Bay Area

Wilson Riles Jr., Former City Council Member, Settles Police Brutality Lawsuit for $360,000

In 2019, former City Councilmember Wilson Riles Jr. was arrested at the city’s zoning department when he went to complain about the latest obstacles in a years-long dispute with staff of the Oakland Planning Department about the use of a sweat lodge to conduct Native American ceremonies in the backyard of the house where he and his wife reside in Oakland.

Published

2 years ago

July 30, 2022

Oakland Post

Wilson Riles was 73 years old when he was brutally arrested by Oakland police in 2019.

By Ken Epstein

The Oakland City Council has approved a $360,000 settlement with former City Councilmember Wilson Riles Jr., who filed a lawsuit alleging that the city and Oakland Police Department violated his civil rights for throwing him facedown to the ground and arresting him when he went to a city office to complain about a zoning issue.

A City Councilmember from 1979 to 1992, Riles was 73 when the incident occurred in 2019. He filed a federal lawsuit in 2020, represented by Oakland civil rights attorney Walter Riley.

Riles was arrested at the city’s Zoning Department as he expressed his frustration about the ongoing obstacles thrown in his path in a years-long dispute with staff of the city’s Planning Department over the use of a sweat lodge to conduct Native American ceremonies in the backyard of the house where he and his wife live in Oakland.

He said the arrest occurred after he told a Zoning Department employee that the building permit they wanted and other requirements they were demanding of him were not part of the building code. He asked the employee to look at the building code, but the employee refused.

“I raised my voice and asked him to get a supervisor to talk to me,” he said. “That’s when they called the police. A Black man raising his voice should not be a threat to anyone in the city,” and is not a sufficient reason to call the police to have someone arrested, he said.

As he was leaving the office, Riles was arrested on charges of obstructing a public officer and battery of a police officer. However, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges.

The city’s settlement with Riles comes out of the millions of dollars the city set aside “to pay for bad police actions,” he said.

“I don’t believe this is justice. The city made a financial decision,” he said, figuring it was cheaper to settle than to hire outside lawyers and run the risk that Riles would win more at a trial.

“They are not going to look at their policy, they are not going to look at retraining their police officers, nor are they admitting they’ve done anything wrong,” said Riles.

Riles has a second state lawsuit against the city to demand relief from the city’s use of building code and an attempt to put a lien on his home to stop his sweat lodge. While many neighbors were supportive, officials acted on the complaints of one or two neighbors.

“They immediately assumed that we need to be shut down,” he said. “They came out here and looked for every kind of violation, including threatening property liens. The Zoning Department enforces these kind of class/race restrictions in this city, and they get away with it.”

“There’s a long history here,” Riles continued. “Reparations should be paid for the way Black people were forced out of West and East Oakland, often enforced by the Zoning Department.”

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

1 day ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

5 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

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Bay Area

State Controller Malia Cohen Keynote Speaker at S.F. Wealth Conference

California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco. The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

Published

7 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

American Business Women’s Association Vice President Velma Landers, left, with California State Controller Malia Cohen (center), and ABWA President LaRonda Smith at the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the ABWA at the Black Wealth Brunch.

By Carla Thomas

The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

“Our goal is to educate Black and Brown families in the masses about financial wellness, wealth building, and how to protect and preserve wealth,” said ABWA San Francisco Chapter President LaRonda Smith.

ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.

“This day is about recognizing influential women, hearing from an accomplished woman as our keynote speaker and allowing women to come together as powerful people,” said ABWA SF Chapter Vice President Velma Landers.

More than 60 attendees dined on the culinary delights of Chef Sharon Lee of The Spot catering, which included a full soul food brunch of skewered shrimp, chicken, blackened salmon, and mac and cheese.

Cohen discussed the many economic disparities women and people of color face. From pay equity to financial literacy, Cohen shared not only statistics, but was excited about a new solution in motion which entailed partnering with Californians for Financial Education.

“I want everyone to reach their full potential,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago in Sacramento, I partnered with an organization, Californians for Financial Education.

“We gathered 990 signatures and submitted it to the [California] Secretary of State to get an initiative on the ballot that guarantees personal finance courses for every public school kid in the state of California.

“Every California student deserves an equal opportunity to learn about filing taxes, interest rates, budgets, and understanding the impact of credit scores. The way we begin to do that is to teach it,” Cohen said.

By equipping students with information, Cohen hopes to close the financial wealth gap, and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full financial potential. “They have to first be equipped with the information and education is the key. Then all we need are opportunities to step into spaces and places of power.”

Cohen went on to share that in her own upbringing, she was not guided on financial principles that could jump start her finances. “Communities of color don’t have the same information and I don’t know about you, but I did not grow up listening to my parents discussing their assets, their investments, and diversifying their portfolio. This is the kind of nomenclature and language we are trying to introduce to our future generations so we can pivot from a life of poverty so we can pivot away and never return to poverty.”

Cohen urged audience members to pass the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.

“When we come together as women, uplift women, and support women, we all win. By networking and learning together, we can continue to build generational wealth,” said Landers. “Passing a powerful initiative will ensure the next generation of California students will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions, decisions that will last them a lifetime.”