Free Republic

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday sent a letter to Oakland officials urging them to allow police to engage in more vehicle pursuits, contending that the limitations placed on officers contribute to public safety challenges in the city. The California Highway Patrol inspired the governor’s missive after the agency “observed criminals fleeing with impunity” during the governor’s campaign to boost law enforcement and reduce crime in a city that has historically been one of the most dangerous in the state. In a policy Newsom described as an “outlier,” Oakland only allows police chases when a suspect is armed with a gun...

A man has been arrested following the shooting death of Oakland rapper Alliauna Green, 27, known as Tan DaGod. Dominic Gates, 30, is facing murder charges from the Alameda County District Attorney. Gates, also a rapper, known as BNC4Nero, has a previous felony conviction.

akland politics are heating up. On July 9, the City Council voted to place a recall referendum for Mayor Sheng Thao on the November ballot. Public discussion has focused on last month’s raid on the mayor’s home by the FBI, IRS, and US Postal Service in a broad but as-yet-opaque investigation into allegations of corruption and money laundering. Yet the campaign against Thao has other motivations—and ignoring them would be a big mistake. Spearheaded by retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte and members of Oakland’s minority communities, the campaign gathered more than 40,000 voter signatures in favor of...

In recent months it seemed that Oakland — a city famously grappling with a rise in crime — had course-corrected in remarkable fashion. Statistics published by the police department showed year-to-year crime had dropped by 33% overall by the end of April, a dramatic shift after last year’s spike. Mayor Sheng Thao praised the city for turning a corner. Gov. Gavin Newsom quoted the 33% figure in a news release touting Oakland’s partnership with the California Highway Patrol. The news spread through social media posts and optimistic headlines, including stories in the Chronicle. But a new Chronicle review of Oakland...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is raising eyebrows on a national level by taking a tough stance against George Soros-backed prosecutor Pamela Price of Alameda County, which includes the crime-ridden city of Oakland. Price faces a recall effort on the November ballot, as does “progressive” Oakland mayor Sheng Thao, whose home was recently raided by the FBI in an apparent corruption probe. Breitbart News described Price’s record in 2023: Soros, who has funded radical prosecutors across the country, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars backing Price in 2018. She won in 2022 and immediately backed “criminal justice reform” of the...

Whether you like leftism or not (I don’t), one of the most admirable things about leftists is that they are long-term planners. Conservatives dream of quick fixes, but leftists put systems in place and then patiently wait for them to come to fruition. San Francisco perfectly illustrates how this works...and it goes back to the 1960s. At the end of June, a San Francisco convenience store was robbed and vandalized. This happened in a city that no longer polices minor crimes (allowing it to boast that its crime statistics have improved), thereby paving the way for major crimes. The city,...

A mob of looters ransacked an Oakland gas station convenience store and caused thousands of dollars in damage as the frustrated store manager claimed police took nine hours to respond to his plea for help. The horde, who had just attended a nearby car sideshow, broke into the 76 Station near the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport around 4:30 a.m. on Friday, according to ABC 7 News Bay Area. Owner Sam Mardaie estimated approximately 80 to 100 people broke through his store’s front door and grabbed everything they could get their hands on.

A jaw-dropping video shows the moment nearly 100 robbers ransacked a California gas station in the middle of the night. Surveillance footage displays dozens of masked and hoodie-wearing thieves taking their sweet time to grab as much as they can carry just after 4:30am on Friday at the station in crime-ridden Oakland. The raid came just days after Oakland's progressive mayor bragged about a drop in crime in the hellhole city.

Civilization in the Bay Area continues to unravel at an alarming rate. Checking in on California and we find that civilization continues to unravel at an alarming rate, but nowhere is that more obvious than taking a look at the Bay Area. Here’s the latest, from an item out at a local outlet: Thirteen senior citizens reported being brutally attacked and robbed in just one week in an Oakland community. But according to leaders at one senior living facility in the city, they say the number is much higher and closer to an astounding 30. … ‘It was happening every...

