Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell is stepping down from his position less than two years after taking the reins of a department under scrutiny and with a recent history of reform attempts.
A press statement from the City of Oakland stated that Mitchell submitted a letter of intent to resign, effective December 5. The statement added that Mitchell had committed to working closely with Mayor Barbara Lee and City Administrator Jestin Johnson to identify an interim police chief to ensure a seamless transition.
“It has been an honor to serve the Oakland community, and I am grateful for the support I’ve received from the residents,” Mitchell said in a prepared statement. “I’m incredibly proud of the men and women of this Department and the collaborative working relationships forged with the community and business owners to reduce crime. My commitment over the weeks ahead is to help ensure a smooth transition and continue to keep Oakland safe.”
Mitchell’s resignation announcement comes a day after Lee delivered her first State of the City Address, in which she touted progress in reducing crime and said the city “is on the move.”
“I want to thank Chief Mitchell for his dedicated service to Oakland and his leadership during a critical time for our city,” Lee said in a prepared statement. “Under his tenure, we have seen significant reductions in crime – a testament to his commitment to public safety and the hard work of our police officers. I am grateful for Chief Mitchell’s collaboration with our administration and his focus on community-centered policing.”
The Oakland Police Officers Association issued a statement saying it was “deeply concerned” by Mitchell’s resignation, and “questioning whether certain anti-law enforcement factions of the community were ready or open to his honesty, dedication, and support of public safety.”
“The OPOA calls on the Mayor and City Council to finally confront the dysfunction that has crippled the effectiveness of OPD for years,” the association said. “It’s time to stop the revolving door, to rebuild trust, and to restore stability — before more good people–both in our department and our community–lose faith that real change is possible.”
The Oakland Police Department has been under federal oversight since 2003, the longest-monitored department in the nation, following the notorious “Riders” police misconduct case. A federal judge again extended the government’s oversight in September 2024, finding that reforms following a negotiated settlement agreement on issues such as use-of-force, internal affairs investigations, and community relations were incomplete and the department remained out of compliance.
Bay Area visual artist Pemex, who prefers to be referred to by his graffiti writer moniker, has spent plenty of time pondering the use of AI in creative spaces.
He doesn’t feel threatened by it exactly, but he acknowledges the threat it poses to artists like himself, whose lived experiences he feels are being ripped off and repurposed.
If AI can generate what looks like a painting, he says, that image will have been generated from countless other references from real-life artists who may not have consented to their work being used as “inspiration.”
In fact, Pemex takes issue with the word being used in the context of AI-generated art.
“It’s in fact the opposite of inspiration,” he said. “It’s theft. If anyone else did that, it would be theft.”
Pemex is known for his prolific graffiti art, massive murals, and colorful oil paintings. But early on in his career, he got started taking odd jobs like drawing up promotional flyers for bands that were trying to spread the word about an upcoming gig.
“You’d get a list of bands. You’d get the date, the location and depending on the band and the music that they played, you’d create a scene around that,” he said.
It sounds simple enough, but if you run a venue like Billy Joe Agan does, you would know these flyers are a part of the culture. They are quite literally plastered all over his Oakland bar, Thee Stork Club.
Agan noticed recently that the flyers that promoters and managers were giving him ahead of their bands’ shows seemed a bit off.
“There would be just glaring inconsistencies in someone’s hand, teeth, a character’s hair. The background would be the same texture as a character. Just things that a human illustrator would have never done,” Agan said.
The promoters had been using AI to make the posters, instead of hiring an artist to draw something up.
“It started with a few, maybe smaller artists that were sending us, using cheaper generative AI software, and so it was easy to spot,” Agan said.
This didn’t sit well with Agan, who caused a stir on social media when he announced he was banning the use of AI to promote his club.
He went a step further, though, and announced a partnership with artists across the country to get promoters the best possible rate on using a living, breathing human artist.
“I pre-negotiated the rate with these artists,” he said. “The rate is as cheap as they can go and we’re talking about people normally get ten times what they’re quoting us.”
Now, a band that is operating on a shoestring budget can pay one of dozens of artists fifty dollars for a poster that might have cost hundreds of dollars to create.
Agan has since received a groundswell of support and estimates that more than 100 artists are participating in his program.
If you are interested in being considered, you can email your resume to Agan here: theestorkclub@gmail.com
Sara Donchey has returned to where it all began. After college, Sara worked as production assistant for KPIX 5 and now she has returned to the station to anchor the 3 pm and 5 pm newscasts.
There is concern in Oakland about losing some of the CHP officers helping make a dent in crime over the past year and a half.
The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit has learned about two-thirds of the CHP officers the governor deployed to Oakland are now fighting crime elsewhere.
Investigative Reporter Jaxon Van Derbeken has the latest. Watch his report in the video above.
