Anti Police-Terror Project returns with demands to Home Depot and OPD

(Oakland) - In the early afternoon of Tuesday, February 3rd, Yuvette Henderson, a 38 year old mother of four children, and a grandmother of one, was shot and killed by the Emeryville Police Department on the Oakland-Emeryville border. The Anti Police-Terror Project immediately responded to that murder with a people’s investigation and demands that Home Depot, Extra Space Storage, the Emeryville Police Department and the Oakland Police Department release the surveillance videos showing what happened to Yuvette. OPD and EPD refused. Home Depot and Extra Space Storage ignored us. APTP in partnership with the family of Yuvette Henderson are returning to Home Depot and the Oakland Police Department to demand justice for Yuvette Henderson with a rally and march on April 12th at 3:00 pm. The events will begin with a vigil on the corner of 34th & Hollis where Yuvette was murdered.

Officers shot Yuvette Henderson in response to a report from Home Depot regarding an alleged theft where the suspect appeared to be armed. Police originally stated that officers were “advised (emphasis added) that the suspect was armed with a gun. The officers discharged their weapons striking the suspect.” This statement, issued at the time with authority, has since been edited out of original media reports. Now, the police state they asked Yuvette Henderson to drop her weapon and when she refused, they shot and killed her. Police have never stated Yuvette Henderson pointed a gun at them. Yuvette Henderson fired no shots. The officers responsible for her death are Michelle Shepard and Warren Williams. Both are still being paid while investigated. Warren Williams was wearing a body camera which was turned off during the shooting. Yuvette was shot by three weapons, including an AR-15 rifle - a military-grade, automatic weapon; the same weapon used by the United States military in wars throughout the world.

Additional eyewitness testimony has substantiated that Yuvette was assaulted by Home Depot security, and sustained a serious head injury. Yet Home Depot refuses to release the videotapes to her family. As we have learned this week with the Walter Scott murder, the video can change the narrative. So we ask AGAIN, of Home Depot, Extra Space Storage, and the Oakland Police Department. . . . “Got tapes?”

When viewed in the context of an uncooperative and manipulative police department, reasonable people must see that a fair investigation will never occur if that investigation is left solely in the hands of the police. The Anti-Police Terror Project recognizes this reality and will continue to make these demands on April 12th:

• Release of the video tapes that contain the shooting or any lead-up to the shooting of Yuvette Henderson
• Leave without pay for Michelle Shepherd and Warren Williams, the officers involved in the killing of Yuvette Henderson, while they are being investigated and, ultimately, the termination of Shepard and Williams from the Emeryville Police Department.
• The immediate return or destruction of all military styled weapons and accessories in the possession of the Emeryville Police Department.
• An account on what happened to Yuvette while in contact with Home Depot security, an explanation regarding how she sustained the head injury on Home Depot property, and a reason as to why she never saw the paramedics as a result of her head injury.

This Sunday, April 12th , there will be a rally, speak-out, and march, all in loving memory of Yuvette Henderson. All aspects of the action are planned to be peaceful. Security and legal support will be available throughout the day. Speakers at the rally will be family members of those killed by police. Following the speak-out, there will be a march. The rally will begin at 3 P.M. at the Extra Space Storage where Yuvette was killed at 3406 Hollis Street Oakland, CA 94608. This march is organized by the Anti-Police Terror Project with permission from the family of Yuvette Henderson.

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The Anti Police-Terror Project is a group of committed organizations and individuals committed to creating replicable and sustainable models for eradicating police terrorism in communities of color across the nation.