Free Republic

OAKLAND — Russell Bileci owed Maurice Williams $100. How police said they decided to settle the debt could cost both men long prison terms. Investigators said Friday that Bileci said he would repay the debt by allowing Williams to have sex with his 46-year-old girlfriend in the downtown residential hotel where they all lived. The woman, who was asleep when the deal was made, knew nothing about the agreement, and investigators said Bileci sat silently in their room while she was sexually assaulted for at least a half-hour before she was rescued by police who arrested the two men. Bileci,...

Jerry Brown's Tires Stolen Near Oakland City Hall CBS 5 CrimeWatch OAKLAND (BCN) ― A thief stole two tires from California Attorney General Jerry Brown's Toyota Camry hybrid while it was parked outside his home in the Oakland hills last Friday night, his spokesman Scott Gerber said Thursday. Gerber said Brown was in Sacramento attending the state Democratic Party convention at the time. He said that when Brown returned home he discovered that two tires had been stolen. Brown apparently is taking the incident in stride. In a comment he posted on his Facebook site, Brown said, "Even though I...

OAKLAND - A grand jury today voted to indict Yusuf Ali Bey IV, the scion of the defunct Your Black Muslim Bakery, for ordering the killings of journalist Chauncey Bailey and two other men in 2007, authorities familiar with the situation said. Prosecutors are likely to bring the case with special circumstances - allowing them to seek the death penalty against Bey IV, 23. He allegedly told two of his followers that in exchange for killing Bailey, he would teach them how to file fraudulent loan applications that could reap hundreds of thousands of dollars. Another man, Antoine Arelus Mackey,...

He may have been a cold-blooded killer and "soldier" in Your Black Muslim Bakery, but Devaughndre Broussard was crying like a child after a few minutes alone with bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV. That night in August 2007, Broussard - who had just been caught trying to get rid of the shotgun used the day before to kill Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey - held out for hours under police interrogation. Suddenly, Oakland police presented Broussard with Bey, a man who, although just two years his senior, he had trusted and followed - but who had just identified him to...

OAKLAND -- The man accused of fatally shooting Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey testified before a grand jury today that he was ordered to commit the killing by the leader of Your Black Muslim Bakery, his attorney said. Devaughndre Broussard, 21, a former handyman at the now-defunct black self-empowerment group, has struck a plea agreement with Alameda County prosecutors under which he agreed to testify against bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV and another bakery figure, Antoine Mackey. In exchange, Broussard has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter, for the 2007 killings of Bailey and Odell Roberson, and...

Facing pressure to crack down on crime amid a record budget deficit, Oakland is joining other U.S. cities that are turning over more law-enforcement duties to private armed guards. The City Council recently voted to hire International Services Inc., a private security agency, to patrol crime-plagued districts. While a few Oakland retail districts previously have pooled cash to pay for unarmed security services, using public funds to pay for private armed guards would mark a first for the city. Hiring private guards is less expensive than hiring new officers. Oakland -- facing a record $80 million budget shortfall -- spends...

OAKLAND -- After striking a deal with prosecutors, Devaughndre Broussard described in detail how he carried out orders from the leader of Your Black Muslim Bakery to kill Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey, including specific instructions to fire enough rounds to make sure "it ain't no coming back." The 21-year-old former handyman for the bakery chillingly and nonchalantly took prosecutor Chris Lamiero step by step March 23 and 24 through the events surrounding the slayings of the Oakland Post editor and another man. Both shootings, he said, were ordered by Yusuf Bey IV, the leader of the bakery, a now-defunct black...

04-16) 21:44 PDT Modesto -- The man who shot and killed four Oakland police officers last month has been named as a suspect in another violent crime: a February home-invasion robbery in Modesto. Lovelle Mixon's apparent link to the robbery was announced Thursday by the Modesto Police Department after the arrest of the other suspect in the robbery, Cedric Larue Daniels of Modesto. The crime occurred on February 21st, when two men ransacked a Modesto house, pistol-whipped a man in the home and assaulted the woman who was there.

Man agrees to guilty plea in Oakland journalist's killing He is expected to get 25 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter and testify that another person ordered the shooting to prevent publication of a critical article. By Maura Dolan 7:50 PM PDT, April 16, 2009 A man charged with killing an Oakland journalist has agreed to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and testify that another person ordered the slaying to prevent publication of a critical article, the lawyer for the man said Thursday. The plea agreement is expected to lead to murder charges against Yusef Bey IV, who ran the...

