Oakland residents confronted George Soros-backed District Attorney Pamela Price Thursday over rising crime within their city while she was making a presentation about criminal justice at a local church.
District Attorney Pamela Price faced a crowd of fed-up citizens at Montclair Presbyterian church July 27 who demanded answers and solutions to the rising crime plaguing their city after an attempted carjacking in the Skyline neighborhood went viral, CBS Bay Area News reported.
Price contended that in some circumstances there isn’t enough evidence to convict suspects of the crimes they purportedly committed, referencing a case where a lack of evidence led to the release of a group of youths. When asked what happened to the youths when they were let go, Price admitted she did not know, to which angry citizens replied, “They probably attacked someone else.”
Frustrated Oaklanders confront Alameda County DA Pamela Price over surge in crime
At a heated community meeting Thursday, residents of Oakland’s Montclair neighborhood had a chance to confront the DA and the Oakland police department over rising crime. @AndreaKPIX reports: pic.twitter.com/m3o1TYAAuB
— Betty Yu (@bett_yu) July 28, 2023
“I just want to say that there must be consequences. It’s unreal that there are no consequences for these children,” one concerned citizen argued amid cheer and applause.
Price was not alone in fielding criticism from Oakland’s citizens. Captain Clay Burch from the Oakland police department also listened to concerned citizens’ demand police do more to prevent crime. “My brothers in blue, I know your hands are tied but you got to be doing some preventative stuff. You stand on the corner right here in Montclair, you can hear the bucket cars come up here robbing us blind. Please talk about preventative, not a crime happens,” one frustrated citizen argued, according to the outlet.
The confrontation with Oakland’s citizens came the same day Oakland NAACP president Cynthia Adams and local pastor Bishop Bob Jackson called for a state of emergency to address the “public safety crisis” within the city. In a letter to local elected officials, Adams and Jackson argued that Oakland’s residents were “sick and tired” of violent crime within their community and were therefore calling on their local leadership to address the issues. (RELATED: ‘Public Safety Crisis’: Oakland NAACP Calls For State Of Emergency To Address Crime Under Soros-Backed Prosecutor)
“Failed leadership, including the movement to defund the police, our District Attorney’s unwillingness to charge and prosecute people who murder and commit life threatening serious crimes, and the proliferation of anti-police rhetoric have created a heyday for Oakland criminals,” the letter read.
“There is nothing compassionate or progressive about allowing criminal behavior to fester and rob Oakland residents of their basic rights to public safety. It is not racist or unkind to want to be safe from crime. No one should live in fear in our city,” the letter continued.
The California Justice and Public Safety PAC, created to support left-wing district attorneys running in California cities, backed Pamela Price for her election bid in 2018. The group is an offshoot of the “Safety and Justice” network funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros, who gave the California PAC $3.65 million in 2018, according to InfluenceWatch. The PAC gave Price at least $699,000 for her 2018 Democratic primary campaign, filings show.
She was elected to office in 2022 running on a campaign based on “pursuing comprehensive alternatives to incarceration” and “social service interventions that reduce harmful behavior without law enforcement involvement.”
Price told citizens she identified with a movement to decriminalize kids stating that when she was younger she was doing things she shouldn’t have been doing but changed because some people believed in her. “They helped me find another way,” she stated, according to CBS News.
Many citizens left the meeting frustrated at the lack of solutions and answers, with some stating they no longer feel safe in Oakland. “A lot of jabbering that didn’t have much value,” Damon Manni told CBS News.