In defense of Occupy Oakland...
No one knows whether or not those who chose to burn an American flag were part of the movement or not, but we know this: If you DON'T think that there are ways the super-wealthy and/or police/FBI officials will actively go to great lengths to infiltrate movements like this and stir the pot using violence, inciting riots, or burning flags, etc. to sway public opinion and overthrow movements than you should consider opening your mind to the world of such actual protests and protestors. This is NOT a new tactic and is damn near a staple in every social justice uprising since the beginning of the 20th century.
I've seen it with my own eyes. From the massive NYC anti-war protests to the massive protests of the RNC here in NYC to the 11x I've been to Occupy Wall Street, TRUST ME, it goes on. ALOT. And it doesn't just stop there. They don't just infiltrate protests, they infiltrate lives. They become part of the movement and form trusting bonds with actual revolutionaries, not just inside of the protests but along side in each others personal lives. Often times because of the nature of these movements such people are welcome with open arms and trusted because they've been seen doing the "dirty work" and were in the trenches with the masses. They became a familiar face and were allowed into many of the inner circles of the scene, sometimes even taking on leadership roles. To further the bond they will also take on much less confrontational positions such as assisting helping the poor and working on community issues and needs with their fellow activists. This gets them in good standing and they become trusted and respected.
(Also, in defense, I would like to note that there has always been a long history of police brutality and tension between the citizens of Oakland and the police)
Below I'm going to post 2 links, the first one is from a forum message board where you will see a letter posted to the forum by an undercover FBI agent who infiltrated such a movement and confesses (Read the comments below the letter for how his "friends and allies" view him after the confession). Not only did this person assume a leadership role in many movements from the anti-war movement as well as movements for social justice following Hurricane Katrina, this person coerced people to carry out violence and had them arrested even before the act on grounds of conspiracy. See here: http://www.indymedia.org/pt/2008/12/918526.shtml
And for the second link here is a Mother Jones article/interview with this person and is VERY in-depth and WELL worth the read. I suggest reading this one first to get you up to date before reading his written confession.
Here: http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/brandon-darby-anarchist-fbi-terrorism
After reading these 2 links I'm sure you may find it best to wait before accusing actual protestors of such actions. We also have evidence of many protestors pleading with persons NOT to burn the flag. All I'm saying is: Keep your mind open.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Just take a look at our country right now.
Reporters from the progressive websites OpEd News and FireDogLake have taken a lead in documenting how a right-wing agent provocateur created a violent police reaction Oct. 8 against peaceful Occupy Occupy DCWashington antiwar protesters. This shut down a Smithsonian museum and led to arrests. Furthermore, the role of the disrupter from The American Spectator was ignored by most mainstream news coverage until the next day. Instead, establishment reporters initially relied on police and museum spokespeople for spin-filled, dubious accounts of a demonstration that occurred in plain view near the center of the historic Mall.
Rob Kall, publisher of OpEd News, and his colleague Cheryl Biren have shocking photos of the event to illustrate their account. She was pepper-sprayed three times despite her credentials as a journalist and such important work as her photo at left. They and other journalists below have helped piece together an account of how the confrontation escalated because of a pre-planned stunt by an American Spectator editor identified as Patrick Howley, left. Howley is partly obscured in Biren's photo just behind another and larger unidentified demonstrator in the black tee-shirt. Biren says she compared her photos of the unidentified, heavyset man carefully with the mug shot of a New Jersey rightist reputed on some websites to be him, but believes they are not the same person. Over the past week, FireDogLake's Charlie Grapski did most of the detective work, and published an updated report on Oct. 10 called, Anatomy of a Deception: How a Conservative Magazine Attempted to Discredit the Occupy Movement, Read his coverage and that at OpEd News in such columns as, "Occupy" Participants Beware: Agents Provocateur Like The One at Air Space Museum Are Threat. Then help report the news widely through your Facebook, Twitter and other accounts.
http://justice-integrity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=474:secret-agent-provokes-police-at-dc-museum-protest&catid=44:myblog
There are malcontents out there on the left who think flag-burning is a good thing. They aren't large in number, BUT . . .
From their perspective, Occupy is a natural home for them. They oppose the 1 percent and the general makeup of society. While Occupy might not want such elements, they definitely want Occupy. Here's a real movement with national traction that stands for some of the same things that they do. From their perspective, it's a perfect fit. They get to go out in public, do their thing, and get coverage and have people backing them up.
Just because the rest of Occupy isn't feeling them doesn't matter. It's an open movement. If you accept participation from anyone in the 99 percent, you have to accept them too. They are the 99 percent as much as anybody else is.
I really don't think it's a setup. I think this is real douchebags doing their thing. It's not called 99 percent for nothing. 99 percent includes about 98 percent of the riff raff out there 
Of course I see people posting all kinds of crazy shit, like we are going to war with Iran or that Ron Paul somehow sounds sane for 2 minutes out of each day. None of it is true, even if they 'don't want it to be'. 
