Did you hear some dude got capped in downtown Oakland the other day, and died? This happens a lot in the poor parts of Oakland, and elsewhere in the United States. But, thanks to the unrelated Occupy protest/camp currently occupying the grim downtown of Oak-Town, this gun killing got coverage all over the country. The Authorities are even using it as an excuse to shut down #Occupy Oakland! You know, because there is apparently gang violence in this nation of 50 million poor people and Zero Hope and a billion guns.

The San Jose Mercury News reports:

There's been no significant change in the number of tents on Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, despite Mayor Jean Quan's plea for the campers to leave on their own in the wake of Thursday night's violence. The man was shot and killed at about 5 p.m., Thursday just yards from the entrance to the Occupy Oakland encampment, apparently after a fight with other men.

The killing, which came as hundreds of occupiers prepared to celebrate the camp's one-month anniversary, prompted Quan to call for the campers "to leave voluntarily tonight."

The violence occurred on the same day as UC Berkeley police defended their crackdown on Occupy Cal. Oakland City Council president Larry Reid condemned the shooting and said it was yet more proof that the tent city needed to be dismantled. "We can no longer continue to sit back," he said. "This has raised the red flag even more."

Uhh, so there was a red flag raised somewhere (but not all the way?) about poverty and gun violence in this country, and now it's raised "even more," so the people protesting inequality and injustice should be evicted? Makes sense to us! [San Jose Mercury News]