ILWU Local 10 calls for Justice 4 Alan Blueford

The following letter was approved by the membership of ILWU Local 10 on October 18, 2012.

10/19/2012

To: U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson;

Alameda District Attorney Nancy O’Malley

CC: Alameda Labor Council

Subject: Justice for Alan Blueford

On behalf of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 10, we demand that the following actions be taken with respect to the case of the killing of Alan Blueford, an 18 year old Black youth, by Oakland Police Department Officer Miguel Masso:

1. Stop the OPD from racial and ethnic profiling and violence against people of color;
2. Institute stricter background checks, training, apprehension and gun use policies within the OPD;
3. Fire Officer Masso and charge him with murder.

These demands are based on the following findings:

• A Black person is killed by law enforcement once every 36 hours, per the Malcolm X Grass Roots Movement’s study
•  The federal report monitoring the Oakland Police Department states that the Oakland Police Department pulls guns on Black and Latino people disproportionately to the number of times guns are pulled on whites and  two new reports by the  federal monitor criticized the OPD’s handling of officer-involved shootings and Occupy Oakland protests;
•  Alan Blueford, an 18 year old Black youth, who was about to graduate from Skyline H.S., was killed by OPD Officer Masso on May 6;
•  OPD has provided at least four versions of what happened the night Alan Blueford was killed, including the claim that the Officer Masso was shot in a gun battle with Alan Blueford, when he later admitted that he shot himself in the foot;
•  The OPD:

1. Engaged in racial profiling and violated numerous OPD policies;
2. Engaged in a cover-up (Made numerous false statements and repeatedly changed their story);
3. Showed complete disregard for the life of Alan Blueford and the dignity of the family;
4. Had the coroner’s report withheld from the family for 3 months, and the police report for5 months;

• The Coroner’s Report reveals that Alan Blueford had no gun residue on his hands, no alcohol or drugs in his system, and implies that Alan Blueford was shot while lying on his back;
•  Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley’s report shows strong bias, for example, relying on Masso’s statement that Alan was standing when he first shot him, despite 11 out of 12 witness statements to the contrary