San Francisco Labor Council calls for prosecution of police who killed Alan Blueford

The San Francisco Labor Council, a powerful assembly of labor union delegates, passed a resolution Jan. 14 in support of justice for Alan Blueford. Blueford was killed by Oakland (Calif.) Police Department Officer Miguel Masso on May 6, after he ran from the cops when they rolled up in typical stop-and-frisk fashion.

The resolution, below, is significant in that it not only calls for support for the family of the slain African-American Oakland youth, but also calls for both the firing and prosecution of Masso. The district attorney has declined to prosecute Masso, despite tremendous community pressure and a long list of contradictions in the police report regarding the deadly incident.

Adopted unanimously by San Francisco Labor Council, Jan. 14, 2013.

Whereas a Black person is killed by law enforcement once every 36 hours, per the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement’s study;

Whereas the federal report monitoring the Oakland Police Department states that the Oakland Police Department pulls guns on Black and Latino people disproportionately to the number of times guns are pulled on whites;

Whereas two new reports by a federal monitor criticized the OPD’s handling of officer-involved shootings and Occupy Oakland protests;

Whereas Alan Blueford, an 18-year-old Black youth who was about to graduate from Skyline High School, was killed by OPD Officer Masso on May 6;

Whereas OPD has provided at least four versions of what happened the night Alan Blueford was killed, including the claim that the Officer Masso was shot in a gun battle with Alan Blueford, when he later admitted that he shot himself in the foot;

Whereas the OPD:

1. Engaged in racial profiling and violated numerous OPD policies;
2. Engaged in a cover-up (made numerous false statements and repeatedly changed their story);
3. Showed complete disregard for the life of Alan Blueford and the dignity of the family;
4. Had the coroner’s report withheld from the family for three months, and the police report for five months;

Whereas, the coroner’s report reveals that Alan Blueford had no gun residue on his hands, no alcohol or drugs in his system, and implies that Alan Blueford was shot while lying on his back;

Whereas Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley declared she will not charge Officer Masso for the killing of Alan Blueford. Her report shows strong bias as, for example, relying on Masso’s statement that Alan was standing when [Masso] first shot him, despite 11 out of 12 witness statements to the contrary;

Therefore, be it resolved that the San Francisco Labor Council [passes] a resolution seeking Justice For Alan Blueford and [demands] that the federal monitor take strong action against OPD including:

1. Stopping the OPD from racial and ethnic profiling and violence against people of color;
2. Instituting stricter background checks, training, [and] apprehension and gun use policies within the OPD;
3. The firing of Officer Masso.

Further be it resolved that the San Francisco Labor Council [demands] that the Alameda County district attorney immediately charge Officer Masso with murder.

Finally be it resolved that the San Francisco Labor Council send this resolution to U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson, Alameda District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, SFLC affiliates, the Alameda Labor Council, the California Federation of Labor [and] the AFL-CIO, for concurrence and action.

Submitted by Marcus Holder, ILWU Local 10; David Welsh, NALC 214; Carl Finamore, IAMAW, Air Transport Local Lodge 1781; Alan Benjamin, OPEIU Local 3; Allan Fisher, AFT 2121; Rodger Scott, AFT 2121; Alysabeth Alexander, SEIU 1021.

Essentially identical resolutions have been passed by ILWU 10 Executive Board and General membership meetings, SEIU 1021 Executive Board, the Oakland Education Association Representative Council (on 12/3/12) and Unite Here 2850 Executive Board (1/7/13).