An ad hoc group of Oakland community leaders and activists demanded on Tuesday that the Oakland Police Officers Association (OPOA) police union apologize for its role in preventing Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums from speaking at the joint funeral of the four Oakland police officers killed in the March 21 MacArthur Boulevard shootings. “The exclusion of Oakland’s mayor was more than a disrespectful affront to the mayor himself, it was an act of insubordination to Oakland’s governing body, and a back-handed slap in the face to all of the citizens of Oakland who pay the generous salaries of the members of...

OAKLAND — Police Sgt. Derwin K. Longmire was suspended from duty Monday for his handling of the investigation into journalist Chauncey Bailey's killing in August 2007. Details of the suspension were sketchy, but Oakland Police Department sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed the move late Monday. It was unclear what administrative charges the veteran officer faces. He was transferred out of the homicide unit to patrol last year. Longmire has been under investigation by both the police Internal Affairs Division and the state Justice Department since last year for his handling of the Bailey case and his ties to...

Oakland -- A protester interrupted a BART board meeting this morning when he threw red paint at the transit agency's General Manager Dorothy Dugger. The man, who witnesses said had been pacing the room, seemed to grow more agitated before he rushed toward Dugger and the assistant general manager and spattered them with paint. Police chased the man before they were able to detain him. The suspect, whose name has not been released, could face charges of disrupting a public meeting or assault, according to BART Police Chief Gary Gee. Nearly two dozen protesters came to today's meeting to demand...

Streamed live online from 6-9 a.m. PST / 9-12 a.m. EST. For Live Questions or Comments Call 1-888-77-JESSE(5-3773) You can email comments and questions to radio@bondaction.org For more information on getting The Jesse Lee Peterson Show picked up on a station in your local area call Ermias Alemayehu at 1-877-WE ACT77 (932-2877) THURSDAY GUEST... 1st hour-Congresswoman Laura Richardson, Democrat California She will talk about her trip to Cuba where she met both Fidel and Raul Castro (THIS OUGHT TO BE GOOD, LOL) 2nd hour will be listener emails, and "Behind the Headlines" 3rd Hour-Dom (?)of the Oakland Police Officers Association,...

Our Oakland mayor, Ron Dellums, has promoted public safety so well that the homicide rate in Oakland is down 35 percent during the first quarter as compared with the same period last year, according to the Oakland Police Department. Serious crimes, which include, burglary, assault and theft, are down 22 percent during the comparable period. The mayor must use resources and encouragement to manage the police department to achieve this goal. This mayor has done some things never done before to strengthen the police department. The most important is that Oakland Police Department has never been fully staffed. Under Dellums,...

Oakland, CA (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life pastor in Oakland, California who was convicted of helping women outside abortion centers find life-affirming alternatives has been released after spending 18 days in jail. Reverend Walter Hoye was charged with violating an anti-free speech ordinance Oakland officials put in place to target him.Oakland officials had enacted the law that prohibited contact within eight feet of women entering abortion businesses without their consent.Last month, Hoye began serving a 30 day sentence and he received three years probation as well as a requirement to pay a $1,000 fine and a $130 restitution fee. He...

OAKLAND — After 18 days in jail for violating a city law designed to protect women entering abortion clinics, a Berkeley church elder went free Tuesday with a wider, louder network of anti-abortion supporters than before he went to trial. The sidewalk near Jack London Square that Walter Hoye patrolled weekly — accompanied by two elderly church women — drew a crowd of a few dozen protesters Tuesday morning for another in a series of vigils aimed at painting the law as an attack on free speech. Now, as Hoye pushes to reverse a judge's order to stay away from...

A man shot his wife to death and then turned the gun on himself in their Oakland home Sunday morning, police said. Police were called to the home in the 1200 block of 61st Avenue at 5:30 a.m. by a relative. The caller reported talking to the gunman by phone and told police he was threatening to shoot his wife and then kill himself.

Police: Man Found With IED Arrested; Home Searched Hazardous Materials Team Removes Chemicals From Pittsburgh Home PITTSBURGH -- SNIPPET: "When police searched the man's Parkview Street home in the city's Oakland neighborhood, they said officers found chemicals for making explosives devices. Police described the chemicals as extremely dangerous."

Hundreds mourn man who killed police officers Leslie Fulbright, Chronicle Staff Writer Nearly 500 people gathered at an East Oakland church Tuesday to say goodbye to Lovelle Mixon, the 26-year-old parolee who was killed by police after he went on a shooting rampage that left four Oakland officers dead. The open-casket service, held at Fuller Funerals on International Boulevard, was about an hour long and had such a large turnout that a number of guests were forced to stand. Singers sang. Poets read, and speakers remembered Mixon as an intense and animated storyteller, for his big smile, love of boxing...