OAKLAND — Two men were wounded, one at least twice, in a Thursday night shooting at a West Oakland parking lot, authorities said.
Both men, one a 47-year-old Oakland man who was wounded in the head and leg and a 31-year-old San Francisco man who was hit in the leg, were in stable condition Friday at a hospital, authorities said.
The shooting happened about 9:28 p.m. Thursday in a commercial mall parking lot in the 900 block of West Grand Avenue and caused the activation of a gunshot detection alert system, authorities said.
Initial police reports were that a car drove into the parking lot and one masked man got out with a firearm while another man remained in the vehicle. Both men began shooting toward the other two men before fleeing in the vehicle.
More than two dozen shots were fired, authorities said. Some parked vehicles and a building were also hit by gunfire but no other injuries were reported.
Police have not said if the two men shot knew each other or if one or both of them were the intended targets.
A motive for the shooting is under investigation. Detailed descriptions of the shooters have not been released.
Anyone with information may call investigators at 510-238-3426.
OAKLAND — A shooting in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood Saturday night left a man severely wounded, according to police.
The shooting occurred just before 7 p.m. Saturday evening in the 1700 block of Fruitvale Avenue, police officers stated.
The man who was wounded was transported to a local hospital and was reported to be in grave condition, according to Oakland police.
The shooting occurred after the man became involved in a confrontation with a group of men. One of the men involved in the confrontation shot the victim.
The victim was reported by police to be a man in his 30s and is believed to be an Oakland resident, police said. The victim’s name wasn’t released.
The motive for the shooting wasn’t immediately disclosed. No detailed information was immediately available regarding the suspect.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to contact the Oakland Police Department detectives who are investigating the case at 510-238-3426.
The debate over renting vs. owning has long posed a challenge for households in California. Arguments have morphed in recent years as home prices and mortgage rates soared beyond the increasing rents. To illustrate the complexities, we’ve created a hypothetical rent vs. buy scenario to track housing finances over a 30-year period. However, the math doesn’t account for the intangibles: the flexibility of renting compared to the stability of owning.
HOW MONTHLY COSTS COMPARE
Key in any housing calculation is monthly cost. Our example estimates California house rent today at $4,000 a month vs. buying a $900,000 house with a 10% down mortgage at 6.5% plus property taxes, insurance, association fees, and repairs. The scenario assumes costs grow with historical inflation and the mortgage rate is lowered twice by a half-point through refinancing.
RUNNING THE TAB
Homeowners need to repay their mortgage plus cover a range of additional costs. So renting’s total costs run cheaper for nearly two decades. But owning ends up costing slightly less over time. Here’s cumulative costs by year, in thousands of dollars.
THE BOUNTY: Ownership’s edge
Owning’s true financial benefit arises from the increasing value of the home. Assuming historical gains of 5% per year, the owners gets a $3.8 million asset after 30 years. The renter, who hypothetically invested the $90,000 down payment in the stock market, would accumulate $929,000. Here’s investment value by year, in thousands of dollars.
WHERE IT GOES
Look at the slices of 30 years of housing expenditures, rent vs. own. The renter just pays the landlord. Owner costs go to principal and interest on the mortgage, property taxes, home insurance, association fees, and repair and maintenance costs. Note: Interest payments and property taxes can be tax deductible.
A HISTORY LESSON
Look at the past 30 years of historical returns for three key factors in this rent vs. buy calculation, using 10-year moving averages for rent (California Consumer Price Indexes); home values (federal California index) and stocks (Standard & Poor’s 500).
Unfathomable, unaffordable
California’s long-running and steep affordability crunch makes the rent vs. buy debate a moot argument for many people. Housing costs throttle numerous California family budgets. The state’s flock of high- paying jobs pushes up housing costs well past what more typical paychecks can easily afford. That’s true for households considering renting or buying.
Stagnant ownership
Stubbornly high ownership costs have kept California’s share of people living in homes they own relatively stable, except for a temporary surge in the early 2000s when mortgages were too easily obtained. Those risky loans played a key role in the Great Recession, as borrowers defaulted in huge numbers.
Housing afforability index
It’s tough to be a California homebuyer. The estimated number of Californians earning the statewide median income who could comfortably purchase a single-family home is falling sharply, according to a California Association of Realtors index. The Golden State share of qualified buyers is significantly below the national norm.
Housing-cost stresses
The 2024 edition of Census housing data details how California’s cost of shelter varies between renters and homeowners — with or without mortgages on the property.
But because renters typically earn less than owners, it’s more likely that their housing costs exceed 50% of their household incomes, an extreme level of financial stress.
Big housing worries
A statewide survey last year asked “How often do you worry about the cost of housing for you and your family?” Those who said “every day” or “almost every day” …
Oakland Unified School District, one of the largest school districts in the Bay Area with about 34,000 students, is once again facing dire financial troubles. The district, which just emerged from more than two decades under state control a few months ago, now risks entering receivership again.
