SAN FRANCISCO: Hundreds of demonstrators gathered peacefully in Oakland, California late Wednesday, a day after clashes with police left an Iraq war veteran critically injured.
The demonstration was in stark contrast to Tuesday night, when riot police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of anti-Wall Street protesters in downtown Oakland, outside San Francisco.
Officers also fired bean bags but denied using rubber bullets to quell the protests on Tuesday, which erupted after a two-week old camp was broken up and 97 people were arrested.
On Wednesday hundreds of people again gathered outside City Hall in the evening to discuss plans for a general strike, but there was no reported unrest as midnight approached.
"This is what Occupy Oakland needed to be from the beginning," said student Adam Groszkiewicz, cited by the Mercury News online, which reported that about 1,000 people had turned out.
"This is bringing out a more serious side of people, rather than just rage for rage's sake."
But a former US marine, Scott Olsen, who had served two tours in Iraq, was left in critical condition after being injured in the previous day's clashes, said a spokesman for Highland General Hospital.
A statement by the group Iraq Veterans against the War said Olsen was suffering from a skull fracture after being hit by a "police projectile."
Keith Shannon, a friend and fellow veteran, said that Olsen had joined the Oakland protest because "he felt corporations and banks had too much control over our government."
The scene in Oakland was chaotic Tuesday night as police clashed with protesters trying unsuccessfully to retake a plaza they had been evicted from that morning.
Columns of smoke filled the streets and loud bursts echoed off the buildings as the demonstrators scattered before riot police, who issued repeated warnings to disperse before firing several rounds of tear gas into the crowds.
The Oakland Police Department said in a statement that officers fired tear gas after a group of 400-500 protesters attacked them.
Several local news reports said the crowd numbered more than 1,000, while Occupy Oakland organizers claimed on Twitter that 1,500 had demonstrated.
The "Occupy Wall Street" message of fighting for economic equality has resonated in Oakland, a city across the bay from San Francisco that is plagued by poverty and a soaring murder rate.
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