Nearly 500 people gathered at an East Oakland church Tuesday to say goodbye to Lovelle Mixon, the 26-year-old parolee who was killed by police after he went on a shooting rampage that left four Oakland officers dead. The open-casket service, held at Fuller Funerals on International Boulevard, was about an hour long and had such a large turnout that a number of guests were forced to stand. Singers sang. Poets read, and speakers remembered Mixon as an intense and animated storyteller, for his big smile, love of boxing and football and what they called a long and loving relationship with...

Oakland — Honoring the memory of civil rights leader Cesar Chavez, about 30 students and other activists marched down International Boulevard today demanding rights for immigrant students. "The families of undocumented students pay taxes and make an enormous contribution to our nation's economy and prosperity, yet their sons and daughters face the same kind of discrimination that young black students experienced in the old Jim Crow south," read a statement from By Any Means Necessary, the organization that held the march. The Federal DREAM Act, which would give those students access to financial aid, was reintroduced last week, as was...

OAKLAND — A suspicious package delivered to the office of civil rights attorney John Burris has prompted an evacuation of the building, police said. Employees on the eighth through 12th floors of the building at 7677 Oakport St. were ordered out just after 11 a.m., according to Martin Reynolds, Bay Area News Group assistant managing editor, who has been evacuated along with staff members of the Oakland Tribune. Burris is representing the family of Oscar Grant, who was shot to death by a former BART police office on New Year's Day. The Alameda County bomb squad is en route to...

The shooting deaths of four Oakland police officers have touched Oakland and the entire nation, and have also exposed the growing disconnect Mayor Ron Dellums has with the city he is supposed to lead. Friday's public memorial service at Oracle Arena for Oakland police Sgts. Mark Dunakin, Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai and Officer John Hege took on an unintended political tone when at least two families did not approve of Dellums' inclusion on a speakers list that included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, state Attorney General Jerry Brown, and U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Dellums' omission at an event...

Just over a week ago, Oakland Police Sergeants Mark Dunakin, Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai, and Patrolman John Hege started their day on the job with an expectation that they would be returning home to their families at the end of the tour. These were not rookies; they were aware of the high-crime areas to be patrolled and the violent inhabitants within. Yet, the nature of the job, which is mostly routine, will cause even the most experienced guardian of public safety to approach dangerous situations with a sense of confidence and invulnerability. When Sgt. Dunakin, 40, and Officer Hege,...

Are these signs of the times or advance notices of adulation gone amok? At least two schools in these United States have, or are seriously considering, changing their names from the already established to one consisting of the name of Barack Obama. There are other schools around the country where the proposition have broached without any action to date, but two schools, one located in Portland, Oregon as reported online by KGW.com and one in Hempstead, NY reported by education-world.com are a reality. Short of catastrophically destroying the economy of this country and all its infrastructural landmarks, what has Barack...

In 1994, Sen. Dianne Feinstein used the tragedy of San Francisco's 101 California massacre to push a decadelong ban on assault weapons through Congress. But even the horror of Saturday's slayings of four Oakland police officers is unlikely to break through the bipartisan opposition that blocked the renewal of that ban in 2004. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and dozens of House Democrats have said they oppose efforts to bring back the national ban, either because the timing is wrong or because they oppose gun control. Pelosi said she hasn't even discussed the...

(03-27) 10:51 PDT Oakland, Calif. (AP) -- Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums is attending Friday's funeral for four slain city police officers, but will not be speaking at the request of at least one killed officer's family. The mayor's spokesman, Paul Rose, said Dellums turned down a police offer to give opening remarks after at least one of the families requested he not be among the dignitaries speaking at the ceremony. Rose said the mayor did not want to "make an awkward situation even more awkward."

A week after four Oakland police officers were gunned down by a parolee with a semiautomatic weapon, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Councilman Jack Weiss on Friday called for the federal government to reinstate a ban on assault weapons. Before heading to the Bay Area this morning for the funerals of Oakland police Sgt. Mark Dunakin, Sgt. Ervin Romans, Sgt. Daniel Sakai and Officer John Hege, the mayor and councilman called for the renewal of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which prevented the sale of most semiautomatic weapons. "This morning we are calling on Congress and the Obama administration to...

