Anti-capitalism protesters rally in Oakland

Throngs of anti-Wall Street protesters rallied in downtown Oakland, a West Coast Occupy hot spot, on Saturday and vowed to set up a new encampment to replace the one forcibly dismantled by police earlier in the week. A crowd of many hundreds of Occupy Oakland protesters chanting "We are the 99 percent" marched down the streets with drums beating and trumpets blaring. The protesters said they were eyeing a park three blocks away from Frank Ogawa plaza, the site of their former encampment, and planned to take it over on Saturday night in a move that could set the stage for a showdown with police. Previous unrest surrounding the Oakland encampment helped rally support nationwide for Occupy Wall Street, a movement launched in New York in September to protest against economic inequality and excesses of the financial system. The new park targeted by Oakland protesters is in a rapidly gentrifying area, and protesters said establishing a camp there would be a symbolic move in a city they complained looked out most "for the interests of big business and developers" over ordinary residents. Police had on Monday evicted protesters from their camp in Ogawa plaza. A previous move to remove the camp in October had sparked clashes between protesters and police that wounded a former Marine and evolved into one of the most violent episodes linked to the Occupy movement since it began in New York in September. In a further potential escalation on Saturday, Oakland protesters announced plans to shut down all West Coast ports on December 12 in coordination with like-minded protesters in Los Angeles. The Oakland group had briefly forced the closure of the Northern California city's port earlier this month in protests that, while mostly peaceful during the day, turned to clashes at night.