Safety
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman heard testimony from three more witnesses on Wednesday about the proposed Fruitvale gang injunction. There’s still no end in sight as to when the hearing will conclude and the judge will decide whether to impose the injunction against 40 alleged Norteño gang members in the Fruitvale neighborhood.
On Tuesday night more than 25 cyclists took to the streets to raise awareness about the North Oakland gang injunction and the proposed gang injunction in the Fruitvale district.
Last October, Oakland City Attorney John Russo proposed a gang injunction against 40 alleged members of the Nortenos gang in the Fruitvale neighborhood. This is Oakland’s second proposed gang injunction. It’s a controversial legal theory that says gang activity is a public nuisance that prevents non-gang members from enjoying peace in their communities.
The Oakland Police Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying the man in this video, who the department is calling a “person of interest,” not a suspect, in the February 7 sexual assault of a woman in the Lake Merritt area.
Abel Manzo, one of the alleged gang members named in the Fruitvale gang injunction, was the only person to testify in the hearing on Wednesday. His lawyer, Jose Luis Fuentes, used his line of questioning to paint a picture of Manzo as a person who had some minor run-ins with the police but was never involved in gangs.
Oakland residents give testimony about officer-involved shootings and racial profiling in the community at the Oakland Tribunal: A People’s Hearing on Racism and Violence.
A hearing Wednesday to determine whether to impose a preliminary injunction against 40 alleged members of the Norteño gang in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood ended without a decision and will be resumed next week.
Four sexual assaults been reported in the Lake Merritt area over the past five months, including one last week near Jackson and 8th Streets. Oakland police have stepped up patrol in the area but do not have a suspect in custody yet.
When the first 45 minutes of public commentary were exhausted at Wednesday night’s school board meeting, there were still 37 speaker cards on file with the board secretary. The most popular message? “No more budget cuts.”