(Interview by Ann Garrison) WeCopwatch checks in with KPFA on recent FBI/OPD Raids on the Acorn Projects. While many people have chimed in that this type of Martial Law is what we can come to expect in the future, these type of raids occur in Oakland all the time.
KPFA Interview
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For more about the FBI/OPD Raids click here
For a unfinished map of Botched Paramilitary Raids in America check here
(Thank you Ann Garrison for the interview, and to KPFA “Bring JR Valrey back!”)
On April 24th, 2013, scores of Federal Agents alongside the Oakland Police, California Highway Patrol, and other law enforcement agencies descended upon the Acorn Projects in West Oakland, executing multiple simultaneous raids. According to ABC 7, residents along with main stream media outlets were given no immediate explanation for the raids. At 1:am OPD released a press release stating that they had participated in hi risk weapons and narcotics warrants search warrants.
Twitter Reactions to FBI Raids
Officer Frankel insinuated today that medical reports would conclude Berkeley police were not responsible for the death of Kayla Moore, a transgendered person who died in police custody on February 12, 2013. Since her death, Berkeley police have released a single statement that was both brief and vague.
For more WeCopwatch coverage of Kayla Moore and the Berkeley Police Coverup, check out Answers! Not UnderCovers! and Berkeley Police Delay Release of Coroner’s Report on Black Transgendered Woman’s Death in Custody.
The Bay Citizen just released a map of all Oakland Officer Involved Shootings from 2000-2011. Note how many of these shootings were done by a small group of Officers.
For more info about multiple police shooters in Oakland look no further than some of Ali Winston’s reporting
OPD Used Violent Cops Against Occupy
Click on Map to find out more about these shootings.
Downloadable PDF of OPD’s Officer Involved Shootings from 2000-2011
Image by Eccentric Circle
This is a repost from about three years ago. It’s important to note that this the only version to still exists online. Apparently the FBI has sent privacy complaints to youtube regarding their identities being open to the public. If you are an agent with the FBI and take issue with this post, consider how it would feel to be a law abiding person and be visited by agents for “pre crimes”. And if you take issue with this video being online, please contact the ACLU Northern Branch. . . .
(Repost from AnnGarrison.com)
KPFA’s Ann Garrison interviews Berkeley Copwatch founder Andrea Pritchett about the Kayla Moore killing by the Berkeley Police Department
KPFA Evening News, 04.06.2013
In February KPFA News reported on Black transgendered Berkeley resident Kayla Moore’s death in Berkeley Police custody, after a violent struggle with police at her apartment on Allston Way on February 12th. Earlier this week Berkeley Copwatch, which has been conducting a citizen investigation of Moore’s death, contacted KPFA to say that the coroner’s autopsy report on the cause of Moore’s death will be withheld indefinitely at the request of the Berkeley Police Department.
KPFA spoke to Berkeley Copwatch founder Andrea Prichett, who said that she and other Berkeley Copwatchers plan to attend the Berkeley City Council meeting on April 30th, at City Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in Berkeley, at 7 pm.
Answers! Not Undercovers!
On April 5th, 2013, Oakland police were notified of an alleged burglary in progress in West Oakland, California.
While information about the incident is still emerging, OPD has stated that one of the suspects was carrying a fake gun and did not know police were setting up a perimeter around the house. He was subsequently shot in the shoulder by an officer as he attempted to leave the area.
This is the 2nd OPD officer-involved shooting this week. On the evening of April 3rd, an Oakland officer shot an innocent teenager in the face while investigating an armed robbery in downtown Oakland. The teenager’s jaw and cheek were grazed, but his injuries are not considered life-threatening. OPD has since stated that the minor and his friends were not involved in a crime. Click here to see more about the April 3rd shooting
Police officers have the right to defend themselves, just like anybody else. However, it will be interesting to see if the suspect shot today posed any threat to the officers. If he didn’t aim the gun at anyone, OPD’s standard procedure is to order the person to drop the weapon and to submit to arresting officers.
Fortunately, video of the incident will ultimately reveal what, if any, threat the suspect posed. All Oakland police are required to wear and activate their PDRD video cameras during police stops. If the officers involved in today’s shooting were following PDRD procedure, their cameras should have been rolling.
One thing that should raise alarm is the fact that OPD were advised to keep any mention of the shooting off the radio. (Watch the final moments of the featured video.)
This silence may be because the Oakland Police Department, like the Berkeley Police Department and countless others, controls the message after they shoot someone.
Answers! Not Undercovers!
At around 9:50 p.m. on April 3rd, 2013, a report was made of a strong-arm robbery on 10th and Clay Streets in downtown Oakland. The initial description made in the report was of three black men in their mid-twenties, riding on bicycles and all armed with a knife.
Police claim a witness brought responding officers to several teenagers they thought were the suspects. The witness told police that the teens were in the midst of committing a robbery just down the block. The teens claim that they were simply talking to girls and hanging out.
Police approached the teenagers and despite the difference in age description, and the fact that they didn’t have any bikes, detained them under suspicion of being the robbers.
Within two minutes of arriving on the scene, an officer drew his weapon and fired a single shot at one of the teenager’s faces. The bullet grazed the sixteen-year-old’s jaw and cheek, but his injuries were not life-threatening.
According to the Oakland Police Department (OPD), no one had to get shot in this case and police have now determined that the teenagers were not involved in the robbery. However, a gun is more often used when drawn then it ever could be when holstered. This shooting is a reminder that calling the police can have a deadly impact. Both the witness and OPD have blood on their hands in this incident.