Police
Oakland has been trying to curb sideshows for years and even celebrated a “sideshow-free” summer in 2010, but the illegal street car shows haven’t gone away, and City Council seems to be at a loss on how to restrain them. The Oakland sideshow saga witnessed a stunning escalation last month as footage of a big rig participating in an event went viral on social media. In a frenzied incident near Keller Avenue and Mountain Boulevard, the rig was caught on…
A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday asked the Oakland Police Department, the mayor, and lawyers who brought a class-action suit against the department for input to address what he called the “cultural inability” of the Police Department to hold itself accountable. U.S. District Judge William Orrick did not release the department from the federal oversight it has been under since 2003, when a settlement agreement in the lawsuit spelled out 51 tasks for the department to complete toward…
Mayor Sheng Thao fired Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong Wednesday, saying she lost confidence in his ability to lead the department. At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Thao said she wasn’t firing Armstrong for cause, though an independent investigation found that he failed to discipline a police sergeant for a hit-and-run accident in 2021. A year later, that same officer fired his gun in a Police Department elevator and destroyed the evidence, investigators found. Thao stressed that she was not…
Hundreds of Oakland Technical High School students skipped classes, cordoned off 45th Street and Broadway, played music with themes of anti-police brutality, and painted murals Monday to honor Tyre Nichols, who died Jan. 10 after being beaten by Memphis police officers. “Hey hey! Ho ho! White supremacy has got to go!” they chanted, outside the school building. Nichols’ death has led to a spate of protests across the country. After attending a protest last week led by the Anti-Police Terror…
The family of Lolomania Soakai is suing the Oakland Police Department, claiming that an unauthorized police chase led to the death of the 27-year-old known as “Lolo” last summer. The Soakai family, represented by Adanté Pointer and Patrick Buelna, held a news conference Thursday, a day after the civil rights lawsuit was filed in federal court, to announce that they’re seeking to hold OPD responsible for Soakai’s death. Soakai’s mother, Lavina Soakai, who attended with several family members, cried throughout….
A federal judge charged with making sure Oakland implements police reforms it promised 20 years ago said during a hearing Tuesday that he was “profoundly disappointed” by a report showing the department has not complied. During a hearing via Zoom, U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick in San Francisco said “significant cultural problems remain unaddressed,” after the federal monitor overseeing the department’s compliance found evidence of police misconduct that went unpunished. Orrick instructed all parties involved in the 2000 civil…
Oakland officials acknowledged Thursday night that Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong was put on paid administrative leave in light of an investigation by a law firm the city retained to look into allegations that a sergeant was not disciplined for failing to report a car crash and firing his gun in the Police Department’s elevator. The city issued a news release hours after The Oaklandside reported Armstrong’s leave, citing confidential sources. “The decision was not taken lightly, but we believe that…
Hasheem Bason, 33, charged with murdering an Oakland dentist in August, pleaded not guilty last Tuesday. Bason, of Stockton, also is charged with slaying while lying in wait, special circumstances of killing for financial gain and use of a firearm, among other offenses. At 2 p.m, on Aug 21, Dr. Lili Xu was shot and killed when she and her boyfriend pulled up to a curb on the 1000 block of Fifth Ave. in Oakland’s Little Saigon neighborhood. The Oakland…
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said Thursday that at least two shooters fired 30 or more rounds on the King Estates school campus in East Oakland Wednesday afternoon, wounding six adults, two of whom are students. Armstrong added that police know a driver was involved and possibly others. Police have made no arrests but believe the shooting was gang-related. Armstrong said police also think the shooters had a target and that those who were shot were not targeted. Oakland city…