Beck Diefenbach photojournalist

Last week, members of Occupy Oakland ended a “day of action” with the beginning of a new encampment a few blocks away from the original site at Frank Ogawa Plaza. This time, the land was privately owned and fenced in.

The day began like any other mass protest in downtown Oakland (which happens far more often than you think). Probably a couple thousand marchers with signs admonishing the big banks, chanting about the bail outs.

A game of musical chairs was played in the streets. Every time a the music stopped, a chair representing an Oakland public school was taken out and a child would lose their seat.

As night fell, the crowd drew close to their new campsite.

A side of the story I didn’t see coming was the anti-campsite protestors. Local residents who didn’t want an Occupy Oakland commune on their front door protested against the occupation. Most people marched right by, but a small few stopped to debate with the locals.

And then they took down the fence around the property.

After the climax of the retaking of the new campsite, the number of people dwindled to less than 100 by 8 PM. The rain sent a lot of people home.

Early the next morning, the 2-3 dozen protestors left were quickly removed by police with no violence or arrests reported.