Isn't accepting bribes a crime? I always thought it was.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao's home was raided by the FBI over pay-to-play allegations against her boyfriend, a former aide claims - with the worker also revealing a huge upset in the pair's relationship. The Democrat lawmaker's home on Maiden Lane was searched around 5:30 am PT Thursday. Renia Webb, who served as Thao's chief of staff for 18 months, says she's been interview by federal agents and believes they may be looking into her boyfriend Andre Jones. Webb - who says she ran her office and her campaign - accuses Jones of classic pay-to-play corruption, including trying to lobby for...

OAKLAND, Calif. - A Juneteenth celebration at Lake Merritt in Oakland took a dramatic turn as gunshots rang out, leaving 15 people injured.

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided property owned by Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao Thursday morning, KRON4.com has confirmed. FBI agents arrived at Mayor Thao’s property in the 100 block of Maiden Lane in Oakland at 5:30 a.m., according to sources. At approximately 10:07 a.m., several FBI agents could be seen walking out of the property carrying bags and boxes. The agents then got into their vehicles and left the scene. An FBI representative told KRON4 the location had been cleared

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- A home owned by Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao was raided by the FBI Thursday morning, a source tells ABC7 News. A neighbor confirmed to ABC7 News that the FBI was in the Lincoln Highlands neighborhood in the Oakland Hills. Security footage from another neighbor shows the FBI on the property. The FBI provided this statement Thursday morning: "The FBI is conducting court authorized law enforcement activity on Maiden Lane. We are unable to provide additional information at this time."

A crime-plagued California city may be one step closer to reversing its misfortunes after taking drastic action against its progressive mayor. Sheng Thao will face a historic recall election in November amid anger over her failure to get a grip on the situation in Oakland. The progressive Democrat lawmaker is the first mayor in the city's history to be up for recall, after a campaign to oust her gained more than 40,000 signatures.

San Francisco has ranked as America's worst-run city, thanks to its looming $1.4 billion budget deficit and social problems from homelessness to crime and cash-strapped public schools. Researchers at WalletHub found that San Francisco was the worst-managed of all the 148 major cities assessed in its report, in a damning indictment of the administration of Mayor London Breed. The personal finance website ranked other big-name cities among the lowest-performing ten.

A 77-year-old Oakland man has been arrested after he shot and killed a suspected burglar. Police say two men and a woman pulled up outside the man's home in a stolen vehicle on Monday evening. One suspect was allegedly holding a crowbar as the three headed inside the man's home, as reported by KTVU. The homeowner, who has not been publicly named, apparently shot one of the men, the woman in the group told officials. He was pointing the gun at the woman when police arrived, per officials. A 77-year-old Oakland man has been arrested after he shot and killed...

A homeowner who fatally shot a burglary suspect in Oakland on Monday has been arrested.

One neighborhood in East Oakland is so dangerous that construction workers apparently feel unsafe. A construction crew left a residential street unpaved and refused to return because the workers did not feel safe being in the neighborhood. The situation has left Sobrante Park residents with their street torn up and reduced to gravel with gaping potholes. Resident Shari Angarano said the unfinished road work made bumpy driving conditions on Colorados Drive go from bad to worse. “The ground is uneven and a lot of the gravel used to fill pot holes is being kicked up,” Angarano said. The unfortunate situation...

Shocking footage has emerged showing a gigantic 'shantytown' that has sprung up in Oakland, as the California city's slide into crime-ravaged squalor continues. Michael Oxford, the host of CaliBased, posted a video on May 31 of massive temporary houses built along service roads that open up into main roads in Hooverville, Oakland. The footage showed trash strewn around scores of houses that were built of wood, tarp and other discarded materials. Particularly shocking was just how large the 'shantytown' is, with a lengthy stretch of road in the Bay Area city covered with the makeshift dwellings. Oxford could be heard...