District officials admit they are spending too much and could run out of money before the end of this school year. To avoid a county takeover and losing local control, they said up to $90 million in cuts may be necessary over the next two years.
OUSD parent Teal Tolbert, who has five children—four of whom still attend district schools from second grade through high school—said she worried about the impact of further cuts.
“Nobody wants to see the cuts. There have already been so many. I can’t say that I like to see them cut any further,” Tolbert said.
She added that previous cuts have already reduced resources for her children, including after-school tutoring and sports.
“I’m a lot more involved than I used to be just because I see a lot of the decline,” she said. “We want the best for our children, so to see these cuts, it’s really sad.”
Other parents echoed her concerns. Nereida Bravo, a mom with two children in OUSD, said, “It’s frustrating for the parents. After so much [reduction], the parents, they just tune out.”
OUSD parent Isaac Mesghena added, “Very scary and very concerned for the future of my kids.”
District 3 School Board Director VanCedric Williams held a budget listening session on Saturday to hear from parents about what should be cut.
“The reason we got into this position was the deficit spending over the last several years. During COVID, the federal government gave us $280 million. Our particular district actually ramped up their spending and providing after school services, mental health services as well. And that included hiring excessive, a lot of particular staff,” Williams said.
He added that everything is on the table, from layoffs to school mergers. District leaders admitted they are overspending by about $4 million a month. To balance the budget, they said they need to cut $10 million in this current school year and another $80 million in the next school year.
“Mid-year cuts, which I haven’t had in my time on the board, are the worst things possible. This means things that we’ve budgeted and planned on spending on for this year need to be eliminated immediately,” said School Board Director Mike Hutchinson.
Hutchinson also criticized Williams and the teachers’ union-backed majority school board for delaying tough decisions. “What we see now represents a complete failure. And when our elected officials fail us, they need to be removed and replaced,” he said.
Williams defended the board, saying, “This board didn’t create the debt. This board is actually fixing the debt. That’s two different things. So let’s always make sure we distinguish that. The previous boards chose not to deal with it.”
The district only recently emerged from more than 20 years of state receivership. Now, staff, parents, and students like Tolbert’s family fear cuts all over again.
“Trying to be optimistic. However, it’s difficult. I think I’m more ready to kind of react for whatever may happen,” Tolbert said.
The district will hold several more budget meetings over the next couple of weeks to gather parent and student input. Afterward, the school board will have to make difficult decisions.
Sara Nuno-Villa, Family Community Engagement Specialist at OUSD’s Office of Equity, said, “We actually need more resources in our school district. But now we’re talking about having less. I think it’s really important for families, community, and caregivers to really understand what the tradeoffs are so they’re really making the best decisions possible.”
Da Lin is an award-winning journalist at KPIX 5 News. He joined KPIX 5 in 2012, but has been reporting the news in the Bay Area since 2007. Da grew up in Oakland, and before his return to the Bay Area, he spent five years covering the news at three other television stations in Texas, Southern and Central California. He also spent five years reporting at KRON 4.
After Starbucks announced it would be shutting hundreds of stores, its website is listing dozens in the Bay Area as being closed as of Sunday, Sept. 28.
To check if a store is on the closure list, go to the Starbucks store locator online, find your desired outlet and click the information icon to check whether it will be open beyond this week.
As of Sept. 26, the following stores were slated for a Sept. 28 closure:
Oakland is changing its police pursuit policy, and supporters say it will allow officers to catch criminals more effectively.
Still, not everyone is onboard.
The issue has been on the table for months and had renewed emphasis after the death of a popular teacher earlier this year. The policy finally got unanimous approval from the police commission Thursday night.
The chase first, call for approval second policy allows officers to initiate police pursuits above 50 mph, but they will need to get supervisor approval in order to continue it.
If they don’t get approval or the supervisor does not respond immediately, the officer must end the pursuit.
The pursuit issue has been a big one in Oakland, especially after Marvin Boomer, an educator at Castlemont High, was killed by a driver being pursued by the California Highway Patrol.
Boomer’s friends and family were upset the chase took place. One friend spoke at the police commission’s meeting Thursday night.
“I feel like there may be more danger … car accidents … you never know what may happen,” Khantane Jackson said.
Public safety advocates say the city needs to send a strong message to criminals, and it may make them reconsider their actions in Oakland.
Oakland police says it will give quarterly reports on pursuits to the Police Commission and City Council.
The goal is to implement the new policy by January.
Some changes are underway in Oakland as the police commission voted to change the city’s high-speed chase policy.
The police department says the changes are needed to go after criminals, but some residents are concerned about the risk to the community.
The Oakland Police Commission voted unanimously to loosen the city’s pursuit policy. This issue has divided a community dealing with crime in their neighborhoods.
