OAKLAND, Calif. — Leaders across the country felt increasing pressure Friday to shut down Occupy encampments after two men died in shootings and another was found dead from a suspected combination of drugs and carbon-monoxide poisoning caused by a propane heater inside a tent.
Citing a strain on crime-fighting resources, police pleaded with Occupy Oakland protesters to leave their encampment at the City Hall plaza where a man was shot and killed late Thursday.
The Oakland Police Officer’s Association, which represents rank-and-file police, issued an open letter saying the camp is pulling officers away from crime-plagued neighborhoods.
“With last night’s homicide, in broad daylight, in the middle of rush hour, Frank Ogawa Plaza is no longer safe,” the letter said. “Please leave peacefully, with your heads held high, so we can get police officers back to work fighting crime in Oakland neighborhoods.”
The sentiments were echoed by Mayor Jean Quan.
“It is another example of why we need to peacefully close the encampment at City Hall,” she said of the shooting. “We are asking everyone at the plaza to leave.”
Quan said the city would issue another official notice to protesters that they must leave the camp. However, she did not give them a deadline.
The Oakland killing has further strained relations between the anti-Wall Street demonstrators and local officials.
A preliminary investigation into the gunfire suggested it resulted from a fight between two groups of men at or near the encampment, said Police Chief Howard Jordan.
Investigators do not know whether the men in the fight were associated with Occupy Oakland, he said. Protesters said there was no connection between the shooting and the camp.
Deaths worry leaders
Recent deaths associated with the Occupy movement:
•A man was shot and killed late Thursday at or near the Occupy Oakland encampment.
•On Thursday, a 35-year-old military veteran apparently shot himself to death in a tent at a Burlington, Vt., Occupy encampment.
•On Friday, a man was found dead inside a tent at the Occupy Salt Lake City encampment, from what police said was a combination of drug use and carbon monoxide.