The Oakland school board has voted to change the name of a small school to Barack Obama Academy, reportedly the first middle school in the country to adopt the name of the nation's 44th president. While Obama has been in office fewer than 100 days, the 35 students at the former Alternative Learning Community public school persuaded the board Tuesday to make what they said was a historic change. -snip- The school, which opened in 2007, enrolls primarily African American and low-income students. Many of the students have had poor grades, lax attendance and suspensions in the past.

Law enforcement officers from all 50 states and a handful of foreign countries are expected to pour into the Oracle Arena today for the funeral of the four officers killed in related shooting incidents Saturday. A tentative list of speakers includes Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, state Attorney General Jerry Brown, and family and friends of the officers. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to meet privately with the families before the 11 a.m. service, police said. Funeral processions will begin at 8 a.m. from the cities where the officers lived.

Oakland Remembers 4 Fallen Officers By JASON DEAREN and LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writers Friday, March 27, 2009 Thousands of mourners gathered with the families of four police officers gunned down after a traffic stop and ensuing firefight for a joint funeral Friday that drew law enforcement from around the country and world. Officers Mark Dunakin, John Hege, Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai were remembered for their dedication to their families, friends and a gritty job they loved despite the crummy hours and dangers. The four were killed by a 26-year-old parolee, who also died in the gunfight Saturday, authorities...

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We talked yesterday about the utter uselessness of "gun control" in preventing a killer's shooting rampage. We further broke down how the media presented misinformation about guns. Here's more, presented as straight news: Mixon, who police believe was hiding in a closet in a back bedroom, began firing through the door and wall with a military assault rifle, sources said. Not unless it was designed to be capable of fully automatic fire he didn't. And then we have Chip Johnson of The San Francisco Chronicle, typifying the type of blood dance that always accompanies calls to disarm you and me:...

About 60 people marched and rallied in Oakland on Wednesday to condemn the police and honor Lovelle Mixon, who was killed by Oakland police after he fatally shot four officers Saturday.

Slain Oakland officer's organs save four men Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer March 25, 2009 Even in death, Oakland police Officer John Hege has saved four lives. Hege, who was among four officers killed Saturday by a gunman in East Oakland, has given renewed hope to four men. One now has Hege's heart beating inside him. Two others have his kidneys and a fourth has the 41-year-old officer's liver. Hege made it be known that if he died, he wanted to be an organ donor. Officials said Wednesday that his action had meant a second chance for the four...

On Wednesday, the New York Times did its best to muddy the seemingly clear-cut case regarding the character of cop-killer Lovelle Mixon, who shot and killed two motorcycle officers at a routine traffic stop in Oakland, then shot and killed two SWAT sergeants while on the run, before being himself killed by police. The text box painted a mixed picture of the murderer of four officers: "A man who obeyed some conditions of parole, but not others," while the text from reporters Solomon Moore and Jesse McKinley suggested the killer had been "failed by an overloaded and flawed California penal...

About 60 people marched and rallied in Oakland on Wednesday to condemn the police and honor Lovelle Mixon, who was killed by Oakland police after he fatally shot four officers Saturday. "OPD you can't hide - we charge you with genocide," chanted the demonstrators as they marched along MacArthur Boulevard, near the intersection with 74th Avenue where Mixon, 26, a fugitive parolee, gunned down two motorcycle officers who had pulled him over in a traffic stop. He killed two more officers who tried to capture him where he was hiding in his sister's apartment nearby. The protest was organized by...

With the Oakland Police Department mourning the violent deaths of four of its own, its leaders faced an additional challenge Wednesday as a group prepared to stage a vigil for the man authorities say gunned down the fallen officers. The evening event, organized by International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, was scheduled to take participants to a police substation within sight of the two locations where Lovelle Mixon allegedly shot the veteran officers. Mixon, 26, also was killed in the confrontation. "I don't condone what he did, but it's bringing to light the frustrations between the community and the police," said...

Big turnout at East Oakland vigil for police Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, March 25, 2009 Oakland -- With a few quick wing beats, six white doves fluttered up and away from a cage in East Oakland and disappeared into Tuesday's darkening sky. Rally for cop-killer: 'He needs sympathy too.' Four doves symbolized the Oakland police officers slain in the line of duty over the weekend. Another represented mourning; the last one, hope. A thousand people pressed into a three-block area around the slaying site at 74th Avenue near MacArthur Boulevard, where the doves were released. The mourners wept,...

If we erect memorials to the murderer and the murdered alike, what kind of human beings are we? If we are unable to distinguish criminals from their victims, and we feel compassion for both, we will not deserve to survive as a society. We will be lucky to survive at all.