“I just feel like I’m not really that safe in Oakland,” said resident Elena Tesfanicael.
Tesfanicael is only 17 years old but has seen how police pursuits have impacted East Oakland. In May, a Castlemont High School teacher was killed on the streets of Oakland as suspects tried to get away from California Highway Patrol officers.
“Honestly, I know that these criminals, they are criminals,” she said. “And even if they did a big or small crime, they should be caught, but at the end of the day, it’s not worth an innocent life being stolen.”
The policy change was initiated by two council members more than a year ago as crime skyrocketed in Oakland. Then, pressure came from Gov. Gavin Newsom last December to aggressively go after criminals.
After numerous town halls, Chief Floyd Mitchell proposed several changes. Some of the proposals approved Thursday include giving officers the ability to start a chase and being able to exceed 50 miles per hour. What will remain the same is that a chase can only happen during a violent felony and one in which a gun is involved.
“The pursuit of nonviolent felonies is just not on the table,” said Chief Mitchell.
Jane, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, has called Oakland home for decades. She says that in that time, she’s seen crime get worse and worse.
“I learned how to walk down the street,” Jane said. “But I also learned when it becomes unmanageable, you don’t walk down the street.”
For her, she doesn’t question the department’s need to carry out pursuits but at what point the chases come to an end.
“What’s complicated about it for me is the willingness of the police officer doing the pursuit to continue to do it,” she said.
According to data released by Oakland, between 2018 and 2023, there were roughly 600 pursuits, with 6 people being killed. The police department says it will report back quarterly to see if the policy changes are leading to dangerous chases, causing more deaths and injuries.
“I feel like doing these chases isn’t always the solution that we need because at the end of the day, there’s a bigger risk for the chases than there are solutions,” said Tesfanicael.
OAKLAND – A three-alarm blaze broke out Wednesday night at a home in East Oakland, according to fire officials.
The fire was first reported around 9:10 p.m. in the 2100 block of 34th Avenue, the Oakland Fire Department said in social media post.
About 55 firefighters worked to extinguish the fire and keep it from spreading to nearby homes. The blaze was placed under control at 9:37 p.m., according to fire officials.
A Northern California jewelry store that has been robbed twice since 2023 has turned to innovative methods to stop, deter and ultimately capture a series of armed bandits.
Between 20 and 25 masked suspects stormed into Heller Jewelers in San Ramon on Monday around 1:50 p.m. and began smashing display cases, according to the San Ramon Police Department.
Surveillance footage obtained by ABC News showed suspects using crowbars to break glass and pilfer an estimated $1 million in loot, while others entered the store with handguns.
Before the suspects could exit, however, the shop’s security measures activated and the store’s door closed, momentarily trapping the mob.
San Ramon police told a local news station that the closed door would have required a security guard to open.
Cellphone footage shows at least one suspect opening fire on the security door. The suspects eventually broke through and fled to awaiting vehicles in the mall’s valet parking section.
San Ramon police initially chased some of the suspected vehicles but stopped the pursuit “due to the inherent danger to the public.”
Police helicopters and drones, however, continued tracking a car that went through Contra Costa County and into Alameda County.
Seven unidentified suspects have been arrested in two locations in Oakland and Dublin. They range in age from 17 to 31, according to San Ramon police, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A store manager for Heller Jewelry declined to comment on the heists.
The store has been closed since Monday and plans to reopen Saturday, according to a Facebook post.
“Heller Jewelers has been a part of the community for nearly 30 years, and we’ve always believed in the strength of the relationship we’ve built with you,” the store noted in a message. “Your support in the days since means more to us than we can express.”
Heller was previously hit on St. Patrick’s Day in 2023. In that robbery, five men, including one with a firearm, burst into the store and stole more than $1.1 million in merchandise.
OAKLAND – A teenager was injured in a shooting on a BART train Tuesday night in Oakland, according to officials.
The shooting happened on a northbound train approaching the Fruitvale station around 7:30 p.m., BART said in a news release. The 15-year-old victim was taken to an area hospital.
The teen was listed in stable condition Tuesday night.
BART police officers are searching for a suspect. The victim and suspect likely knew each other, according to officials.
The shooting resulted in minor service delays. The train on which the shooting occurred was also taken out of service and moved to another location for evidence processing.
A shooting inside an International Boulevard business in Oakland left two people dead and four injured on Wednesday, police said.
Deputy Chief of police Casey Johnson said that around 7:45 p.m., multiple people inside a business on the 7100 block of International Boulevard appeared to have gotten into an altercation, which led to a shooting.
Officers were first alerted to the incident by a silent alarm. They then received multiple calls about shots fired.
“It appears that the business was open. It appears individuals did enter … to conduct business, while inside it appears there was some type of altercation … which resulted in the gun firing,” Johnson said.
