Residents of a California city are struggling with excessive crime and a loss of confidence in their elected leader.
While brazen criminal activity has become commonplace in the city, the young administration of Democratic Mayor Sheng Thao has been plagued by scandals.
Thao’s home was raided by the FBI on June 20, with agents seizing devices belonging to her and her partner Andre Jones. It comes as the beleaguered mayor faces an impeachment attempt just two years after taking office.
All this has failed to curb the regular looting of businesses, random shootings and brutal attacks on the elderly.
Jim Ross, a Democratic consultant from Oakland, called the city’s crime wave and political unrest “the perfect storm times three.”
Oakland’s ire is aimed squarely at Mayor Sheng Thao, who presides over a city plagued by crime while also dealing with personal scandals surrounding her romantic partner.
Oakland is also grappling with a homeless crisis, with scenes of desperation like this becoming more common in the beleaguered metropolis.
“I can’t imagine a more difficult time for the city,” Ross said The Washington Post.
Bob Bishop Jackson, pastor of a gospel church in Oakland, said the city is struggling with lawlessness more than ever and needs “divine intervention.”
Although the murder rate has dropped, Oakland still has a higher murder rate than the US average.
“I think we need a brand new slate of leaders for the city from top to bottom,” Jackson said. “We need a brand new City Council, a brand new mayor, brand new, brand new, brand new.”
While the number of robberies and car thefts has doubled and tripled respectively compared to pre-pandemic figures.
A robbery was witnessed at this gas station convenience store in Oakland. About 100 people entered and emptied the shelves, but the police never showed up
Elderly woman brutally attacked in unprovoked attack in Oakland
This is the insane moment a brazen thief casually snatches a batch of iPhones from the shelves of an Apple store in Oakland, amid Newsom’s latest efforts to crack down on crime in the area.
Among the most shocking events were the mass shooting at a Juneteenth party in Lake Merritt and an elderly woman who was attacked and robbed in the middle of the day.
Just a month ago, 100 robbers ransacked a gas station and emptied the shelves. Their actions did not result in the police arriving on the scene in time.
Days after the incident, Oakland police admitted that there are only 35 officers on patrol at any given time, for a city of more than 400,000 people.
Thao responded by saying that crime is down compared to the crime wave of early 2023. However, astute observers have noted that her office’s report compared the fully compiled statistics from late 2023 to the ongoing 2024 count.
Retired Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, who led the recall effort against Thao, told local media she had “blood on her hands” while criticizing her policies, which she said are driving businesses out of Oakland faster than ever before.
Entrepreneurs who have decided to persevere are now reaching their breaking point. One Oakland resident who has been struggling for years calls the current state of affairs “demoralizing.”
Ken Houston said he is demoralized after his office was one of 16 small businesses in one building that were broken into and burglarized over the weekend
Pictured: A glass door leading to the Houston building was smashed by thieves
Two masked men ransacked more than a dozen small businesses in the building, stealing an estimated $120,000 worth of items
Ken Houston said FOX2 KTVU that his office was one of 16 small businesses in one building that was broken into last weekend.
“We’re already struggling. The city is in dire need of public safety. We’ve asked for help over and over again. Over and over again. Even before Denny’s left,” Houston said.
Houston pointed to the Denny’s, a location across the street from his business, which was forced to close after 54 years due to threats to “the safety and well-being” of employees and customers.
The old Denny’s is filled with dilapidated RVs and other forms of neglect that are becoming more common as more homeless tent cities pop up.
The burglary that took place at a Houston building on Saturday night was captured on surveillance footage, which shows two masked men breaking through a door in search of valuables.
The total loss was around $120,000. The two suspects stole high-end cameras, speakers, laptops and cash, among other things.
“How can a small business recover from that when we’re already struggling? We were closed because of COVID, we weren’t making as much money. Now we’re back up and this is happening.”