Politics

New Attorney General Tackles Police Brutality Case

Published

9 years ago

May 5, 2015

Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaks during her swearing-in ceremony at the Justice Department. (Freddie Allen/NNPA News Wire)

By Freddie Allen
NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – On the same day that Loretta Lynch was sworn-in as the 83rd United States Attorney General, the chief law enforcement officer in the nation, about 40 miles north of Washington, D.C., pockets of “Charm City” descended into lawlessness in response to decades of police corruption and brutality in poor, Black communities in Baltimore.

The violent riots, confined to a few scattered city blocks despite media reports, included the burning of police vehicles and the looting of a CVS chain at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and W. North Avenue, were sparked by the tragic death of Freddie Gray, a 25 year-old Black man, who was chased and arrested by Baltimore city police officers on April 12. Parts of the event were recorded on personal cell phone cameras and the videos showing Gray screaming in anguish as he is dragged to a paddy wagon, have gone viral. During the arrest, Gray suffered a severe spinal cord injury and died a week later.

In a statement following the riots, Lynch, the first African American woman to be confirmed as attorney general of the United States, condemned the acts of violence that resulted in the destruction of property and injury to Baltimore city police officers.

“Those who commit violent actions, ostensibly in protest of the death of Freddie Gray, do a disservice to his family, to his loved ones, and to legitimate peaceful protestors who are working to improve their community for all its residents,” she said in the statement.

In the aftermath of the riots, the Justice Department sent Vanita Gupta, the head of the Civil Rights Division, and Ronald Davis, the director of Community Oriented Policing Services ,to Baltimore to meet with civic and community leaders about the case.

Less than two weeks after Gray’s death, Maryland State’s Attorney, Marilyn J. Mosby, who is also an African American, filed charges, including second-degree murder, manslaughter and assault, against six police officers involved in Gray’s arrest including the driver of the police paddy wagon.

“To the youth of this city, I will seek justice on your behalf,” Mosby said during a press conference announcing the charges.

The Justice Department also continues to investigate the Gray case.

Pamela Meanes, the president of the National Bar Association, a predominately African American network of more than 65,000 lawyers, judges, educators and law students, said that Lynch is no stranger to prosecuting police when they break the law, noting her work as a New York City prosecutor on the Abner Louima case in New York City.

Louima, a Haitian immigrant was brutally assaulted by several N.Y.P.D. officers following a wrongful arrest in 1997. Officer Justin Volpe admitted to sodomizing Louima with a broken broomstick, causing severe internal injuries. Volpe was later sentenced to 30 years in prison and Louima received $8.7 million in damages from New York City and the police union and moved to Florida.

Hilary Shelton, the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for the NAACP, said Lynch has a proven track record for providing law enforcement protections and taking on terrorism, racial profiling and organized crime and gangs.

Shelton said that Lynch is someone who has earned the respect of the civil rights community and that she’ll the civil rights and voting rights battles that Attorney General Eric Holder started during his tenure.

“She clearly has her own style and ability, but she shares those common civil rights, voting rights and justice values that were so clearly articulated and demonstrated by Eric Holder,” said Shelton. “We have to make sure that we secure the opportunity for all Americans to cast an unfettered vote and have it counted even in wake of the Shelby County vs. Holder Supreme Court decision, where the Supreme Court stripped away a crucial provision in the Voting Rights Act.”

Meanes noted that although Attorney General Eric Holder received a lot of media attention for filing law suits against states such as Texas and North Carolina over their restrictive voting laws following the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder, and his outspoken views on race relations, he also tackled other issues, including corporate malfeasance on Wall Street.

During Holder’s tenure, the Justice Department won settlements against Bank of America for nearly $17 billion and J.P. Morgan for $13 billion in mortgage fraud lawsuits.

“[Lynch] is not going to shy away from making sure everyone’s civil and political liberties are protected,” said Meanes.

And as the Internet continues to connect people all over the world, Shelton said that the Justice Department officials also needed to make sure that they’re focusing on cyber security.

Meanes said that if state and local civic leaders, community stakeholders and law enforcement officials don’t deal with the elephant in the room, which is police brutality, the nation will see the protests surrounding Gray’s death as just another moment and not a movement adding that it would be “excellent” if Lynch traveled to Baltimore, Md., making a trip similar to Holder’s visit to Ferguson, Mo., in the aftermath of the unrest that followed the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager who was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a White police officer.

“What we see in Baltimore, is not a fight for Baltimore it is a message to the rest of country on how we handle police brutality,” said Meanes. “The National Bar Association would be pleased if Lynch made a commitment to Baltimore, because it would send a message to the nation that this is an issue that America now has to deal with.”

Follow Freddie Allen on Twitter @freddieallenjr.

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MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

Published

5 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor London Breed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

***PRESS RELEASE***

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

HUD’s Continuum of Care grant will support the City’s range of critical services and programs, including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and improved access to housing for survivors of domestic violence

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to support local programs with the goal of ending homelessness for individuals, families, and Transitional Age Youth.

This funding supports the city’s ongoing efforts that have helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness since 2018 through City programs including direct housing placements and relocation assistance. During that time San Francisco has also increased housing slots by 50%. San Francisco has the most permanent supportive housing of any county in the Bay Area, and the second most slots per capita than any city in the country.

“In San Francisco, we have worked aggressively to increase housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and we are building on these efforts every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “Every day our encampment outreach workers are going out to bring people indoors and our City workers are connecting people to housing and shelter. This support from the federal government is critical and will allow us to serve people in need and address encampments in our neighborhoods.”

The funding towards supporting the renewal projects in San Francisco include financial support for a mix of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and transitional housing projects. In addition, the CoC award will support Coordinated Entry projects to centralize the City’s various efforts to address homelessness. This includes $2.1 million in funding for the Coordinated Entry system to improve access to housing for youth and survivors of domestic violence.

“This is a good day for San Francisco,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “HUD’s Continuum of Care funding provides vital resources to a diversity of programs and projects that have helped people to stabilize in our community. This funding is a testament to our work and the work of our nonprofit partners.”

The 2024 Continuum of Care Renewal Awards Include:

$42.2 million for 29 renewal PSH projects that serve chronically homeless, veterans, and youth
$318,000 for one new PSH project, which will provide 98 affordable homes for low-income seniors in the Richmond District
$445,00 for one Transitional Housing (TH) project serving youth
$6.4 million dedicated to four Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects that serve families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence
$750,00 for two Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) projects
$2.1 million for three Coordinated Entry projects that serve families, youth, chronically homeless, and survivors of domestic violence

In addition, the 2023 CoC Planning Grant, now increased to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000, was also approved. Planning grants are submitted non-competitively and may be used to carry out the duties of operating a CoC, such as system evaluation and planning, monitoring, project and system performance improvement, providing trainings, partner collaborations, and conducting the PIT Count.

“We are very appreciative of HUD’s support in fulfilling our funding request for these critically important projects for San Francisco that help so many people trying to exit homelessness,” said Del Seymour, co-chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board. “This funding will make a real difference to people seeking services and support in their journey out of homelessness.”

In comparison to last year’s competition, this represents a $770,000 increase in funding, due to a new PSH project that was funded, an increase in some unit type Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and the larger CoC Planning Grant. In a year where more projects had to compete nationally against other communities, this represents a significant increase.

Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $3.16 billion for over 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs including new projects and renewals across the United States.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

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6 days ago

April 19, 2024

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.