Authorities shot and killed someone while raiding a marijuana farm along the Alameda/Santa Clara County border this morning.
The man was in possession of an air rifle that Sherriff's deputies were apparently afraid of. The man was shot from afar, and then again from up close, just to make sure he was dead. You can never take chances when BB guns are involved.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sniper shoots at Cops during traffic stop
A routine police stop in West Oakland erupted in gunfire when someone with a rifle opened fire at the cops from a high-rise building. No one was hit by the gunfire, and the sniper was not caught.
20 minute gun battle erupts on Oakland freeway
So, the cops got into a fierce gun battle with some 45-year old white guy who was armed to the teeth and wearing a flak vest, and eventually subdued the gunmen (by shooting him several times). Even though they had the perpetrator in custody (he is alive and well by all accounts), they still closed a major freeway for an entire weekend day to collect evidence.
Interestingly, after police murdered Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale BART station, they let an entire train full of witnesses leave the station, minus some of their cameras and cell phones.
I wonder why they were more concerned about securing the crime scene and collecting evidence when the victim of an officer-related shooting was white....
Interestingly, after police murdered Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale BART station, they let an entire train full of witnesses leave the station, minus some of their cameras and cell phones.
I wonder why they were more concerned about securing the crime scene and collecting evidence when the victim of an officer-related shooting was white....
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Oakland and BART Cops kill man near Fruitvale station
Three Oakland officers and two BART officers shot and killed a man this morning near the Fruitvale BART station after an alleged confrontation with police. The officers claimed that the man had two knives. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
NLGSF says cops used excessive force during Mehserle verdict protests
NLG Decries Police Tactics, Assaults on Peaceful Protesters
Oakland— Despite claims by Oakland Police (OPD) and city officials that law enforcement used restraint during last Thursday’s protests following the Johannes Mehserle verdict, details emerging paint a very different picture. Police used excessive force against a largely peaceful protest, violently attacking a number of people. Police arrested many demonstrators who had done nothing wrong, and then held them in jail through the night and in some cases through the weekend and beyond.
Among those arrested were NLGSF member, and prominent Oakland attorney, Walter Riley. “Thursday’s law enforcement conduct must be investigated. The police were provocative and seemed determined to instigate violence, which of course, served their police contract negotiations with Oakland at a time when they are facing layoffs of 80 officers,” said Riley. “In the organized rally where protesters, including me, were helping to ensure peaceful protest, the police helped to perpetuate a narrative of violence by allowing a small number of people to vandalize businesses when they could have stopped it.”
Also arrested were Oakland School Board member Jumoke Hinton Hodge, 69-year-old former school principal Susan Harman, journalists and legal observers. Many of the arrestees were seriously injured by the police, including a handful who were taken to the hospital from the scene and at least one individual who was denied medication, causing a potentially life threatening situation to an elderly member of the community.
“Last Thursday a court in Los Angeles sent a disgraceful message about police violence, and that message was reinforced by the conduct of Oakland Police and other law enforcement Thursday evening,” said Carlos Villarreal, NLGSF Executive Director. “OPD and outside agencies brought in as reinforcement used overwhelming force on a largely nonviolent assembly, sweeping up lawyers, legal observers, journalists and community members, and seriously injuring a number of individuals.”
Several years ago the National Lawyers Guild and ACLU obtained a $2 million settlement in a lawsuit over OPD brutality toward demonstrators, and at that time OPD adopted new crowd control policies designed to safeguard freedom of speech in just this sort of volatile situation.
“If OPD had followed its own crowd control policies, the injuries would have been avoided,” explained NLGSF attorney Rachel Lederman. “The aggressive use of police formations, baton beatings and indiscriminate arrests were unnecessary and violated people’s constitutional right to protest. To make things even worse, OPD violated state law by jailing people for long periods of time who had been arrested for very minor offenses.”
The National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NLGSF) condemns the police abuse by OPD and other law enforcement on the scene and is investigating possible legal action.
The NLGSF is a human rights bar association founded in 1937 with hundreds of members throughout the Bay Area. Find out more at www.nlgsf.org.
Oakland— Despite claims by Oakland Police (OPD) and city officials that law enforcement used restraint during last Thursday’s protests following the Johannes Mehserle verdict, details emerging paint a very different picture. Police used excessive force against a largely peaceful protest, violently attacking a number of people. Police arrested many demonstrators who had done nothing wrong, and then held them in jail through the night and in some cases through the weekend and beyond.
Among those arrested were NLGSF member, and prominent Oakland attorney, Walter Riley. “Thursday’s law enforcement conduct must be investigated. The police were provocative and seemed determined to instigate violence, which of course, served their police contract negotiations with Oakland at a time when they are facing layoffs of 80 officers,” said Riley. “In the organized rally where protesters, including me, were helping to ensure peaceful protest, the police helped to perpetuate a narrative of violence by allowing a small number of people to vandalize businesses when they could have stopped it.”
Also arrested were Oakland School Board member Jumoke Hinton Hodge, 69-year-old former school principal Susan Harman, journalists and legal observers. Many of the arrestees were seriously injured by the police, including a handful who were taken to the hospital from the scene and at least one individual who was denied medication, causing a potentially life threatening situation to an elderly member of the community.
“Last Thursday a court in Los Angeles sent a disgraceful message about police violence, and that message was reinforced by the conduct of Oakland Police and other law enforcement Thursday evening,” said Carlos Villarreal, NLGSF Executive Director. “OPD and outside agencies brought in as reinforcement used overwhelming force on a largely nonviolent assembly, sweeping up lawyers, legal observers, journalists and community members, and seriously injuring a number of individuals.”
Several years ago the National Lawyers Guild and ACLU obtained a $2 million settlement in a lawsuit over OPD brutality toward demonstrators, and at that time OPD adopted new crowd control policies designed to safeguard freedom of speech in just this sort of volatile situation.
“If OPD had followed its own crowd control policies, the injuries would have been avoided,” explained NLGSF attorney Rachel Lederman. “The aggressive use of police formations, baton beatings and indiscriminate arrests were unnecessary and violated people’s constitutional right to protest. To make things even worse, OPD violated state law by jailing people for long periods of time who had been arrested for very minor offenses.”
The National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NLGSF) condemns the police abuse by OPD and other law enforcement on the scene and is investigating possible legal action.
The NLGSF is a human rights bar association founded in 1937 with hundreds of members throughout the Bay Area. Find out more at www.nlgsf.org.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Oakland cops refuse to pay into pension, lose 80 jobs
Eighty Oakland police officers lost their jobs Tuesday when the city and the Oakland police union couldn't agree over pension and layoff language that would have saved the jobs and added $7.8 million into the city's cash-starved budget.
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