Oakland -- About 60 people marched and rallied in Oakland tonight to condemn the police and honor Lovelle Mixon, who was killed by Oakland police after he fatally shot four officers Saturday. "OPD you can't hide - we charge you with genocide," chanted the demonstrators as they marched along MacArthur Blvd., near the intersection with 74th Avenue where Mixon, 26, a fugitive parolee, gunned down two motorcycle officers who had pulled him over in a traffic stop. He then killed two more officers who had tried to capture him where he was hiding in sister's apartment nearby. The protest was...

Dozens of loved ones and supporters gathered for the evening march, organized by International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, that took participants to a police substation within sight of the two locations where Lovelle Mixon allegedly shot the veteran officers. Mixon, 26, also was killed in the confrontation. "I don't condone what he did, but it's bringing to light the frustrations between the community and the police," said Uhuru Movement member Kihad Deen. "This gives people a chance to speak their minds." As mourners walked through the streets, they chanted, "OPD you can't hide, we charge you with genocide!" There were...

(03-24) 15:57 PDT OAKLAND -- Lovelle Mixon was linked by DNA to the February rape of a 12-year-old girl who was dragged off the street at gunpoint in the East Oakland neighborhood where Mixon's sister lived, police said Tuesday.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- While Lovell Shawn Mixon may not have been well known to even those who lived in his Oakland neighborhood, his violent lifestyle had long ago placed him on law enforcement’s radar screen, according to court documents. KTVU has obtained the court file of the man who allegedly killed for Oakland police officers last weekend – two of them execution style. The file is nearly an inch thick and reveals a life turned violent beginning at the age of 13 and ending in a gun battle with SWAT officers at 26. Raised by his mother in Atlanta until...

From the Web site of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, a notice of a gathering from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight (Wednesday, March 25) at the Uhuru House at 7911 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland: "Uphold the Resistance of the African Community as Represented by Brother Lovelle Mixon Gather at 6pm at the Uhuru House 7911 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland 6:30 March to Eastmont Town Center Rally & Return to the Uhuru House Just like the resistance of Nat Turner and Gabriel Prosser, enslaved Africans once vilified and today considered heroes, African people in Oakland have a right to struggle against...

Oakland shooter unable to escape cycle of violence By JULIANA BARBASSA – 2 hours ago OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Lovelle Mixon died at 26, hiding in an apartment, shot by police during a gun fight that left four officers dead and stunned a city already plagued by violence. Court records show a lifetime of wrong turns spent largely behind bars. Family members, angry and upset after their loss, describe Mixon as an deeply frustrated young man who likely snapped under the weight of opportunities missed or denied.

Oakland officers embodied courage and bravery Oakland police shooting: The mourning afterMar 21: Devastated police force, weary city grapple with tragedy, unite in griefThree police sergeants dead, suspect killed in East Oakland gunbattlesLovelle Mixon, a parolee on the run, already had shot Oakland police Sgt. Mark Dunakin and Officer John Hege. Then, as the two men lay on the ground, Mixon stood over them and fired again. But the ex-con wasn't done. He ran around the corner to his sister's apartment and waited — SKS military assault rifle ready — for the officers he knew would come after him. Those...

OAKLAND (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― The city of Oakland prepared to gather in grief Tuesday evening after a fourth police officer shot by a man wanted on a parole violation was taken off life support. A major city thoroughfare, 74th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard, was set to be closed down for the 6 p.m. vigil at the street corner where Officer John Hege and another officer were shot Saturday during a traffic stop. Hege was taken off life support Monday night and his heart, liver and kidneys removed, said Andrea Breaux of Alameda County Medical Center. The...

If history repeats itself, the fatal shootings of four Oakland police officers on Saturday afternoon will become the next benchmark in the national debate on a federal law to ban assault weapons. If there is a grain of hope to be gathered from a loss so tragic, it's that last weekend's horrific events will help end the debate on an unresolved policy issue that has resulted in thousands of deaths and helped sustain veritable demilitarized zones in some of our nation's largest cities. In Oakland, a city already struggling with high crime and gun violence, the deaths of two officers...

SAN FRANCISCO – The parolee who killed three Oakland police officers and left a fourth brain-dead over the weekend had been tentatively linked by DNA evidence to a rape the day before the shootings, authorities said. Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason confirmed a report on the San Francisco Chronicle's Web site on Monday night that DNA from an unsolved rape in Oakland in February was a probable match to that of 26-year-old Lovelle Mixon. Investigators got that information Friday, the day before Mixon opened fire on the officers following a routine traffic stop. Mixon is the primary suspect in the...