An Oakland, Calif., mother says her twin daughters recently heard gunshots and had to run for safety while watering their yard in the crime-ridden city.
Keisha Henderson recently had a place on X asks how parents explain the situation to their children as the Bay Area continues to experience an increase in violent crime.
‘I don’t have the energy to break this BS to my 8 year olds tonight. I ran out of stories to tell my twin daughters in a way that they would understand the crisis Oakland is in,’ Henderson, 31, wrote.
The mother – whose X bio says ‘you can’t play politics with public safety’ – genuinely asked if anyone had an answer on how to address this issue with children.
‘How do any of you violent Interrupters or Anti-Police abolitionists explain this issue to your children? I will wait Sincerely, A mother raising her daughter’s in high crime has had an impact on the neighborhood in District 6,’ she continued.
Violence Interruption is a community-based program to de-escalate conflict and provide mediation without the use of police.
Keisha Henderson recently posted on X asking how parents explain the situation to their children as the Bay Area continues to experience an increase in violent crime
Henderson (pictured) is asking for the community’s help to address the situation with her children
Henderson shared this photo of her twin daughters on X along with her story
In her post, Henderson shared that she was just coming home from shopping when the shocking and terrifying incident happened.
‘The next thing we hear is rounds and rounds of gunshots. My daughter immediately froze and dropped the water hose,’ the mother of twin girls wrote.
“She said, “Mom, it’s gunshots! I want to enter. I’m scared,” she continued.
Her frightened daughter then apparently pointed to the sky and said: ‘Look, the gunshots will fall from the sky and hurt us.’
‘ Twin #2 saidMom, why do they keep shooting those gunshots?”‘ calling the situation ‘creepy’ and saying she ‘doesn’t understand.’
Henderson – unsure what to say to the 8-year-old girls – said she just told her daughters they would have a discussion about the problem later.
“I ran out of stories to tell my twin daughters in a way that they would understand the crisis Oakland is in,” she wrote.
She also added that her daughters are specifically asking for ‘Chief Armstrong’, the former police chief of the City of Oakland.
Henderson concluded her post by appealing to other parents to help decipher how she should handle the issue with her daughters.
“Are there any other parents in Oakland who live in a high crime affected neighborhood struggling to explain the crime issues in Oakland to your kids?” she asked.
‘Does anyone have any cause stories or political theater stories I can explain to my daughters? I’ll wait for that…..’ Henderson shared.
In the last part, it seems as if the mother is asking for stories that show how the city has been run into the ground in the last few years by Democratic politicians who prioritize ‘woke’ policies over the safety of their citizens.
Henderson’s twin daughters in a photo she shared online
Henderson (pictured) – unsure what to say to the 8-year-old girls – said she just told her daughters that they would have a discussion about the problem later
Just last month, Oakland’s embattled Mayor Sheng Thao dodged questions about the city’s crime problem and a grant that would have helped the issue
‘No one should live like this. Shots fired in the air can be deadly,” one person wrote
In the comments, other parents and residents echoed the mother’s confusion and anger at the escalating situation in the Bay.
‘No one should live like this. Shots fired in the air can be fatal.’
“This is the social experiment we are being subjected to.”
“I like your attitude! Keep it up. Criminality cannot stand.’
‘I have lived in The SF Bay Area most of my life. Oakland, Hayward, East Palo Alto. I raised my family in Santa Cruz / Capitola. Now living in Europe, the South and Las Vegas for 17 years. Nothing could make me live in Oakland with small children.’
‘I won’t pretend I know what you are going through but I keep you and your beautiful family in my thoughts. Keep writing these powerful words.’
“Just more madness every day in Oakland.”
The Oakland area has seen a massive increase in crime in recent months with murders up 37 percent compared to 2019 and robberies up about 30 percent.
Aggravated assault is up 12 percent so far this year, while burglary is up 40 percent and car theft is up 51 percent.
In July, the leaders of the NAACP’s Oakland branch called on local officials to declare a state of emergency over the “unbearable public safety crisis.”
The group said the crime disproportionately affects black residents.
In the letter, they wrote: ‘Failed leadership, including the movement to defund the police, our district attorney’s reluctance to charge and prosecute people who kill and commit life-threatening serious crimes, and the spread of anti-police rhetoric’ created a boom for Oakland. criminals.’
Only last month, Oakland’s embattled mayor, Sheng Thao, dodged questions about the city’s crime problem and a grant that would have helped the issue.
The city had to submit the grant application by a strict deadline to obtain the $267 million in funding that could have gone toward crime-solving.
The situation has left residents furious as they continue to deal with the consequences of policies that made them the guinea pigs in a ‘social experiment’.
Oakland cops have warned residents to take greater measures to protect themselves and their homes during this crime wave.
In a Facebook post, the police department warned that thieves have become more brazen, even breaking into homes when the owners are there.
They advised reinforcing doors with a security bar, installing security systems with motion detection and even trimming hedges and bushes so there are no possible hiding places.
Around the same time as Thao’s interview, a video surfaced showing a woman being violently robbed by two masked robbers dragging her to the ground.
The daylight attack was caught on a resident’s security camera.
In the video, two robbers jumped out of a car parked on the side of the street to attack their female victim from behind.
The two tried to grab the bags she was holding in each hand after she left a nearby grocery store.
The woman began screaming as she struggled with the attackers before being knocked to the ground. Eventually, a man ran across the street to intervene, but the suspects drove off with the woman’s belongings.
Disturbing surveillance video shows the moment a woman was robbed and dragged down the street in Oakland, California
Businesses that have left San Francisco in recent months, or are planning to leave
California as a whole has been plagued by rising crime since the COVID pandemic with smash and grabs and armed robberies among the most common issues.
The issue became so bad that local and international businesses in the Bay Area had to close their doors amid the chaos.
Over the past few months, dozens of San Francisco retailers have announced they will be vacating the city’s downtown core.
Retail stalwart Old Navy announced last month that it would close its flagship store in the area, becoming the latest chain to leave the city.
Nordstrom also announced that they will be closing all of their locations in the city.
It occupied half of the former Westfield San Francisco Center. Westfield has since pulled out of running the glitzy mall, which remains open but has become increasingly bleak – prompting fears it will be the next big name to close.
The company said that due to the “changing dynamics” of San Francisco, it will close all remaining stores in the next few months.
In April, Whole Foods announced that it was closing all of its locations, with Anthropologie and Office Depot also making the same decisions.
These stores joined the growing list of stores that have left the coastal city, including H&M, Marshall’s, Gap and Banana Republic.