In the morning of July 18, San Francisco police cornered 32-year-old Oakland resident Pralith Pralourng, a Cambodian immigrant. The cops claim the man lashed out at an officer with a box-cutter and was subsequently shot. However, multiple witnesses came forward and said that the man was unarmed and was trying to cooperate with the cops, who handcuffed him and then shot him twice in the chest. The man died a few days later.
This is only the latest in an epidemic of police killings around the Bay Area. On July 16, protesters disrupted San Francisco public transit to mark the one-year anniversary of the killing of Kenneth Harding, a 19-year-old gunned down for bus-fare evasion. On May 6 and June 5, two young Black men, Alan Blueford and Derrick Gaines, respectively, were shot and killed as they ran away from the police, who accosted them for no reason besides being young, Black and on the street.
In the cases of both Blueford and Gaines, the police have claimed to have found guns they allege each youth pulled on the cops, but neither gun that the police supposedly found was ever fired. The Blueford family has been adamant that Alan never had a gun and have made it clear from the beginning of their ordeal that they would not rest till they learned the truth about their son’s death and saw justice done. Community support in Oakland, where Blueford died, has been pronounced, with large and militant marches to the offices of the OPD led by Adam and Jeralynn Blueford, Alan Blueford’s parents.
Blueford family press conference
On July 19, the Blueford family held a press conference in front of the office of the Alameda County coroner’s office, which was well attended by supporters and mainstream media. Tenesha Blye, Alan Blueford’s cousin, explained the choice of location: “We’re here in front of the coroner’s office because the parents of Alan Blueford, murdered by Oakland Police Officer Miguel Masso, has yet to receive his coroner’s report. We have requested the police reports and the coroner’s reports from the OPD as well as various other city officials.”
Jeralynn Blueford then tearfully addressed the crowd, saying that her life had been shattered by the loss of her son. “This was a year of celebration in Alan’s life as he was graduating high school,” she said, “Alan didn’t make it to graduation day but his father and I were there to receive his diploma.”
She angrily demanded that the truth of Alan’s death be revealed and appropriate actions taken, so that no other family would have to endure the pain that hers is going through. “We’ve been asking for over two months and all we’ve gotten is mistreatment and different stories. [The authorities have] done nothing for us and everything against us. … I deserve, as a mother, to know what has happened to my child!”
Adam Blueford said: “[The police’s] story is changing with every turn. The moment they said he died in a gun battle I knew that wasn’t my son. We’re not going to accept anything less than the truth.”
Civil rights attorney Dan Siegel then spoke. “It is absolutely contemptible that the city of Oakland and the Alameda County Coroner’s office have added to the tragedy and the pain felt by the Blueford family by engaging in what can only be described as a conspiracy to cover up and suppress information about Alan’s death and assassinate his character.”
Siegel justified his characterization of the behavior of the OPD and sheriff’s department as a “conspiracy” by noting that a police report is ordinarily prepared when someone is arrested or killed by the police, usually within a day or two of the incident. But an Oakland city administrator had told the Bluefords that it could take more than a year for a report to be produced in their son’s case.
The family then tried to get a coroner’s report. The coroner, Siegel pointed out, is not connected to the OPD or even to the city of Oakland. They are part of the sheriff’s department, which makes them county officials. However, the OPD had put a hold on the coroner’s report. “They’re playing a game here. They want this issue to go away. They think that if they delay the reports we’ll lose interest. That’s not going to happen,” Siegel asserted.
Siegel complained to the federal court overseeing the OPD, which pressured the department to take their hold off of the coroner’s report. But then, the coroner’s office demanded that the Blueford family pay $321 for them to write a report that they are required to produce! This seems very odd, as the website for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department lists the price of a copy of any coroner’s report as $5. “Our local officials are involved in a cover-up,” Siegel concluded.
Walter Riley, another celebrated civil rights attorney, spoke next. Miguel Masso, the cop who killed Alan Blueford, is still being paid, which means, Riley pointed out, that he has either given an interview and the police determined he did nothing wrong in chasing down and killing Blueford, who was not suspected of anything, or else the cops have not asked Masso to even give an interview.
Riley recalled how after Oscar Grant was murdered by BART police, the city and the police force also tried to stonewall any investigation. It was not until a movement developed in the streets that Johannes Mehserle, the cop who murdered Grant on camera, was arrested. Riley promised the development of another such street movement if the OPD did not investigate Blueford’s death. “Outrage must be encouraged,” he said. “It’s part of our history as African Americans.”
Riley issued the key demands of the Blueford family: that Masso be dismissed, that he be prosecuted, that the OPD be held accountable for hiring someone who would hunt down and shoot someone without any reasonable suspicion, and to repeal the “police officer’s bill of rights,” which guarantees cops accused of wrongdoing less harsh interrogations than they themselves would perform on the general public, among other privileges.
Tenesha Blye concluded the press conference by noting how the Bluefords had been lied to when told that their son had been rushed to a hospital after being shot. In fact, he was left in the streets for hours, ensuring his death. She thanked all the people who had marched with and supported the family.
In response to the well-publicized press conference revealing the machinations of the OPD and Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, the Coroner’s Office produced a report, free of charge, later that day. It revealed that two of the three bullets that entered Blueford’s body were fired into his back, while he was already lying on the ground, further discrediting the cops’ story.
The Bluefords have started weekly public meetings to plan for the next step in their struggle. A barbecue on July 21 drew 300 people, including activists from Occupy Oakland and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. There will be a demonstration demanding Justice for Alan Blueford on July 31.
The Blueford family has made it known that they will not cower before police terror. They are fighting back and inspiring the people of the Bay Area to do the same.
Forrest Schmidt contributed to this article.
