Oakland Police Release Blueford Report

[Jimmie Higgins]

So OPD shot Alan Blueford on Cinco de Mayo this year and have been giving his family the run-around while also changing their story about the incident. The press has been dutifully reporting the police story while maybe only mentioning in passing that there were some "discrepancies" (such as the cop shooting himself in the foot when they initially claimed that the kid they shot in the back was opening fire on them.)

So a coalition of Blueford family members, people from Occupy Oakland and the Oscar Grant Movement have basically shut down two sessions of City Hall by demonstrating and demanding that the OPD respond to the demands of Alan's parents.

The first demand was simply to have a copy of the police report. OPD has refused and City Hall has responded by reducing the number of people allowed into the city hall meetings to a third of the room's occupancy and threatening to go into closed sessions.

After another protest last night (where city hall cut-off the microphone of Alan's mother as she spoke) OPD agreed to release the report... A REDACTED REPORT!

Now you can go to the OPD website and read all about how "Witness_______ said she saw Suspect1 ________________________ and so officers responded by _______________________ and _____________gunshot _____________ resulting in ____________________"

It's Mad-Cop-Libs: just fill in the blanks to make your own story! OPD already has.

http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/OPD/index.htm


* Witness names and personal information of witnesses have been redacted to protect their confidentiality given valid and articulable safety concerns, pursuant to Government Code 6255. Certain internal information regarding police procedure and transmissions, and their meaning for police response, has been redacted since the release of internal tactics may jeopardize safe and efficient operations.Yes, it's important (for national security?) to redact police procedures like stopping and searching young black males for no reason or shooting or beating any suspect who dares to run or refuse to be searched - or else these tactics may be jeopardized.

It's like they say, it'd almost be funny if it weren't serious. You might think they are just acting stupid, I think they just aren't used to having people oppose them when they push us around or worse.

[Red Commissar]

It's like they say, it'd almost be funny if it weren't serious. You might think they are just acting stupid, I think they just aren't used to having people oppose them when they push us around or worse.

It does wonders on their psyche when you have media and the internet peanut gallery making excuses for them no matter what happens.

[Jimmie Higgins]

It does wonders on their psyche when you have media and the internet peanut gallery making excuses for them no matter what happens.Yeah, the media I kinda get how that works - police PR people and reporters sort of have a relationship and the local newspapers and tv don't want to carelessly cross the police because they want jucy murder and moslestation stories to cover. But the internet stuff is just festering bile-filled racism. I read some of those comments and I'd like to write them all off as hardcore fash trolls or retired cops with lots of time, but I'm pretty sure that is only a part of the demographic and many people do just believe cops are always in the right. A lot of people don't of course, so internet comments on mainstream news sites can be pretty distorted.

[Le Socialiste]

Thankfully organizers - in conjunction with the Blueford family - are continuing planning for future efforts to force OPD to release the full report and fire Masso (accompanied subsequently by his arrest and prosecution). I was present at both city council meetings. City officials were not expecting such fierce pushback against their efforts (along with OPD) to sweep Alan's murder under the rug. This, of course, resulted in their abandonment of any and all pretenses that such meetings are a "democratic space", with their closure of all upstairs seating and denying admittance to over 100 protesters trying to get into the main meeting chamber. Their open condescension towards the Blueford family was even more evident the second time around: council officials like Larry Reid repeatedly interrupted and denied family members' time to speak, going so far as to cut the mic when it was Alan's mother's turn to speak. They tried to intimidate people by closing the doors and increasing the number of police inside and outside the main chamber - with little effect I might add. I look forward to whatever organizers have in store, because more and more people are frustrated by this case - including the city's handling of it (it also didn't help the city council's image when it clamped down on demonstrators by essentially curtailing people's right to attend and/or protest their meetings). OPD's kinda on the defensive this time around, seeing as a federal investigator released a scathing report of the department's history of abuses a couple days ago, going so far as to recommend placing them under federal receivership. We'll see where this particular movement goes, but I hope it brings the Blueford family the information, justice, and closure they deserve.

[Let's Get Free]

I can't believe the pigs would murder a black man. No, wait, they do it all the time.

Jail the killer cops!