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.”

#OaklandCA #CA #InjusticeSystem #OAARPR #KillerCop

Oakland, CA – On April 25, around 20 community members attended a cookout and rally at Arroyo Viejo Park in East Oakland. The gathering was organized by the Oakland Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression to raise funds for the second independent autopsy of Jalani Lovett, who died in custody at Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail in 2021.

Community members bonded at Arroyo Viejo Park over food, music and an educational program about police violence and deputy gangs in Los Angeles. Jalani Lovett and his mother were born and raised in East Oakland before Jalani moved to LA to start his music career.

Lovett died under suspicious circumstances after being held in solitary confinement. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner labeled Lovett’s death as a drug overdose, despite his body showing severe signs of physical trauma that were omitted from the autopsy report.

Terry Lovett, Jalani’s mother, who has been fighting for a proper investigation into her son’s death for four years, stated, “Nobody should go to jail and lose their life. Jail is not a death sentence.” Terry believes a second autopsy could help her get the case reopened after it was dismissed for lack of evidence of foul play.

Xa’miel Thompson, treasurer of the Oakland Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, emphasized the cases of brutality in the jail, saying, “LA Men’s Central Jail is known for numerous white supremacist Sheriff Deputy gangs who engage in ritualistic torture and murder of Black and brown inmates.”

Jules Damey from Oakland Jericho, an organization fighting to free political prisoners, said, “This same system kills our comrades on the inside. They face countless human rights violations from brutality from guards, indefinite solitary confinement holds, having medical treatment withheld, and not being provided adequate nutrition.”

“We have to understand that the only way we are going to justice for our people in the jails and our streets is to build the struggle for community control of the police, a historic demand of the Black Liberation movement, of the Black Panther Party, and other oppressed people's movements. We want LA Men's Central Jail shut down until there is real accountability for the inhumane conditions, torture and deaths,” said Romaine Charite of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

#OaklandCA #CA #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops #NAARPR #OAARPR

Oakland, CA – On October 23, Trump rushed over 100 federal agents, in a long-threatened “surge” operation, to occupy the San Fransico Bay Area. So, the Community Service Organization, the Oakland Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and over 500 Oakland residents mobilized for an emergency “Ice Out of the Bay” rally and march to take the fight directly to ICE and Border Patrol at the U.S. Coast Guard base where they were stationed.

Trump had warned and later recanted the takeover of San Francisco, but no such promise was made to spare Oakland. The Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity was flashbanged, run over by Customs and Border Patrol trucks, and Reverend Jorge Bautistathe was shot in the face with pepper rounds at the bridge connecting Oakland to the Coast Guard base island.

A mile away, in the plaza of the Fruitvale district, home to Oakland’s largest Chicano/Latino community, protesters gathered in the afternoon. Danny Celaya, with the Community Service Organization of Oakland, started the program by welcoming supporters and introducing speakers.

Romaine Charite, who represented the Oakland branch of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, started with a speech calling the president’s assault on the birthplace of the Black Panther Party “An attack on democratic institutions, an attack on the Chicano/Latino movement for legalization, and an attack on the political power of African Americans who are fed up with white supremacy.” Charite also tied the use of federal agents to crush the Black Liberation Movement, such as during the George Floyd Uprisings under Trump’s last term.

Eve Wallace from the Oakland district of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization said, “It is only through our commitment, our bravery to stand up against oppression, and our willingness to build organizations of working-class people to fight back will we ever achieve our shared liberation.”

After the speeches, the people took to the streets, marching half an hour to the military base to the chorus of “Raza si, Migra no!” and “All power to the people. No human is illegal,” with cheers and car honks from neighbors.

The community then came face-to-face with the Coast Guard, who were already lined up and armed along the entrance of the bridge. ICE was suddenly nowhere to be seen. The tense two-hour standoff had protesters screaming at the soldiers who were part of the attacks earlier in the day aiding ICE. Several times, the troops attempted to isolate and push back protesters. They failed, as Oaklanders in their hundreds grew too large and ungovernable. As night fell, the Coast Guard retreated far back into the bridge. The crowd cheered, “We’ll be back.”

The next morning, the city’s mayor, Barbara Lee, confirmed that Trump’s operation was canceled for the entire San Francisco Bay Area.

#OaklandCA #CA #ImmigrantRights #OAARPR #OCSO

Oakland CA – On August 19, community members, families impacted by police violence, and anti-police violence organizations gathered at the office of Attorney General of California Rob Bonta to demand an end to racist police killings.

The rally was part of a statewide action led by Terry Lovett, mother of Jalani Lovett who was killed in the Los Angeles Men's Central Jail in 2021. The Oakland Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (OAARPR) helped organize the action, supported by local unions including the ILWU Local 10 and ATU Local 1555. Similar rallies occurred at his offices in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Jalani Lovett was alleged to have died of a drug overdose in solitary confinement, but his family believe otherwise. His body showed clear signs of physical trauma, and he was found dead in solitary confinement in a jail run by the notorious 3000 Boys, part of the LA sheriff's deputy gangs. Attorney General Bonta, who ran on a campaign of police accountability, has refused to meet with Terry Lovett and discuss the evidence surrounding her son's death. She has been pushing for four years demanding answers, but he has refused to take action on her case.

“33 people have died in LA jails in 34 weeks, how is this possible? Just because someone is incarcerated doesn't mean they give up their right to life!” Terry Lovett said, addressing the crowd gathered in front of the building, who held signs with slogans reading “Community control of the police now!” and “Jail killer cops!”

After the speaker program ended, Lovett and OAARPR members went inside the building to deliver a scroll with over 1200 signatures to Bonta’s office, which showed signs of being vacated abruptly to avoid confrontation with protesters. They demanded he meet with Lovett and look at the evidence that she has collected surrounding the death of her son. The same scroll was delivered to all six of his offices in LA, San Diego, Fresno, Sacramento and San Francisco.

Morale was high at the event, with Lovett stating, “He can't look the other way now, not after we show up at every one of his offices.”

Oakland is continuing to fight back and build the movement against police terror.

#OaklandCA #CA #InJusticeSystem #NAARPR #OAARPR #ILWU10 #ATU1555 #PoliceCrimes #PoliceBrutality #KillerCops #Feature