On Wednesday, August 10th, family and supporters rallied at the Lake Merritt BART station before marching to Oakland Unified School District's headquarters to call for justice in the police murder of Raheim Brown Jr. Demonstrators packed the monthly Oakland Unified School District’s board meeting to demand the board be held liable in the killing of twenty-year-old Raheim Brown by OUSD Police at Skyline High School on January 22nd, 2011.

Speakers called for the immediate disbandment of the school police and the firing of officers Barhin Bhatt and Jonathan Bellusa who shot Brown multiple times, later claiming he brandished a screw driver. The only civilian witness on the scene, Tamisha Stewart, says Bellusa and Bhatt murdered Brown after calling him racist epithets, that Brown was unarmed and not a threat to the police.

Brown’s mother, Lori Davis, who co-organized the rally with the support of the Idriss Stelley Foundation, noted that Bellusa was hired by Oakland School Police after he was let go from the Oakland Police Department following concerns stemming from his questionable use of force. Protesters cited the recent cop killing of Mark Duggan in London on August 4th that sparked a number of rebellions in the city and urged Oakland to rise up and challenge a global system that empowers police to murder civilians with impunity.

On August 20th from 2 to 5pm, a demonstration organized by Idriss Stelley Foundation will be held at San Francisco City Hall calling for a Bay Area wide coalition of individuals and networks fighting against police brutality. Organizers hope to create a police accountability task force.

Video | Audio | Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | Event announcement

See Also: Families of Oakland Police Victims Plea for Support; DA Refuses Prosecution | Witness of Oakland School Police Contrasts Police Story