Protester Gets Teeth Knocked Out

A protester got teeth knocked out after confronting anarchists (SEE:The Anarchists of Oakland), who started the contents of a trash bin on fire.

According to SF, Zak Wear, a 25-year-old graduate seminary student, believes it’s his civic duty to be part of the protests that have occurred in the Bay Area in the wake of two grand jury decisions not to indict police officers, who killed citizens.

But Zak is more than just a protester, he believes he also needs to to bring peace, and eliminate mayhem, within the protests themselves. Acting on this belief got him his front teeth knocked out.

The Chronicle's Chris Johnson has the play-by-play:

“I was marching for the aggregate sense of justice for (Eric) Garner and (Michael) Brown and I think that the real reason to have this demonstration is to create a sense of urgency around political engagement and consciousness,” Wear said.

The trouble started as Wear, who went to the protests solo, plucked burning boxes from a Dumpster sitting in the middle of Telegraph Avenue near 21st Street in Oakland. “This is not how we do this,” he said as he tried to stomp out the fire. “This is absolutely not how we do this.”

His demeanor was calm and peaceful, but it did not prevent what happened next.
An unidentified female bicyclist rolled up and began arguing with him — a tirade that attracted the attention of the men who would assault him.

The heated discussion, Wear thought, was fine “because that’s how culture change happens.”

“It never crossed my mind at all that a demonstrator would strike another demonstrator,” he said.

But the confrontation quickly escalated. The woman screamed at Wear: “Leave these kids alone, leave the barricades alone and go the f— home!”

A masked demonstrator approached Wear and yelled, “You wanna be po-lice?”

And with that turn of the phrase, Wear had become an enemy, a target.

He was surrounded and three masked men beat him from all sides. Wear’s eyeglasses flung off into the large trash bin.

When the beating stopped, blood was gushing from Wear’s mouth.

“My two top teeth are pretty much gone, my ear was cut and my scalp is bruised,” Wear said the next day. “I was just pleading with them to allow me to find my glasses.”

Wear spent much of the day Thursday undergoing painful dental procedures. He said he was in pain. But his top concern was this: He believes peaceful and powerful demonstrations can still be achieved — and must be achieved.

It really doesn't pay in most cases to directly confront those who will escalate. This includes direct confrontation with police or others who don't recognize NAP.

-RW