Prominent community members gathered in Oakland Thursday denouncing the mayor’s decision to fire police Chief LeRonne Armstrong.
His supporters, including pastors, community leaders and residents gathered to vent their frustration and argue the chief's dismissal is more about politics than policy.
“Do we feel like the current administration has our back, no we don’t, do we feel like we matter, at all, no we don’t,” said organizer Brenda Grisham.
Many in this group have spent the last 30 days publicly calling for the chief to be reinstated.
They said Mayor Sheng Thao clearly ignored their input and some are even calling for her to step down, or be removed from office.
“She must go, she will not work with the community. We have had several meetings and she will not show you, not even a representative. We want to see her go,” said Marty Peters.
Former mayoral candidate Loren Taylor argues Armstrong was a better leader when it came to reform practices than past chiefs and believes his removal will cause instability in the police department.
He also feels it was a misstep to not involve the police commission in the decision or allow Armstrong to address the accusations against him directly.
“The fact that the police chief was fired without cause implies all of the efforts to build a campaign of why he should be fired, they failed, when they look like at the justifications there is not enough substance there,” said Taylor.
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Community leaders in Chinatown say many in their community are upset as well and argue the city is safer with Armstrong in leadership.
Leaders say many organizations are now looking at the possibility of taking legal action.
“The stability for our police department, we have gone through so much trauma and finally we have this chief that is able to bring us back together and also bridging the gap,” said community leader Carl Chan.
Armstrong in a statement explained he is continuing to evaluate legal options as he looks to preserve his rights and reputation.
Read his full statement below:
I want to thank the community for its strong showing of support in the wake of the Mayor’s decision to terminate me as Chief. It has truly been an honor and privilege to serve this City for more than two decades.
As a native of Oakland, I know how special this city is. It means the world to me that I have earned the trust and respect of so many leaders and members of this community. I appreciate your efforts to champion my cause and I thank you for trying to help the Mayor understand that the best path forward for the City was with me remaining as Chief.
I genuinely appreciate all of the encouraging messages and phone calls I have received. I cannot possibly acknowledge them all individually. But please know I have heard and received your messages of support. I want to specially thank a few people. I’d like to thank Mayor Libby Schaaf and the Oakland Police Commission for trusting me to lead OPD during her tenure. I’d also like to thank the Oakland Chapter of the NAACP, the Oakland spiritual community, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the API community and other neighborhood and community leaders who showed up at the rallies for their tremendous and vocal support over the past month. I want to thank all the people who came today to city hall to stand with me, and with Oakland, to make our city, our police force, and our community a better place.
I want to show my special appreciation and admiration for the hardworking women and men of the Oakland Police Department. Thank you for all you do to keep the City of Oakland safe. You truly are the hardest working law enforcement professionals in America.
I have been getting a lot of questions about my next steps. Please know that I continue to believe that my termination was the result of a fundamentally flawed process that resulted in unfair, inaccurate conclusions about me. I am continuing to evaluate my legal options to preserve my rights and my hard-earned reputation.