Police said officers arrived at the business and found six people who were shot. One of them died at the scene. The other five victims were taken to the hospital, where one of them later died.
In total, six people were shot, and two died.
Police said one of the four surviving victims was an employee of the business and that their injury was not life-threatening.
At the time of the incident, there were two employees inside the business. The other employee was not injured.
Police said that they are considering some of the victims as suspects and that they are still investigating the possibility of it having been an attempted robbery.
At the scene, Johnson said officers had found multiple casings and several firearms.
Jose Fabian is a web producer for CBS Bay Area where he reports on local crime, politics and breaking news. He studied political science and journalism at Sacramento State and was born and raised in Northern California.
On Wednesday morning, Oakland leaders gathered to hear a new proposal to solve homelessness that immediately drew backlash.
Outside City Hall, homeless activists were protesting what was going on inside. At a special meeting of the city’s public safety committee, Councilmember Ken Houston was presenting his proposal for a new Encampment Abatement Policy. But first he displayed current pictures from his old neighborhood of homeless RVs and junk blocking the sidewalks.
“This is where I grew up. This is where my mother raised me. This is where I walked to school every day. Every day. And it did not look like this. We did not have to deal with this,” said Houston. “Someone has to take a bold stand. We cannot keep living in this condition, and we cannot continue to let individuals live in this condition.”
Houston’s plan would allow the city to close camps without notice. Offers of shelter would be made “when available,” but would not be required. Vehicles in violation of city code could be towed, and all sidewalk camps would be subject to closure. And finally, people who return and reestablish a camp within 60 days could be cited or arrested. The plan drew harsh criticism from homeless advocates at the meeting.
“The solution to the problem is not to take their stuff and put them in jail. The solution to the problem has got to be humanistic,” said longtime Oakland homeless advocate James Vann. “Oakland is not a city that wants to put its citizens in jail. We are not that Oakland. We are better than that! We can take care of our people, and we should and we must!”
“The things that you guys want to take from us are the only things we own in this world,” said unhoused resident Shontoya Norbert. “We’re not perfect. Yeah, we need help. But to throw us on the street with absolutely nothing will fill up the jail, number one, OK? You’re trying to criminalize being homeless when we can’t afford a home. It’s really hard to sit there and watch people make decisions in a life that they’ve never experienced, who’ve never walked a day in our shoes,”
But Kevin Hester said his construction business was being heavily impacted by the encampment just outside his door.
“We know this is a very difficult issue. But what is happening right now is not working. And something needs to change,” Hester said. “I’m born and raised in Oakland. My company is born and raised in Oakland. But if something doesn’t change, we may be forced to move out.”
There are warnings that Houston’s plan, as currently written, could present a barrier to getting State and county housing funds. It appears to violate some requirements about providing advanced notice and alternative locations for sleeping. Nicole Dean, with Care for Community Action, addressed that issue in her comments.
“Suddenly there’s all this urgency after years of resistance and delays to plans that would actually house people,” she told the committee. “This policy would undermine our ability to work with the county and the State to do that. It threatens our access to the funding we need to provide that kind of housing.”
Houston said his plan is in line with last year’s Supreme Court ruling that cities do have the authority to prohibit camping and sleeping on public property. He calls it a bold stand, and many agree with him that the current policy isn’t working.
John Ramos accidentally launched a lifelong career in journalism when he began drawing editorial cartoons and writing smart-alecky satire pieces for the Bakersfield High School newspaper.
A Pittsburg family is in mourning after their son was killed by a stray bullet during one of the Saturday shootings in Oakland.
“I’m not OK,” said his mother, Tina Estrella. “I’m never going to be OK again.”
Estrella is still coming to terms with the fact that her son, 28-year-old Mica Esquibell, is never coming home.
“Life goes on, and everybody is going to move on, and we’re still going to be stuck in this pain,” Estrella told CBS News Bay Area.
Esquibell was a well-known and loved manager at STIZZY, a cannabis store in San Francisco and had recently moved to Oakland.
“He loved being out there in Oakland and living his life,” said Estrella. “He just enjoyed life.”
Estrella said Esquibell had a good heart and was a friend to everyone. She clung to a photo of her son while she spoke, one he had taken in the last few weeks.
“He was going out in the neighborhood, and we asked to see what he was wearing that night, and he sent us this,” Estrella said, looking at the photo. “He loved to dress.”
He was out getting food when the early Saturday shootings occurred. His father, John Esquibell, said the shooting happened just blocks from his son’s apartment, at the intersection of 17th Street and San Pablo Avenue.
“He was just going from point A to point B.” John Esquibell explained. “His normal routine he just decided to get an empanada, and that’s it.”
It was one of a series of shootings that happened throughout the city in the early hours of Sept. 6. One other person died, and four others were injured.
