Protesters shut down huge Oakland port in US

Activists calling for general strike over economic conditions and police crackdown close down fifth largest port in US.

Thousands of protesters in Oakland, California, have shut down the city's port, the fifth busiest cargo facility in the United States, as they continued calls for a general strike to protest economic conditions and police brutality.

"At this time, maritime operations are effectively shut down at the Port of Oakland. Maritime area operations will

resume when it is safe and secure to do so," a spokesman for the port said in a statement on Wednesday.

Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds, reporting from Oakland, said the mostly peaceful events had been marred by sporadic "scuffles and fistfights" between protesters. 

Reynolds said some young, black-clad protesters had tried to break windows and spray graffiti on banks and markets, while other groups tried to prevent them from doing so.

"What been really striking is the almost complete absence of police presence. We have seen very, very few policemen and there were no policemen there when demonstrators were throwing rocks and breaking windows," Reynolds said.

Source: Aljazeera