Category Archives: Oakland

Suspect arrested in shooting death of beloved Oakland football coach

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Cedric Irving Jr, 27, is alumnus of high school where John Beam taught before gaining fame on Netflix’s Last Change U

A 27-year-old Skyline high school alumnus, frequently seen lingering near Laney College, has been taken into custody in connection with the fatal shooting of Oakland football coach John Beam.

Police identified the suspect as Cedric Irving Jr, who was apprehended before dawn at the San Leandro, California, Bart station, ending an urgent search for the individual believed responsible.

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Coach featured in Netflix’s Last Chance U dies after Oakland campus shooting

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Mayor Barbara Lee calls John Beam ‘a man who dedicated himself to building up the young people of this city’

A US football coach who starred in the Netflix documentary Last Chance U, about struggling college teams, has died after being shot on campus, authorities in California said.

John Beam, director of athletics at Oakland’s Laney College, was hurt in a Thursday lunchtime incident at the school’s field house, its downtown sports training complex. He later died, the Oakland police department said on Friday.

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National guard arrives in DC as mayors warn of Trump power grab

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The US president deployed troops after taking control of DC police, sparking fears of similar moves elsewhere

Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington DC, has pledged to work “side by side” with the federal government as national guard troops arrive at their headquarters in the capital.

The show of force came after Donald Trump announced that he was sending the national guard into the capital and putting city police under federal control, even though the violent crime rate is at a 30-year low.

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Barbara Lee, trailblazing former US Congress member, elected Oakland mayor

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Lee defeated a moderate backed by outside groups working to push the Bay Area’s progressive politics to the center

Barbara Lee, a trailblazing former member of Congress, has been elected as the next mayor of Oakland, California, after fending off an insurgent challenge from the center at a critical moment for the Bay Area city.

Lee defeated the former city council member Loren Taylor after nine rounds of ranked-choice voting gave her more than 52% of the vote to Taylor’s 47%, according to the Alameda county registrar of voters.

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Former Oakland mayor Sheng Thao indicted on bribery charges

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Thao, 39, removed from office in November recall, accused of key role in sprawling corruption and bribery scheme

Sheng Thao, the former mayor of Oakland, and three others have been indicted for a slate of federal charges including conspiracy and bribery. The indictment, which was unsealed and announced in California on Friday, is the culmination of an investigation led by the FBI, the US Postal Inspection Service, and the US Internal Revenue Service.

Also charged in the indictment were Andre Jones, Thao’s longtime romantic partner, and David and Andy Duong, a father-son business duo who own Cal Waste Solutions, the company that picks up the recyclables of Oakland’s more than 436,000 residents. The foursome are accused of orchestrating a scheme in which Thao allegedly extended contracts for Cal Waste Solutions, appointed high-level officials who would allegedly help the Duongs’ business interests, and bought housing units from another company owned by the Duongs.

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Former Oakland mayor Sheng Thao indicted months after being recalled

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Indictment comes seven months after FBI raided her home, with formal announcement scheduled to happen on Friday

Sheng Thao, the former mayor of Oakland, California has been indicted by a federal grand jury, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The indictment comes seven months after an FBI raid on Thao’s home and two months after she was recalled by voters in Oakland.

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Hundreds evacuated in Oakland after California brush fire grows out of control

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Residents told to flee as firefighters battle blaze, with two homes burned and several others damaged

A fast-moving fire fed by strong winds burned two homes on Friday and damaged several others in a hillside neighborhood in the city of Oakland, where roughly 500 people were ordered to evacuate, officials said.

Damon Covington, the city’s fire chief, said that at about 1.30pm, calls had come in reporting a fire in front of a home in the Oakland hills. Crews arrived as the inferno quickly grew with winds ranging from calm breezes to 40mph (64km/h) gusts during red-flag conditions.

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Oakland mayor denies wrongdoing in first remarks since FBI raided her home

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Sheng Thao maintains no plans to resign after authorities carried 80 boxes out of her home as part of investigation

Sheng Thao, mayor of Oakland, California, delivered a prepared statement on Monday in her first public remarks since federal authorities raided her home last week.

Thao, who is serving her first term as the city’s mayor, maintains that she did not do anything wrong and she has no plans to resign from office.

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FBI raids home of Oakland’s first-term mayor Sheng Thao

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Agents also conducted searches at two homes owned by members of the politically influential Duong family

Federal authorities have raided a home belonging to the mayor of Oakland, California, as part of an investigation that included a search of at least two other houses, officials said on Thursday.

The raid took place on Thursday morning, when FBI agents carried 80 boxes out of a four-bedroom home that property records link to Sheng Thao, who is serving her first term as the city’s mayor.

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California deploys hundreds of freeway surveillance cameras in Oakland to fight crime

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Critics say system will infringe on privacy and fuel police abuse of marginalized communities

Hundreds of high-tech surveillance cameras are being installed in the city of Oakland and surrounding freeways to help battle crime, the California governor announced on Friday.

Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in a news release that the California highway patrol (CHP) has contracted with Flock Safety, a surveillance technology company, to install 480 cameras that can identify and track vehicles by license plate, type, color and even decals and bumper stickers. The cameras will provide authorities with real-time alerts of suspect vehicles.