Oakland Police reports say the shootings were connected to multiple armed groups that were in a shootout.
Esquibell was taken to the hospital after the shooting. His father said they didn’t learn what had happened until hours later.
“We didn’t find out until 9 o’clock, so he died alone in a hospital,” his father said through tears.
Police haven’t given the family much information about what happened or who’s responsible. His friend Patty Juarez reached out to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and Oakland Police, begging them to do something.
“Please solve my friend’s murder,” Juarez pleaded. “This is my best friend that we lost. He just wanted to get food. He was such a kind soul.”
Estrella can’t decide what she will miss most about her son.
“Just how much he loved me,” Estrella said. “Everything. I’m going to miss everything.”
She’s going to continue to fight for answers for the rest of her life.
“I just want somebody to pay for this, for taking him from us,” Estrella stated. “He didn’t deserve that. He was such a good person.”
Saturday night, the Oakland Coliseum was the place for soccer fans to be. The venue hosted an international friendly match between Japan’s and Mexico’s Men’s National soccer teams.
Organizers of the match reported that the match was at capacity on Saturday, meaning there was a full crowd.
The match ended in a 0-0 draw, but the game itself seemed to represent a win for sports in Oakland.
Saturday, the Coliseum parking lot was filled with excited tailgaters firing up their grills, playing live music, dancing, and waving flags. The cheers of fans echoed across the Coliseum and into the parking lot throughout the game.
People traveled from all around the Bay Area to attend.
Attendee Aiden Ang of Cupertino explained, “My mom’s Japanese and she wanted to watch this a lot, and I’m a big fan of soccer, so I just came out to watch.”
“I just want to watch Japan play, because I’ve never watched them in person,” he added.
Gabby Valdovinos of Sonoma said she bought tickets to go with her dad to the game for his birthday.
“I’m excited because I feel like I haven’t heard of any of these games happening near me [before],” Valdovinos said.
She noted she’d been to A’s games and concerts at the Oakland Coliseum and Arena before, but this was her first time watching soccer at the venue.
“I think it’s great. I think it’s great exposure for the bay,” she said.
Fernando Silva of Oakland said it felt special to be at the Coliseum to watch an international soccer match.
“When it comes to soccer versus any other sport, you feel the energy, you feel every hit of the drum, you hear every yell, every cheer, you feel like it — it’s in here, you know?” he said, gesturing to his heart.
This match is a big deal for Oakland, which has seen the Raiders, the Warriors, and the A’s depart in recent years. The Oakland Roots USL soccer team announced the Coliseum as its new home earlier this year, bringing consistent competition back to the area. The Roots also brought in a new field to the Coliseum, which was a big part of drawing in new events like this international friendly match.
Peter Gamez, the president and CEO of Visit Oakland, noted that Oakland Roots, the Oakland Soul USL W team, and the Oakland Ballers have each played a role in building more momentum around sports in the Town.
Gamez expects this international friendly match to bring tourism and business to Oakland.
“We’re anticipating a lot of fans, not only from the Bay Area, we’ve actually had fans coming in from Mexico and staying overnight in Oakland,” he noted.
He explained that sporting events have the potential to draw new visitors from around the world to Oakland.
Gamez noted that when Oakland hosted two events during the NBA All-Star Weekend earlier this year, local hotels also saw a boost in bookings.
He said that when the Bay Area hosts the Super Bowl and World Cup games in 2026, while those events won’t be hosted in Oakland, he expects out-of-town visitors to stay and spend time in Oakland during their travels to the region.
“Bringing in for our tourism economy brings in a boost for the overall tax revenue for the city of Oakland,” Gamez emphasized.
The Mexico and Japan National Soccer teams battled it out in a friendly game at the Oakland Coliseum Saturday night.
The arena was nearly sold out as the two teams prepare ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Alexis Nacaspaca felt he needed to attend the game.
“It’s been years since Mexico played here,” Nacaspaca stated.
He has lived in the Bay Area for about half his life, moving here from Mexico when he was 14 years old. He says he loves it here, but the Mexican National Team represents home.
“We always support Mexico,” said Nacaspaca.
While this is supposed to be just a fun event, in the current political climate, he can’t help but still be concerned about immigration authorities showing up to an event like this.
“Of course, yeah, definitely,” Nacaspaca admitted. “We all come from Mexico, and we all worry about it. We’re not doing anything wrong. But of course, we are worried about it.”
Back in June, when Mexico played a Gold Cup match in Los Angeles, the Mexican President urged U.S. officials not to target people attending the game.
CBS Bay Area’s Amanda Hari asked Nacaspaca if he feels safe at the game.
“Um, that’s a difficult question,” Nacaspaca said. “I don’t know how to answer that.”
Kanata is on the other side of the match-up, excited to show up and rally for Japan.
