Murdered by OPD 12 years ago today
\nBeloved Community\,
\nTomorrow Oakland City Counci l will vote on a resolution Honoring the Life of Alan Dwayne Blueford\, wh o was murdered by Oakland Police Department 12 years ago today on May 6\, 2012 at the age of only 18-years-old. His mother\, and our sister in strug gle\, Jeralynn Blueford\, is calling on us to show up in support.
\nWe are asking you to show up tomorrow\, Tuesday\, May 7 at city hall to help this family\, forever-impacted by OPD’s terror\, continue to fight f or Alan and his legacy.
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\nWHAT: Support Oakland Re solution Honoring the Life of Alan Dwayne Blueford
\nWHEN: Tue sday\, May 7 at 3:30 pm
\nWHERE: In person at City Hall (1 Fra nk H. Ogawa Plaza\, 3rd Floor\, Oakland\, CA 94612) or online on Zoom\n
\n- All public speakers must submit a speaker card before the meetin g. Members of the public must (1) Visit the City Of Oakland meeting calendar webpage (2) Click the hyperlink labeled ‘eComme nt’ in the far right column of the meeting you wish to participate\, (Yo u will be redirected to the specific meeting webpage)\; and (3) Register t o ‘Sign In To Speak’ for agenda item 5.8
\n- For more instruc tions\, please refer to the meeting agenda
\nSign up to Speak
\nDownload the Meeting Agenda\nOn May 6\, 2012\, then Oakland Police Department Officer Miguel Mas so — a transplant from New York with a history of violence — rollled up in the nighttime hours\, in an unmarked car with his lights off\, on three young African-American men in deep East Oakland. Alan Blueford\, a high s chool student with a 3.0 GPA\, and two friends were walking to the corner store to grab a few snacks while they waited for their ride home. Officer Miguel Masso jumped out of the car\, never asking for names or identificat ion. He immediately threw one of the boys down on the curb.
\nTerrif ied\, the teenagers asked\, “What did we do?* Masso grabbed a second youth by the shoulder\, pushing him forcefully against the fence and twisted hi s arm behind his back. Masso kept shouting and roughing them up. None of t he children were placed under arrest or read their rights.
\nAlan started to walk away. Masso vigorously ran toward him. Alan ran\, Masso g ave chase. According to witness statements\, Alan was yelling at the top o f his lungs\, “I didn’t do anything!” At this point\, Masso turned off his lapel camera\, chased Alan for five blocks\, and shot him in the c hest three times\, as he lay on his back in the driveway of a residential home.
\nMasso would later claim to both the police and the press that Alan had shot him in the foot to explain the wound he was discovered to have. This claim proved to be false. A police investigation revealed t hat Masso had in fact shot himself. However\, that initial lie interrupted what would have been swift and immediate outrage from the Oakland communi ty. As a result\, Jeralynn and her husband (Alan Sr.)\, would spend the ne xt few years not only demanding justice for their son\, but also trying to clear his soiled name. Meanwhile OPD and its association did everything i t could to defend MAsso and cover up the evidence of his vile transgressio n.
\nDespite this litany of egregious behavior and attempts at cover up – the Blueford family was awarded one of the smallest settlements in t he history of Oakland for the murder and slander of their son. But they have never stopped fighting.
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\nFighting for Alan and for any family that finds themselves in this exclusive club no one wants to j oin.We are asking you to show up tomorrow and help them contin ue to fight for Alan\, his legacy and all those impacted by the violence o f the Oakland Police Department and the State. Fight for those who hav e not yet been impacted but one day may consider it luck to be a “surviv or�\, like myself. Fight so that this never happens again. Fight for all of our sakes and in the many names of too many ancestors slain by law enf orcement in America.
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\nJoin us tomorrow to scream “Justice for Alan Blueford�! Let’s get this day passed for Alan\, his family and all of us.In service and solidarity\,
\nCat Brooks
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\nAnti Po lice-Terror Project