OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Occupy Wall Street supporters who staged rallies that shut down the nation's fifth-busiest port during a day of protests condemned on Thursday the demonstrators who clashed with police in the latest flare-up of violence in Oakland, Calif.
Riot police arrested dozens of protesters in the city's downtown, where bands of demonstrators threw chunks of concrete and metal pipes as well as lit roman candles and firebombs, police said. At least four protesters and several officers were injured.
The protest outside the Port of Oakland, which reopened Thursday, represented an escalation in tactics as a movement that had largely been about marches, rallies and tent camps targeted a major symbol of the nation's commerce.
The violence that followed, however, raised questions about the direction of the movement and whether the clashes, so far mostly isolated in a city with a history of tensions between residents and police, will galvanize protesters or hurt their cause. (35 images)
Riot police arrested dozens of protesters in the city's downtown, where bands of demonstrators threw chunks of concrete and metal pipes as well as lit roman candles and firebombs, police said. At least four protesters and several officers were injured.
The protest outside the Port of Oakland, which reopened Thursday, represented an escalation in tactics as a movement that had largely been about marches, rallies and tent camps targeted a major symbol of the nation's commerce.
The violence that followed, however, raised questions about the direction of the movement and whether the clashes, so far mostly isolated in a city with a history of tensions between residents and police, will galvanize protesters or hurt their cause. (35 images)
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An Occupy Oakland protester raises a sign near a burning trash heap on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. Following a mainly peaceful day-long protest by thousands of anti-Wall Street demonstrators, several hundred rallied through the night with some painting graffiti, breaking windows and setting file to garbage cans. AP / Noah Berger
An Occupy Oakland protester releases a spray toward a chemical agent used by authorities in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011. AP / Jeff Chiu
Occupy Oakland protester Mike Clift runs from tear gas early Thursday morning, Nov. 3, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Noah Berger
Occupy Oakland protesters pass a burning garbage heap during a confrontation with police on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Noah Berger
An Occupy Oakland protester holds up a sign in front of a bonfire in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011. AP / Jeff Chiu
An Occupy Oakland protester, lit by a flare, rallies on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Noah Berger
Protesters help an injured Occupy Oakland demonstrator after a police-fired projectile struck his leg on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Noah Berger
An Occupy protester shows peace signs to Oakland Police officers in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011. AP / Jeff Chiu
Occupy protesters sit in a building they've occupied in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011. AP / Jeff Chiu
Graffiti covers a building on Broadway following an Occupy Oakland protest on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Noah Berger
Occupy protesters show peace signs to Oakland Police officers in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011. AP / Jeff Chiu
An Occupy Oakland protester sits in front of a line of Oakland Police and Alameda Sheriff authorities in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011. AP / Jeff Chiu
Paramedics help an injured Occupy Oakland protester after a car stuck him and another demonstrator while they marched on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Noah Berger
A driver waits for police to release him after he drove his car into two Occupy Oakland marchers on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Noah Berger
An anarchy symbol is painted the entrance to an office building at 1333 Broadway in Oakland, Calif., following an Occupy Oakland protest early Thursday morning, Nov. 3, 2011. AP / Noah Berger
Occupy Oakland protesters stand atop a railroad scaffold at the Port of Oakland on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Noah Berger
Occupy Oakland protestors stand atop a big rig truck at Port of Oakland on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Noah Berger
A small group of Occupy Oakland protesters smash windows at a Wells Fargo bank branch on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Noah Berger
Graffiti is written on a Wells Fargo sign at an Occupy Oakland protester on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Noah Berger
Occupy Oakland protesters on bicycles block truck traffic in front of the American President Lines at the Port of Oakland, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Ben Margot
An Occupy Oakland protester wearing a mask in the likeness of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan marches on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Noah Berger
An Occupy Oakland protester who declined to give his name scales a pole to hang a protest banner on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Noah Berger
An Occupy Oakland protester wears makeup in observance of the traditional Mexican holiday "Day of the Dead," Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Ben Margot
Thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters march from downtown Oakland, Calif., to the port of Oakland on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011. AP / Jeff Chiu
Thousands of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators march from downtown Oakland, Calif., to the port of Oakland, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011. AP / Paul Sakuma
Occupy Oakland protesters rally in front of the State of California building Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. AP / Ben Margot
Occupy Oakland protesters stand at the intersection of 14th & Broadway Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, in downtown Oakland, Calif. AP / Ben Margot
Tanya White, right, a former customer of Bank of America, argues with an unidentified employee of the bank at a Bank of America branch in Oakland, Calif., Weds., Nov. 2, 2011. AP / Paul Sakuma
Occupy Oakland protesters march Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, through Oakland, Calif. AP / Ben Margot
A truck driver leans out of his cab as Occupy Wall Street demonstrators stand on top of his parked truck during a march from downtown Oakland, Calif., to the port of Oakland on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011. AP / Jeff Chiu
Occupy Wall Street demonstrators march from downtown Oakland, Calif., to the port of Oakland on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011. AP / Jeff Chiu
Occupy Wall Street protestors stand on top of a parked semi truck during a march from downtown Oakland, Calif., to the port of Oakland on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011. AP / Jeff Chiu
A woman cleans up at an area with tents in downtown Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011 during a Occupy Wall Street protest. AP / Paul Sakuma
Cleaners remove graffiti shown at a Rite Aid building in downtown Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011 after a Occupy Wall Street protest earlier. Cleanup work was under way at Oakland's city hall plaza the morning after a massive anti-Wall Street protest turned violent and chaotic. Graffiti covered a number of businesses in the immediate area around Frank Ogawa Plaza, where thousands had gathered for a mostly peaceful protest Wednesday. Some windows also are broken, and debris is littering the street. AP / Paul Sakuma
Broken glass is shown at a Men's Warehouse building in downtown Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011 after a Occupy Wall Street protest earlier. AP / Paul Sakuma
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