“We are born and raised in Japan, so we have to show support,” Kanata exclaimed.
He lives in San Francisco now. Kanata says it’s amazing to see his original team playing in his new home. He believed Japan could win, but ultimately, it didn’t matter.
“At the end of the day, I don’t care who’s winning,” said Kanata. “I just want to see a good game.”
Nacaspaca agrees, saying it’s about the experience and being together.
“It’s a friendly game, we just get to hang out, have fun, enjoy the music, enjoy the food,” said Nacaspaca.
The game ended in a tie.
Both teams could end up back in the Bay Area in 2026 for the FIFA World Cup.
OAKLAND — Unknown shooters killed two men and wounded another man in Oakland’s Uptown district, as well as wounded another man early Saturday near the downtown area, Oakland Police said.
The shooting that resulted in the two deaths happened just after 3 a.m. Saturday in the 1700 block of San Pablo Ave. Police Saturday morning had not yet released the names of the men who died.
One man, who remains unidentified, reportedly made it to the 500 block of 18th street where he was found. He was taken to a hospital where he died, police said. A 28 year old man who was transported to a hospital from the shooting on San Pablo Avenue died several hours later, police said.
Another earlier shooting at about 1 a.m. wounded an 18th year old man in the 1700 block of Broadway, police said.
A fourth shooting at about 3:30 a.m. wounded a 31 year old man near 19th St. and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, police said.
Saturday’s Gunfire damaged three commercial buildings in the city’s uptown district including the Oakland Ice Center, police said.
Police on Saturday were trying to determine if the shootings are related. Police Saturday morning did not report any other injuries or any arrests in these shootings.
This marks the 46th and 47th homicide investigations this year for Oakland. At this time last year, Oakland police investigated 67 homicides in the city.
Police ask anyone with information on the shootings to call Oakland PD at (510) 238-7950 or (510) 238-8321.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Kyle Martin is a reporter covering Fremont and the Tri-Valley area. Call or text him 408-920-5043, or email him at kymartin@bayareanewsgroup.com.
OAKLAND — For nearly 20 years, Diane Williams has seethed whenever she walked by a street mural depicting the genocide of Ohlone people by Spanish colonizers — artwork she finds demeaning because the Native American men are depicted as fully nude.
Just this week, plans to remove the wall art were halted at the last minute, after tenants of the building’s apartments at 41st Street and Piedmont Avenue demanded that the history on display be left alone.
But on Friday morning, Williams finally had a reason to smile as she gazed at the mural. Someone had defaced it overnight with paper cutouts and red paint.
Now, the Franciscan missionaries oppressing the Native Americans in the painting had arrows piercing their heads and bodies. Blood spilled out of the white men. In the same red color, a declaration had been scrawled over the artwork: “THERE, I FIXED IT.”
It was the latest twist in a saga that in recent weeks has divided the North Oakland community surrounding Piedmont Avenue. On Friday, the debate shifted from online circles into public view, engulfing the sidewalk facing the mural.
These arguments mirror a broader discourse about artistic interpretations of history, with shared consensus about the horrors of Indigenous genocide, but more nuanced — and often fierce — disputes about how those stories are remembered, and who should be allowed to tell them.
The mural, painted by artist Rocky Rische Baird, is titled “The Capture of the Solid. The Escape of the Soul.” Baird, who completed the work in 2006 with help from a $5,000 city grant, at the time described the 25-by-10-foot display as a testament that the “spirit of a person can’t be boxed.”
At the center of the painting’s complex imagery are missionaries bringing traditional Western clothes — blue pants, brown boots and a belt with a buckle — to a naked Native man.
Alex Brand, left, Hong Nguyen, and their six month-old baby, Walker Brand, who lived accross the street and recently moved to Hayward, take a selfie with the mural “The Capture of the Solid, Escape of the Soul,” by artist Rocky Rische-Baird, as seen on 41st Street near the corner of Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
The man stands just beyond a vivid swirl of similarly unclothed American Indians with discolored bodies, a jarring imagining of the senseless violence and disease that ravaged the Ohlone people, who first settled in the coastal Northern California land that now comprises much of the Bay Area.
Williams, a 77-year-old Alaskan Athabascan Indian who has lived in East Oakland since the early 1970s, finds plenty of reasons to despise the artwork, the most visceral being its nudity.
“I saw this big old life-sized penis on this Native American, and I was appalled,” said Williams, who often passes the mural on the way to breast cancer treatment at the nearby Kaiser medical centers.
“It’s just culturally inappropriate,” she said, “and historically inaccurate — those Indians weren’t frolicking around naked. Any man would take care to cover his penis.”
Williams, who insists she is “no prude,” reveled Friday in the newfound defacement, saying it retained the Indians’ agency, though she took no credit for the graffiti. The mural has been vandalized before, and already the Native man’s genitals were barely visible because someone had previously tried to obscure the paint.
