To: Tony Smith, Superintendent, Oakland Unified School District, Gary Yee, President, OUSD Governing Board, Jody London, Vice President, OUSD Governing Board, David Kakishiba, District 2 Director, OUSD Governing Board, Jumoke Hinton Hodge, D...
Fire Acting OUSD Police Chief Barhin Bhatts & Sgt. Jonathan Bellusa
FACTUAL HISTORY:
On the heels of Oakland Unified School District Police Chief Peter Sarna being fired for drunkenness and outrageous racist comments regarding African Americans, Tony Smith, superintendent of OUSD, has shocked the Oakland community by replacing the disgraced chief with the murderer of Raheim Brown Jr., Sergeant Barhin Bhatt.
On January 22, 2011, 20-year-old Raheim Brown Jr. was sitting in his car not far from Skyline High School when he was approached by Sgts. Barhin Bhatt and Jonathan Bellusa. In a short while, Raheim Brown Jr. would be dead; shot five times through the head and upper body. His female companion was pulled out of the car through the window and then beaten and arrested. She has testified to the fact that racist comments were made right before Brown was killed. Police alleged Brown was armed with a screwdriver but even if that is so, the young man was sitting in his car, never exited the vehicle and thus posed absolutely NO threat to the officers. This is at a minimum excessive force, but the community believes it is actually no less than murder because the officers were not in any danger and could have called for backup or used non-lethal means to detain Brown.
To name Bhatt as the Acting Chief of the OUSD Police sends a chilling message to all those youths in our schools, especially non-white males, that they may end up dead too, as did Raheim Brown Jr., if they come in direct contact with OUSD police officers.
On Wednesday, August 10th, community members attended Oakland school board meetings to demand the termination of Bhatts and Bellusa, but less than a week later, not only was Bhatts not fired; he was promoted into a position of prominence and power.
COMMUNITY DEMAND:
THE COMMUNITY DEMANDS THE TERMINATION OF BHATTS AND BELLUSA AS WELL AS THEIR ARREST AND IMMEDIATE PROSECUTION BY THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY FOR THE MURDER OF RAHEIM BROWN JR.
Why is this important?
FACTUAL HISTORY:
On the heels of Oakland Unified School District Police Chief Peter Sarna being fired for drunkenness and outrageous racist comments regarding African Americans, Tony Smith, superintendent of OUSD, has shocked the Oakland community by replacing the disgraced chief with the murderer of Raheim Brown Jr., Sergeant Barhin Bhatt.
On January 22, 2011, 20-year-old Raheim Brown Jr. was sitting in his car not far from Skyline High School when he was approached by Sgts. Barhin Bhatt and Jonathan Bellusa. In a short while, Raheim Brown Jr. would be dead, shot five times through the head and upper body. His female companion was pulled out of the car through the window and then beaten and arrested. She has testified to the fact that racist comments were made right before Brown was killed. Police alleged Brown was armed with a screwdriver but even if that is so, the young man was sitting in his car, never exited the vehicle and thus posed absolutely NO threat to the officers. This is at a minimum excessive force, but the community believes it is actually no less than murder because the officers were not in any danger and could have called for backup or used non-lethal means to detain Brown.
To name Bhatt as the Acting Chief of the OUSD Police sends a chilling message to all those youths in our schools, especially non-white males, that they may end up dead too, as did Raheim Brown Jr., if they come in direct contact with OUSD police officers.
On Wednesday, August 10th, community members attended Oakland school board meetings to demand the termination of Bhatts and Bellusa, but less than a week later, not only was Bhatts not fired; he was promoted into a position of prominence and power.
COMMUNITY DEMAND:
THE COMMUNITY DEMANDS THE TERMINATION OF BARHIN BHATTS AND JONATHAN BELLUSA AS WELL AS THEIR ARREST AND IMMEDIATE PROSECUTION BY THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY FOR THE MURDER OF RAHEIM BROWN JR.