Anti Police-Terror Project Launches People’s Investigation After OPD Shot and Killed One Person in West Oakland on Wednesday
(Oakland, CA) — The Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP) is launching a People’s Investigation through the efforts of our First Responder Committee into the murder by Oakland Police Department (OPD) officers on Wednesday night in West Oakland to ensure the actual facts of this tragedy are unearthed.
“All we know as actual fact is that a person was killed last night," said Cat Brooks, executive director and co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project. “The police have told us this was an alleged murder suspect and that he exited a home into the streets with a weapon. While many may want to take this initial spin by OPD and Sacramento PD, we know that often the real details come out later and that police often lie to cover up cold-blooded killings. The police as a rule cannot be trusted in these incidents, and their first story should neve be taken at face value.”
For decades, law enforcement officers were trained by their departments and police associations to use the tired trope “I feared for my life” after incidents of state violence to shield themselves from accountability. However, since a statewide community effort passed AB 392 to strengthen police use of force laws in California, that excuse no longer flies. More and more, we are hearing the claim that the victim was a sudden, imminent, and unavoidable threat when police commit murder in an effort to dampen community support and lay the framework for a legal justification.
The police say that the victim was an alleged suspect in a homicide in Sacramento, and OPD officers were responding to a request for assistance from the Sacramento Police Dept.
“As most of us know, the Sacramento Police Department is undeniably heinous, violent, and at best disingenuous if not outright dishonest — particularly when engaging with folks who are in a mental health crisis, or a part of a marginalized community exercising their First Amendment rights. The guardrails that are currently in place by the city for police oversight have been intentionally and systematically dismantled by the police department itself, most specifically by our current police Chief. APTP Sacramento is committed to supporting the family members of all parties involved. We stand in solidarity with our comrades in Oakland, who are conducting a People's Investigation. As we commonly say and practice, “No investigation, no right to speak,” said Asantewaa Boykin, RN, APTP co-founder and creator of Mental Health First.
APTP’s First Responders Committee has more than a decade of experience supporting families impacted by police terror and documenting police abuses throughout the Bay Area. These investigations have led to discoveries like the fact that 38-year-old mother and grandmother Yuvette Henderson was murdered with an AR-15 in broad daylight by the Emeryville Police Department, igniting community anger that demanded an end to militarized police departments. APTP organizes to respond to police murders and incidents of excessive force because we believe the state will only work to protect itself and the only path towards “justice” lies in the hands and the power of the people.
After an incident of state terror, we undertake a People’s Investigation of the actual facts to demand transparency, create accountability, and support impacted families and communities in the tragic wake of state violence.
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Anti Police-Terror Project is a Black-led, multi-racial, intergenerational coalition that seeks to build a replicable and sustainable model to eradicate police terror in communities of color. We support families surviving police terror in their fight for justice, documenting police abuses and connecting impacted families and community members with resources, legal referrals, and opportunities for healing.