Oakland community holds vigil for man killed by police, demands accountability
Oakland, CA- On Saturday, July 18, 32 community members gathered at the site where the Oakland Police Department (OPD) shot and killed a man in Oakland's Fruitvale district on Monday afternoon. Mourners placed flowers and candles on a street median near a shopping center where the victim died, held moments of silence, and created protest art in the street to honor his life while demanding justice and accountability.
The vigil, organized by the Oakland Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (OAARPR) with support from POOR Magazine, Justice for Jalani, Coalition for Police Accountability, Community Service Organization, Urban Peace Movement and Black Alliance for Peace, transformed the site of the killing into a memorial and a space for community resistance. Throughout the evening, speakers condemned the police killing, criticized the growing role of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in East Oakland, and called for the immediate release of all video evidence.
The shooting happened shortly after 2 p.m. near the 4000 block of International Boulevard, a predominantly immigrant neighborhood. According to the Oakland Police Department, CHP officers requested assistance after a man fled during an operation that began at a nearby homeless encampment. Police claim the man was “armed.”
Police have not identified the man or described the alleged weapon. Despite the shooting taking place on a busy commercial corridor with many surveillance cameras, OPD has not released body camera footage or other video evidence, fueling community demands for transparency.
“This is the third person killed by Oakland police this year,” said Romaine Charite, chair of the impacted families committee of OAARPR. “They aren't releasing the details of these killings. They haven't been releasing body camera footage, which is against California law. We have the California Public Records Act. They are going around killing people, and we are not going to put up with that.”
“If there was not a sweep, no one would have died,” Jeremy Miller from Black Alliance for Peace told the crowd. “Our homeless people are our community. Our street people are our community.”
Terry Lovett, the mother of Jalani Lovett, who has fought for justice since Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies killed her son in 2021, also addressed the vigil from a very personal place, rejecting the claim that expanding policing creates safer neighborhoods.
“We reject the false choice that says our only option is more police and more violence. We need housing, not handcuffs; mental healthcare, not punishment; education instead of fear,” Lovett said. “No one is coming to save our communities. We must save our communities. We keep each other safe.”
“He belongs to somebody,” Lovett said of the man killed by OPD. “He belongs to us if nobody else.”
Community members noted that the man killed by police has still not been publicly identified and condemned media coverage that erased his humanity. One widely circulated news report stated that “no community members were harmed.” Organizers called the language a stark example of the dehumanization of unhoused people and a life lost.
The killing is the third police shooting by OPD officers this year and the department's second fatal shooting. Although OPD says the officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave while multiple investigations are underway, those gathered at the vigil said official investigations are meaningless without public evidence. OPD remains under federal oversight stemming from the Riders police misconduct scandal, which resulted in a court-ordered reform process that has continued for more than two decades.
As bouquets of flowers and community artwork covered the pavement where the man was killed, attendees closed the vigil by renewing their demands for the release of all available footage, the public identification of the victim, and accountability for the officers involved. The crowd ended the evening with a chant that captured the spirit of the vigil, “Who keeps us safe? We keep us safe.”