Justice for Richard Perkins Jr and all lives stolen by police

On Sunday, November 15th, the Oakland police were in chaos, trying to suppress an “outrageous” Oakland “Side Show”.* Up to 700 cars and motorcycles from as far away as Fresno, San Jose and Los Angeles converged, shutting down numerous street intersections and a portion of Interstate 880, doing donuts and kicking up clouds of smoking rubber from the tires of all manners of vehicles, from jacked-up big rim floaters, to family sedans and motorcycles.

At one point Oakland Police, Sheriffs and Highway Patrol encircled suspected participants and onlookers alike, busting people, writing tickets and towing motorcycles. Cops were pissed, they had been made fools of all day, but now they were “in control” and definitely wanted to let people know it. It was against that backdrop that Richard Perkins was shot and killed by police. "I just heard pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, many shots," said a witness. “He wasn’t doing nothing!” said another.

Richard Perkins, a 39 year old truck driver, and was the father of two children. He loved his community and helped at his church. Richard was not a participant in the “side show”, but was attracted by his love of motorcycles. His mother told us fondly how Richard loved to work on “bikes”, “but could never keep his running long enough to ride it.”

Police claim that Richard walked toward them pointing a “replica” gun at them, so they had to shoot. Four cops opened up on Richard, shot at him 20 times, with up to 16 bullets hitting him. Holes from high-powered police bullets ripped into cars and the nearby gas station, and Richard was murdered on the spot. Later, Oakland police produced what they are calling the “replica weapon.”

Witnesses have said that there was nothing in Richard’s hands and when he saw the cops aiming at him, he lifted his shirt and held his hands up and yelled “Please, Don’t Shoot!”. But the cops opened fire anyway. Then they let Richard’s body lay where he fell for 10 hours!

Richard's mother, Ada, went to the murder site and prayed for the family of the dead man who lay beneath the tarp, NOT KNOWING IT WAS HER OWN SON! After Richard was killed, he laid on the ground from 5:30pm til 3am “They left him there like a dog!”

The family didn't learn of Richard's death until the cops called 2 days later on Tuesday morning, even though the family lives a block away.! They were not even able to identify the body until Thursday morning.

The police story is that he pointed a gun (what turned out to be a pellet gun) at officers. Cops told local news that four officers, "fearing for their lives, had no choice but to protect themselves." Several witnesses say however that 4 cops shot at him 20 times, with up to 16 bullets hitting him, while nothing was in his hands. In fact, witnesses say that he lifted up his shirt to show the cops his pellet gun in his waistband, while yelling "PLEASE DON'T SHOOT!" Bullets went into the nearby gas station and even the neighbor's car!

One of the100 Castlemont High students who walked out of school to demonstrate Richard’s murder said, "A lot of us decided we had to take action ASAP. There's been a lot of police killing in Oakland, and we're TIRED of it." The focus on sideshows is bullshit. The problem is police terror and racism!”