Oakland has as soon as once more discovered itself within the crosshairs of President Donald Trump, who mentioned Monday he would place the nation’s capital below federal management and named the East Bay city among the many different cities he could goal.
Trump promised to activate the Nationwide Guard to take over Washington, D.C.’s police division, an effort he mentioned would contain cracking down on crime and eradicating homeless encampments within the metropolis.
Declaring a public security emergency within the capital, the president added, “We have other cities also that are bad — very bad,” naming Chicago and Los Angeles as examples.
“And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland,” he continued. “We don’t even mention that any more there — they are so far gone. We’re not going to let it happen. We’re not going to lose our cities over this. And this will go further.”
Oakland, recognized for its wealthy historical past of progressive politics, is conversant in such assaults by Trump, who additionally clashed with former Mayor Libby Schaaf in 2018 after she gave the general public advance warning of a raid by federal immigration authorities.
Crime is on a gradual decline throughout the board over the previous 18 months in Oakland, the place metropolis leaders beforehand had struggled to fend off conservative critiques of a spike in violence and burglaries in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mayor Barbara Lee, a former veteran of Congress who has seldom held again in calling Trump a menace to democracy, issued an announcement Monday saying flatly: “President Trump is wrong.” She highlighted town’s declining crime charges whereas calling his feedback “not grounded in facts, but in fear-mongering.”
“This is not leadership – it’s an attempt to score cheap political points by tearing down communities he doesn’t understand,” mentioned Lee, in her assertion.
An Oakland Police Division spokesperson didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Oakland’s longstanding civil-rights voices, in the meantime, mentioned the president’s menace of sending the Nationwide Guard ought to be taken critically. To them, nevertheless, it is usually nothing new.
“He’s gaining more attention by attacking Black and brown folk, in particular, and working people in general,” mentioned Walter Riley, a outstanding Oakland civil rights legal professional. “We expect that he would attack Oakland because of the status we have in the progressive movement.”
Trump’s selection to call cities resembling Washington D.C., Chicago, Baltimore and Oakland — all of which have massive Black populations — didn’t strike racial justice leaders right here as any form of coincidence.
“Trump is only unique in his crudeness and his incredibly brash way of speaking,” mentioned Elaine Brown, the previous chair of the Oakland Black Panther Occasion. “That’s about it. At the end of the day, the systemic issues have been in place for a long time.”
Councilmember Carroll Fife, who represents West Oakland and components of downtown, mentioned the sweeping cuts by the White Home to social spending may mockingly produce extra crime within the coming years.
“The goal is to put people in situations where their needs are so dire that they have to engage in illegal activity,” she mentioned.
Even leaders of tough-on-crime approaches to public security in Oakland warned Trump towards any such transfer.
Carl Chan, an Oakland Chinatown chief who helped lead the November 2024 recall of progressive Alameda County District Legal professional Pamela Worth, mentioned any such takeover can be “disastrous.” He mentioned town is simply too numerous and distinctive for an outsider to take over, and he feared the impact that such a takeover would have on police officer morale.
“If they send the National Guard to take over, there will be tons of protests within the city,” mentioned Chan, including, “we don’t want to go from one extreme to another.”
“Our work is far from done,” Lee mentioned finally week’s occasion. “We’re going to keep building on this progress with the same comprehensive approach that got us here.”
As of Aug. 3, police had investigated 41 crimes as homicides this yr — a 24% lower from this time final yr, when there have been 54 investigated homicides and 65 on the identical time in 2023.
Reported burglaries are down by 25%, robberies by 41% and violent crime as a complete by 29%, in line with police knowledge. Property crime has adopted the development, with 41% fewer studies of car break-ins, in addition to 45% fewer carjackings and industrial burglaries alike.
The governor additionally issued an government order final summer time calling for the elimination of homeless encampments, which Trump on Monday mentioned he would process the Nationwide Guard with doing in main cities, starting with Washington, D.C.
