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Oakland PD Responds to Noise Complaints by White Man Against Black Drummers at Lake Merritt,
Sparks Concerns About Racial Profiling
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2015/09/29/opd-responds-to-noise-complaints-by-white-man-against-black-drummers-at-lake-merritt-sparks-concerns-about-racial-profiling
On Sunday night, a white Oakland resident called the Oakland Police Department on a small group of Black and Latino drummers by Lake Merritt, resulting in multiple citations and sparking extensive debates online about racial profiling, biased policing, and gentrification. The story has since gone viral on social media with a Facebook post from local radio journalist Davey D Cook who argued that this case is just the latest example of white residents who are newer to Oakland and the Lake Merritt area complaining about the activities of longtime residents of color — leading to unnecessarily aggressive responses from police.
I spoke by phone this morning with Theo Williams, the artistic director of local group SambaFunk!, who was part of the drum circle on Sunday and had also posted an account of the incident on his Facebook page. Williams, who is Black and grew up in Oakland, said that roughly a dozen OPD officers ultimately responded to the call and that he felt many of the officers had not treated him or his fellow drummers fairly and were clearly biased toward the caller, who is a white man who apparently lives nearby.
An OPD spokesperson told me via email that officers responded to a call at 9:51 p.m. to the 100 block of Lake Merritt Boulevard (the south side of the lake at the Lake Merritt Amphitheater) after receiving a "report of a noise disturbance and an assault." The officers issued multiple citations related to the assault allegations and will have to appear in court before a judge, according to the spokesperson, who did not respond to my requests for additional information.
Williams said that he and about six others — all people of color — started drumming just after 7 p.m. in time for the rare lunar eclipse happening that night. He said they played for about ninety minutes, at which point the white man showed up and allegedly started shouting at them.
I spoke by phone this morning with Theo Williams, the artistic director of local group SambaFunk!, who was part of the drum circle on Sunday and had also posted an account of the incident on his Facebook page. Williams, who is Black and grew up in Oakland, said that roughly a dozen OPD officers ultimately responded to the call and that he felt many of the officers had not treated him or his fellow drummers fairly and were clearly biased toward the caller, who is a white man who apparently lives nearby.
An OPD spokesperson told me via email that officers responded to a call at 9:51 p.m. to the 100 block of Lake Merritt Boulevard (the south side of the lake at the Lake Merritt Amphitheater) after receiving a "report of a noise disturbance and an assault." The officers issued multiple citations related to the assault allegations and will have to appear in court before a judge, according to the spokesperson, who did not respond to my requests for additional information.
Williams said that he and about six others — all people of color — started drumming just after 7 p.m. in time for the rare lunar eclipse happening that night. He said they played for about ninety minutes, at which point the white man showed up and allegedly started shouting at them.
African Americans? In Oakland? Well, I never! 
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