OAKLAND, Calif. — In what appears to be the first serious injury nationwide in the Occupy Wall Street movement, a 24-year-old Marine Corps corporal and Iraqi war veteran lay in an Oakland hospital Wednesday night with a critical skull facture, adding a new level of intensity in a mass demonstration that has swept the country and led to clashes with police.
Scott Thomas Olsen, 24, of Daly City, was struck in the head above his right eye with a tear-gas canister during a massive confrontation Tuesday night between as many as 1,000 protesters, several who threw rocks and bottles at police, forcing officers to deploy tear gas and fire bean bags to disperse the crowd.
“It’s absolutely unconscionable that our citizens are going overseas to protect other citizens just to come back and have our own police hurt them,” said Joshua Shepherd, a six-year Navy veteran and friend of Scott Olsen’s, who attended a vigil Wednesday for the injured man.
Fellow protesters brought him in after he failed to respond to basic questions. Doctors at the hospital said that Olsen had brain swelling and placed him under immediate supervision.
“He survived two tours in Iraq,” said Adele Carpenter, a friend of Olsen’s and a member of the Civilian Soldier Alliance. “This struggle has high stakes, I really respect the fact that Scott was standing up for what he believes in. He’s really passionate about social justice causes.”
Acting Chief Howard Jordan said the incident is under investigation by Internal Affairs, Office of Investigator General, Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and the federal monitor that oversees Oakland police as a part of the settlement police corruption lawsuit. Oakland police will also review its training, policies and procedures.
Jordan called the incident “unfortunate,” adding that he wished it did not happen.
“The goal is not to cause injury,” he said.
He said Oakland police used bean bags and gas but do not use or have rubber bullets or wooden dowels. It is possible that other agencies did, he said. More than a dozen from across California assisted Oakland police under what is called a mutual aid agreement. They are, however, required to comply with Oakland policies.
The Oakland Police Department has requested use of force reports from the outside agencies.
Olsen, a systems analyst at a San Francisco IT firm called OPSWAT, had camped out for several nights at San Francisco’s occupation before moving to Oakland a few days ago.
Olsen was one of several hundred angry protesters who swarmed through Oakland’s downtown well into the morning hours on Wednesday, repeatedly clashing with riot police. In some cases, protesters threw bottles and tipped over garbage containers. Oakland police said two of its officers were injured when a protester doused them with cans of blue and pink paint.
Protesters lambasted the police response as “heavy handed” and criticized the use of projectiles such as the one that struck Olsen.
“He was shot by the people who were supposed to protect him,” said Keith Shannon, 24, Olsen’s Daly City roommate and former Marine Corps colleague. “It shows what lengths the government will go to to suppress opposing points of view.”
Olsen served two tours of duty in Iraq, once to the Iraqi-Syrian border city of Al Qaim from August 2006 to May 2007, and once to Haditha, in 2008. Both cities were hotbeds of al-Qaida and insurgent activity.
In 2010, the Marines issued Olsen an “administrative discharge.” Maj. Shawn Haney, a Marines spokesman based in Quantico, Va., declined to discuss Olsen’s discharge, but said his departure could have been for anything from a medical condition to a punitive measure.
Another young man, a 30-year-old Irish national named Seamus, lay writhing on the ground sobbing Wednesday afternoon clutching a grapefruit-sized bruise above his left hip. He said he and Olsen had been together when Olsen was shot. Seamus said his bruise was the result of a police projectile.
Other protesters gathered around Seamus and showed off small rubber buckshot pellets they said police had fired at them.
Olsen’s parents planned to fly to Oakland on Thursday to see their son.
Highland Hospital administrators said Olsen remained in critical condition, with no change in his status since his admission Tuesday night. But friends and acquaintances said hospital officials told them Olsen had suffered a skull fracture and was at risk of brain damage.
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