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Orphaned mountain lion sisters find new home at California zoo

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Willow and Maple, whose mother was hit by car on highway, were dehydrated and underweight when they were found in backyard

The two sisters are tiny – only five and a half pounds, and about two months old. They have giant eyes and mottled patches on their fur. Found in a backyard five days after their mother was hit on Highway 280 in northern California, the mountain lions headed to a new home at the Oakland zoo last week.

The sisters, now named Willow and Maple, were hungry and tired after not eating for five days. The cubs were visibly dehydrated, and underweight, and were checked for parasites and viruses by veterinarians, zoo officials said.

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California elementary school evacuated over bomb threat after rightwing harassment

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Chabot elementary in Oakland received racist and threatening emails, forcing 50 students and staff to vacate the premises

A California elementary school was evacuated on Tuesday in response to a bomb threat, days after the school was targeted online by rightwing extremists over a playdate event.

Chabot elementary in Oakland received the threat over email before school started on Tuesday, forcing roughly 50 students and staff members to evacuate, authorities said. Police found no explosives after searching the school using dogs from the bomb detection team.

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Oakland A’s fans stage ‘reverse boycott’ at plans to move team to Vegas

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  • Crowds demand owner sells team rather than relocate
  • Fans chant and throw garbage on to field in protest

Furious Oakland Athletics fans came en masse with a single message to owner John Fisher. “Sell the team!” they chanted thousands of times during the A’s 2-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Friends Brian Guido and Scott Finney of Sacramento left work early on Tuesday because they did not want to miss the festivities a couple of hours away in Oakland.

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Once a refuge, Oakland homeless camp is dismantled: ‘My world was ripped to pieces’

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The city has evicted all the residents from Wood Street amid the worst housing and homelessness crisis ever

The Wood Street encampment in Oakland, once northern California’s biggest, has been shut down, with officials on Wednesday removing the last handful of residents who remained as the city’s plan for a phased eviction comes to an end.

Only months ago, the encampment spanned several city blocks under the off-ramp of the 880 interstate in West Oakland. In April, the city started a protracted eviction that swept through and scattered those who were living there. Up until last week, a dozen or so residents remained at the camp in what they called “the Commons”: the heart of a thriving community of outcasts. They saw themselves participating in a radical experiment in how to rethink helping the unhoused.

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Shock as 12-year-old allegedly shoots classmate in Oakland school

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Victim described as in stable condition and alleged shooter held in California city that has seen six gun deaths in recent days

A 12-year-old boy was arrested after he allegedly shot and wounded his 13-year-old classmate at a school in Oakland, California.

The shooting erupted at about 1.30pm on Monday at Madison Park academy in East Oakland. Local police said they were able to quickly detain the alleged shooter while his victim was hospitalized in what is now described as stable condition.

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I’m my high school’s first Black male valedictorian. I won’t be the last | Ahmed Muhammad

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Ahmed Muhammad, in his valedictory speech, reflected on the unprecedented circumstances that shaped the class of 2021

Ahmed Muhammad recently became the first Black male valedictorian in the 106-year history of Oakland Technical high school in Oakland, California, graduating at the top of his class with a 4.73 grade point average (GPA) and offers from 11 top universities. A video of his moving graduation speech subsequently went viral, drawing widespread attention on social media and even earning praise from the state’s governor.

“I recently became the first Black male valedictorian in our school’s history. And I want to say something about that...“

Thank you, Ahmed for your powerful words. Look out world -- Oakland Tech is coming with some serious change makers! pic.twitter.com/vqANk21T5k

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Surge in gun violence is stress test for Oakland’s defund the police campaign

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Homicides in the city have risen 314% and while some back shifting resources to prevention and healing, others want alternatives in place to keep Black and brown people safe

Since the visceral video of George Floyd pinned beneath a police officer’s knee sparked massive uprisings in US cities last summer, movements to defund police departments have grown from siloed local campaigns into a national movement. But in multiple cities, this work is being done amid a disturbing rise in gun violence that is affecting the same Black and Latino communities most affected by police misconduct.

While some crime survivors support shifting resources from police and into prevention and healing services, others who have lost loved ones to shootings and live in high-crime areas worry that depleting police budgets without proven alternatives to fill any gaps will make Black and brown communities less safe.

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DoJ to investigate federal forces’ tactics in US cities as mayors condemn Trump

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Watchdog to look at use-of-force allegations in Portland and Washington as other mayors say: we don’t need your deployments

The justice department inspector general said on Thursday it would conduct a review of the conduct of federal agents who responded to unrest in Portland and Washington DC, following concerns from members of Congress and the public.

Related: DoJ watchdog opens investigation into federal agents' actions in Portland – live

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‘Time for a new vision’: violence is a public health issue that requires community driven solutions

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Treating violence as a health epidemic can increase safety while decreasing the need for police involvement

In cities across the United States and around the world, millions of people have been protesting to demand alternatives to policing.

In Oakland, California, violence intervention programs in past years have shown there are other ways to address violence in communities than sending in armed police, ways that can quickly be scaled to both save lives and create more equitable treatment of people.

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Oakland moves to bar police from schools as bigger cities reject change

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Movement to get officers out of schools sees progress even as Chicago and Los Angeles school boards vote to keep them in place

A growing movement to get police officers out of US schools saw a major victory this week when Oakland’s school board voted to eliminate the school district’s dedicated police department.

But in Chicago and Los Angeles, despite protests by youth activists, support from teachers’ unions, and an outpouring of public support, school boards voted to keep police in public schools, at least for now.

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