Alessandro Tinonga reports on the latest protest in a struggle for justice in Oakland.

Originally published at SocialistWorker.org

September 24, 2012

Tanesha Blye subpoenas the Oakland City Council

Family members of Alan Blueford subpoenaed the Oakland City Council today, demanding they attend a rally outside City Hall on Tuesday, July 31. The City Council previously had a meeting planned for that date, their last of the summer, which they Blueford family planned to attend in order to speak out about the misinformation spread about Alan and his killing by Oakland police officer Miguel Masso. Since that meeting was canceled, the family decided to organize a rally instead so they could tell their story directly to the people of Oakland.

Alan’s cousin, Tanesha Blueford, addressed the City Council during the Open forum, which was also attended by a number of supporters of the Justice 4 Alan Blueford campaign. After stating the details of the case and how the Oakland Police Department had lied both to the Blueford family and the people of Oakland–including stating that Alan had been in a “gun battle” when it is now clearly false–she subpoeaned the 8 members of the City Council and Mayor Jean Quan.

Each member of the Oakland City Council was given a copy of the following subpoena on Thursday, July 26, 2012. The family and their supporters will rally outside of Oakland City Hall on Tuesday, July 31 at 5pm.

Tuesday, July 31 was supposed to be the last Oakland City Council meeting of the summer. The Blueford family had planned to return to the City Council on that date to describe how they have been lied to by city officials and OPD, but the meeting was canceled. Instead, the Blueford family will rally in front of City Hall and they are calling on their supporters to come downtown, hear their story and fight for Justice 4 Alan Blueford!

Demand Justice 4 Alan Blueford!

Tuesday, July 31, 5pm

Oakland City Hall, 14th & Broadway

The Blueford family is demanding the release of the police report on Alan’s killing and the firing and prosecution of Miguel Masso, the officer who killed him.

Originally posted at East Bay Express

The family of Blueford, who was shot and killed by an Oakland police officer, files a federal lawsuit.

By Ali Winston

Oakland is once again in an uproar over a fatal police shooting of an African-American man. In 2007, it was Gary King Jr. In 2009, it was Oscar Grant. In 2010, it was Derrick Jones. In 2011, it was Raheim Brown. This year, it’s Alan Dwayne Blueford. The eighteen-year-old Skyline High student was shot and killed on May 6 at 92nd Avenue and Birch Street after fleeing a stop by two Oakland police officers, just weeks before his graduation.

The shooting doesn’t just mark another incident in the Oakland Police Department’s history of killing unarmed suspects, especially young black men, but it also raises questions about the department’s vetting process. The officer involved had been accused of excessive force before, while working for the New York Police Department.

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