Supporters rally for Alan Blueford

More than 100 supporters of justice for Alan Blueford rallied May 23 in front of the Alameda County district attorney’s office. They demand that the Oakland Police Department be held accountable for Blueford’s death and that the officer who killed him be charged with murder.

Photo: Gino Pepi

An 18-year-old Black youth, Blueford died as a result of three gun shots fired by an OPD officer, Miguel Masso. Blueford, who was preparing to graduate from Lakeview High School in Oakland, was standing on a street corner in East Oakland at midnight on May 6 when the police officer killed him.

The police department has changed its story at least four times as to why and how Blueford was shot. First, the OPD claimed that the cops saw three Black youths, who were possibly holding a “concealed weapon,” on a street corner. Then it said Blueford shot an officer in the stomach. Then the OPD stated that the officer shot himself in the foot.

OPD chief, Howard Jordan, called a town hall meeting at Acts Full Baptist Church in East Oakland on the night of May 23 to inform the community of the “facts” surrounding the case. Protesters marched to the church from the Coliseum Bay Area Rapid Transit station. When they arrived, the meeting organizers explained that only questions written on cards would be answered, and that people couldn’t speak or ask questions directly.

Chief Jordan began the meeting by once again revising the OPD’s series of lies. This time he stated that the cops, en route to another call, noticed that the Black youths “appeared to be passing something around, either a gun or drugs.” It’s clear, though, that the youth were actually stopped for standing on a corner while being Black.

Then Jordan changed another previously stated “fact.” Up until then, the OPD had consistently said a gun was found 30 feet from Blueford’s body. Now Chief Jordan claimed that the gun was only 5 feet from his body.

The final insult was when Jordan stated that Blueford was “given CPR by an officer and then taken to the hospital within minutes.” It had been well-established that Blueford was left to bleed out on the street, while the cop was rushed to the hospital. Previous reports exposed that Blueford’s body was not removed from the scene until four hours after he was shot.

The crowd in the packed hall was not taking these lies in silence. Several people, including Chris Morland of Occupy Oakland’s Tactical Action Committee, loudly challenged Chief Jordan. About 50 people in the audience stood and turned their backs on Jordan, with their fists in the air. Jordan couldn’t take these challenges and abruptly adjourned the town hall after only 40 minutes in session.

As the cops quickly tried to leave the hall, Morland, a Black youth himself, led the demonstrators in continuing to challenge the cops as they filed out of the building. Outside, the crowd unfurled a banner and chanted, “Justice for Alan Blueford!” Some cops suddenly appeared in riot gear, but the crowd chanted at them to leave and they backed away.

The protesters then walked back several blocks to the Coliseum BART. As they were preparing to disperse, two OPD cars, with four cops in each car, suddenly rolled up. The police swooped out and grabbed Morland from the middle of the crowd, claiming he was being charged with assault on an officer. Despite protests from the crowd, Morland was kidnapped by the cops.

Two days later, Morland was finally arraigned in a courtroom packed with his supporters, to a misdemeanor charge of “disturbing the peace” and a bail of $2,500. He wasn’t released until the early morning of May 26, three days after his arrest.