William Jenkins

Remembering the many killed, during National Day Against Police Brutality

Across the street from Oscar Grant III Way, a sea of candles lit up the Fruitvale BART Station on Friday evening. Families from across the Bay Area placed these candles in front of an Oscar Grant mural to mark National Day Against Police Brutality. Every Oct. 22, families and community members across the country remember and honor people who were killed by police officers. The event was started in 1996 by the October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression…

“Justice for Jonathan!” Rally calls for FBI to name agent, release video of Cortez shooting

Tension, anger and grief filled the air Saturday afternoon in downtown Oakland, as dozens of people rallied to demand answers in the FBI’s killing last month of a 31-year-old Oakland man. “Justice for Jonathan!” people shouted, as they marched with spray-painted posters from Oscar Grant Plaza to the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse a few blocks away. Jonathan Cortez was buying a Gatorade and some snacks from a corner store in Fruitvale on Sept. 13 when a…

Victims’ families pushed to get new police reform law passed

In the Gardena, California, park where police shot and killed her son in 2018, Fouzia Almarou addressed supporters last week about a bill carrying her son’s name that had just been signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. “I’m tired of it. I’m tired of seeing mothers crying,” said Almarou, who was eager to see the Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act become law.  It’s a feeling Amanda Blanco of Oakland understands. Her stepbrother Erik Salgado was shot and killed by California…