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DESCRIPTION:FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – JULY 6TH, 2010\n\nCIVIC LEADERS ATTEMPTING TO 
 PREEMPT COMMUNITY CALLS FOR JUSTICE\n\nWHO:  Oakland General Assembly for 
 Justice for Oscar Grant\nWHAT:  Press Conference\nWHEN:  Tuesday, July 
 6th , 12:00 PM\nWHERE:  14th & Broadway, Oakland (at the flag poles in 
 Frank Ogawa Plaza)\n\n\nThe verdict for Officer Mesherle will be announced 
 any day. As the verdict approaches, it has come to our attention -- the 
 Oakland General Assembly for Justice for Oscar Grant -- that numerous 
 “leaders” and “organizations” in Oakland are speaking in the name 
 of Oscar Grant with their own agenda and there has been conscious political 
 sabotage on the Oakland Assembly's organizing efforts.  Due to this, we 
 would like to voice such concerns publicly.\n\nBefore the trial even began, 
 the Oakland Assembly called for a community gathering on the day of the 
 verdict, yet now city leaders have decided to hold their own 
 verdict-related event on the same day at the same location starting one 
 hour earlier.  Yet their speakers will be city-approved only and will be 
 given specific city-approved talking points, more focused on the 
 possibility of property damage than justice for Oscar Grant or other 
 victims of police violence.\n\nCity council member Jean Quan has stated 
 that she speaks for Oscar Grant's family, even though she has not sought 
 approval from Oscar's family to do so nor has she been seen doing any 
 credible act to pursue justice concerning Oscar Grant's murder. As our 
 committee prepares to hold a two hour rally in the intersection of 14th and 
 Broadway on the day of the verdict, city council member Deslie Brooks has 
 been taking an active lead in organizing a city-sponsored rally in front of 
 City Hall, as a political diversion against our rally. City-linked 
 nonprofit Urban Promise Movement released a talking point sheet geared 
 toward "inoculating" Oakland youth against "outside agitators" as if 
 Oakland's youth of color do not contain their own political agency and 
 thought.  Youth Uprising released a Public Service Announcement equating 
 the murder of Oscar Grant with property destruction.   Joe Haraburda, 
 President and CEO of Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, started an 
 “Oscar Grant Memorial Fund” claiming to benefit youth in Oakland and 
 "stand for justice," yet has not even contacted Oscar's family about the 
 fund.\n\nSuch efforts are political tricks for their own positive 
 publicity. We have not found that such efforts in the Chamber of Commerce's 
 accumulation of money for Oscar Grant has helped the cause and the pursuit 
 for justice concerning Oscar Grant murder in any way. The Oakland 
 Metroplitan Chamber of Commerce works with Mayor Dellums who has also been 
 dragging his feet throughout the whole process of this case. Along with 
 Dellums passivity concerning Oscar Grant's murder, Oakland Police 
 Department, along with the Alameda county sheriffs department, has spent 
 over 700,000 dollars on Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), a high-decibel 
 acoustic device intended to keep the Oakland population in control, 
 purchasing this weapon at a time Oakland is currently laying off school 
 teachers.\n\nThe Oakland General Assembly for Justice for Oscar Grant seeks 
 to organize for the justice of Oscar Grant's murder through a democratic 
 process that connects with the greater community beyond well-connected and 
 often self-appointed "leaders". We are not proponents of violence, we are 
 proponents of justice.  We have not found that such justice is not created 
 by the government's own mechanisms; only through the people's will and 
 their political efforts can we see justice materialized.\n\n\nRALLY * OPEN 
 MIC * SPOKEN WORD * YOUTH SPEAK OUT!\nDay of the Verdict – Community 
 Gathering – 14th & Broadway, 6pm\n\n\nThe Oakland General Assembly for 
 Justice for Oscar Grant is a grassroots coalition of concerned citizens 
 working with statewide partners to stop the epidemic of police abuse. For 
 more information, see www.oaklandforjustice.org.\n\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/07/06/18652774.php
SUMMARY:Civic Leaders Attempting to Preempt Community Calls for Justice
LOCATION:14th & Broadway (at the flag poles in Frank Ogawa Plaza)\nOakland \n
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/07/06/18652774.php
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