“The Capture of the Solid, Escape of the Soul,” mural by artist Rocky Rische-Baird, was vandalized with red paint and paper arrows made r on 41st Street near the corner of Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 5, 202. The mural, which was painted 20 years ago, depicts Spanish Franciscans clothing naked Ohlone Indians of the San Francisco Bay Area for work in the mission fields. The building’s property manager plans to paint over the mural after receiving complaints from Ohlone native Diane Williams regarding its nudity. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
A woman strolling by on the sidewalk stopped to point a finger directly at Williams.
“The damage that they did now is inexcusable,” the woman, Julia, who provided only her first name, said in reference to the defacement. “Someone had had the guts to put this (mural) here for everyone to see — it should be an honor to you, as a Native!”
“I apologize that it upset you,” Williams responded, “but I’m the one who complained — and I wish we would have spoken when it was painted in 2006.”
Julia declined to give her age but described herself as the building’s oldest tenant. Indeed, many of the residents here had urged the property manager to cancel a planned removal of the mural.
Their anger carried over to the social media website Nextdoor, where in the heat of debate, Williams’ account was recently suspended.
The owner of the building, Albert Sarshar, had earlier been lobbied by Williams to get rid of the artwork but called off the paint-over job this week to give himself “more time to investigate.” Days later, he remains confused about what to do.
“I just want everyone to be happy,” he said.
The owner even consulted with City Councilmember Zac Unger, who declined to weigh in on the debate, telling this news organization, “I don’t think it’s the role of government to dictate speech on private property.”
Williams, meanwhile, insists that there were enough disgruntled Native Americans in the area to stage an upcoming boycott of the building’s primary tenant, a Japanese restaurant named Ebiko. But her earliest protest, in 2006, drew only a handful of people.
Jacqueline Hackle, left, expresses with Ohlone native and activist Diane Williams on “The Capture of the Solid, Escape of the Soul,” mural by artist Rocky Rische-Baird, which was vandalized with red paint and paper arrows on 41st Street near the corner of Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. The mural, which was painted 20 years ago, depicts Spanish Franciscans clothing naked Ohlone Indians of the San Francisco Bay Area for work in the mission fields. After complaints from Williams about the mural’s nudity, the building’s property manager plans to paint over it. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Reached this week, several officials at the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe seemed unaware of the mural or the debate surrounding it, even after being provided the Piedmont Avenue address.
“When art is offensive, it stimulates thinking, reflection and responses,” Alan Leventhal, the tribal archaeologist and ethnohistorian, said in an email.
“Although some of the images are indeed provoking,” Leventhal added, “it still sends a message that the history on the genocide of California Indians has been swept under the rug and rendered invisible.”
On the sidewalk, Williams found some allies Friday, including a woman passing by who called the artwork “problematic” and a man who said he had disliked the depiction of brutality since it was first painted two decades ago.
“If this were a picture of slaves and slave owners, what’s really the purpose of that?” said the man, Nedar B., who is Black and gave only the first initial of his last name. “Why does a white person want to put that on display?”
Baird, the original artist, did not respond to interview requests. While painting the mural, he consulted with Andrew Galvan, an Ohlone Indian and curator at the Old Mission Dolores Museum in San Francisco, who defends the advice he gave Baird originally.
“Art provokes conversation,” Galvan said in a statement. “The mural needs proper context. It doesn’t need to be defaced and destroyed.”
“The Capture of the Solid, Escape of the Soul,” mural by artist Rocky Rische-Baird, was vandalized with red paint and paper arrows on 41st Street near the corner of Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 5, 202. The mural, which was painted 20 years ago, depicts Spanish Franciscans clothing naked Ohlone Indians of the San Francisco Bay Area for work in the mission fields. The building’s property manager plans to paint over the mural after receiving complaints from Ohlone native Diane Williams regarding its nudity. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Others who engaged Williams on Friday shared that view, including Jacqueline Hackle, who arrived to retrieve a pair of scissors stashed in a newspaper distribution box on the sidewalk.
Earlier in the week, Hackle had cut and duct-taped a formal description of the mural to the wall below, where it identifies views held by Spanish soldiers that Native Americans “needed to be clothed and directed to work in the missions’ fields.”
At one point, several people were simultaneously engaged with Williams in a fierce debate, including neighborhood resident, Valerie Winemiller, who took matters into her own hands — manually ripping off the paper arrowheads while angrily telling Williams to “find another wall and paint your own mural.”
Winemiller had backup, calling to the scene Yano Rivera, a self-described “mural doctor,” who said he specializes in removing graffiti.
“We’re going to very selectively and carefully reunify the painting visually,” Rivera explained. And then he got to work, using cotton balls and varnish to clean up all the blood.
