “security footprint” around the base, but did not reference the recent protests that drew hundreds of demonstrators.
If the city agrees to vacate the property, it would effectively give the federal agency jurisdiction over that part of the bridge, which is currently managed by Oakland’s Department of Transportation and provides the only public vehicle access to the island.
Oakland spokesperson Sean Maher said that the request will be handled through the city’s standard process for vacating property, which includes research and analysis, followed by City Council consideration.
The protests came after President Donald Trump dispatched more than 100 federal agents, including from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, on Oct. 22 to the island ahead of a major immigration crackdown in the region. Trump backed off a day later after speaking with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.
Though largely peaceful, the Coast Guard Island protests were marked with moments of conflict between law enforcement and civilians. On the morning of Oct. 23, a crowd of protesters blocked federal vehicles from crossing the bridge. After calling on them to move, officers deployed flash-bang grenades and fired a pepper round that struck a clergyman near his chin.
Protesters remained blocking the bridge during most of the day Thursday, with law enforcement pushing them back from the entrance at least once so that vehicles could pass through. Around 10 p.m. that night, a U-Haul truck drove backwards on the bridge toward Coast Guard security personnel. After issuing commands to stop, they shot at the driver, who was charged on Tuesday with assaulting federal officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
Protesters said that the Coast Guard’s move amounts to a federal land grab aimed at suppressing future protests.
“This is yet another way for the federal government and military agents to encroach on public space, our local communities, and our constitutional rights,” said Reverend Deborah Lee, co-executive director of the interfaith group that helped organize the protests. “The City of Oakland’s streets, parks and right-of-ways need to be for all our residents to live and thrive.”
Matthew Leber, a protester who had his foot run over by a vehicle trying to get onto Coast Guard Island, echoed Lee’s concerns.
“It’s important to have access to public property where we have a right to protest,” Leber said. “When it’s purposefully taken away in one of the most drastic actions of the federal government, it’s clear it’s an effort to make our protests more difficult.”
The base serves as the Coast Guard’s Pacific Area Command Headquarters, which is charged with maritime security in the Pacific Ocean. It also is home to a gymnasium, which can be used by retired military personnel, as well as a bank and grocery store.
This article originally published at Coast Guard seeks control of Oakland bridge after protests.