Ten Arrested at California Attorney General Kamala Harris' Oakland Office

10 arrested at A.G. Kamala Harris Oakland office

A protest of more than one hundred people, including dozens of family members of Californians murdered by police, outside A.G. Kamala Harris’ office at the State Building in Oakland ended with ten arrests.

Dan Siegel, Oakland civil rights attorney and mayoral candidate, spoke at the rally and said afterwards of the arrests, “The real crime is Kamala Harris refusing to prosecute officers like Miguel Masso who racially profiled and murdered 18-year-old African American resident Alan Blueford.”

The arrests occurred when protesters refused to vacate the lobby of the State Building in Oakland, insisting on first speaking to a representative of Harris’ staff.

Family members from the following police murder victims were present at the protest: Alan Blueford, Oscar Grant, Gary King, Jr., James Rivera, Jr., Ernest Duenez, Jr., Kenneth Harding, Kayla Moore, Lamarr Alexander, Andy Lopez, Jessie Hamilton, and Mario Romero.

Arrestees are currently being held at Santa Rita Jail, 5325 Broder Blvd. Dublin.

The Justice for Alan Blueford Coalition is calling for the protesters immediate release and for A.G. Kamala Harris to address their demands.

Here are excerpts from the letter activists attempted to deliver to A.G. Harris’ office:


Dear Attorney General Harris:

On behalf of the Justice for Alan Blueford Coalition, we request that you exercise your authority to open a criminal investigation into the killing of Alan Blueford by Oakland Police Officer Miguel Masso on May 6, 2012. Despite overwhelming evidence that Officer Masso committed multiple acts of misconduct in connection with Alan's death, the Alameda County District Attorney has failed to initiate criminal proceedings and has instead exonerated Officer Masso without conducting any meaningful inquiry into his actions. We urge you to exercise your authority under Article 5, § 13 of the California Constitution and Government Code §§ 12511-12512 to conduct an independent investigation into the circumstances of Alan Blueford's death. We and Alan's family will do everything possible to assist you in that effort.


Initiated by Justice for Alan Blueford Coalition (JAB)

Press contact for more information: Todd Chretien - toddchretien [at] mac.com