A week ago today, four Oakland police officers were senselessly murdered by a crazed lone gunman (video of details embedded right).
California, the Bay Area, and my community -- one of the slain officers was from my town; my daughter is friends with his son -- have been deeply shaken by this incident.
On Friday, a funeral service was held at the Oracle Arena in Oakland. In attendance were Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.
What follows for those that are interested are videos chronicling this incident which include the national media's reaction as well as a rally held in Oakland celebrating the assailant as a hero:
The district's Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Cal.) spoke on the House floor Monday:
The assailant's sister actually blamed her brother's behavior on a horrible incident that occurred months prior:
Glenn Beck was on the case:
An Oakland blogger spoke out:
A touching vigil was held on Tuesday:
>/p>
Brace yourselves, for a Marxist group actually staged a rally on Thursday hailing the assailant as a hero:
The pro-assailant rally got local media attention:
Fox News's Bill O'Reilly and Megyn Kelly on Thursday expressed their anger concerning the pro-assailant rally:
"Taps" was played at the funeral on Friday:
Schwarzenegger spoke at the service:
The community came out in massive numbers to pay their respects:
San Francisco-based conservative talk radio host Michael Savage devoted his entire program Friday to this story. Readers are cautioned that Savage, like so many in the Bay Area, was truly angered and frustrated by this incident; his words Friday were raw and possibly offensive:
Rest in Peace, gentlemen. A proud and deeply-saddened community salutes you.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.




















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Lovell Mixon...
March 28, 2009 - 10:44 ET by AgentAmerican...is a child molester, who lowered himself even lower to cop killer x 4. And Dr. Savage's comments were justified. A fund should be started to help the officer's families.
And as for the scum who call this cop killer a hero, including those in the MSM, this country is headed for dark times when it pertains to political corruption and racial strife, unless we all say ENOUGH!
2010: A GOP Hill
What cretins in the MSM
March 28, 2009 - 13:45 ET by JerWhat cretins in the MSM called the cop killer a "hero"?
Names, please!
Jer
Noel
March 28, 2009 - 11:06 ET by Gary HallTragic event. Tragic losses. The community out here cradles and holds tightly you, yours and your community(s) which has lost so many, and so much. Our thoughts and prayers are with those so affected by this senseless crime.
gary
Great job Noel
March 28, 2009 - 11:47 ET by RukusIndeed this was tragic and senseless.
Great work Noel!
Gary
"Things can only bother you if you let them bother you" -My Dad
No Police presence
March 28, 2009 - 11:46 ET by jdlybrandI say take the Police out of their 'neighborhoods' and leave them to their own devices for survival. I bet within one year they will all have either killed one another, or drowned in their ignorance. Either way; problem solved.
May God be with the slain Officer's families.
jdlybrand, good idea
March 28, 2009 - 12:06 ET by MotherLet them have their 'black on black' crime full steam ahead.
IDIOTS!
Stupid
March 28, 2009 - 19:55 ET by general companyon so many levels.
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
Sickening and sad...
March 28, 2009 - 12:04 ET by MotherGod bless the fallen Policemen and their grieving families.
As to the cretins celebrating this vile scum as some sort of 'hero'? Those people make me want to puke. Those idiots are probably the same miscreants who cheered O.J.'s verdict when he got off for a double murder.
Grrrr. This kind of ignorance and outright racism from blacks just makes my blood boil.
Godspeed, brothers......
March 28, 2009 - 12:29 ET by NC CopGodspeed, brothers......
Thanks Noel, a very fitting tribute to fallen warriors.
NC Cop,
March 28, 2009 - 13:17 ET by UpNorthI agree, a fitting tribute. I have problems with Michael Steele on any number of things, but in this case I agree. Having watched political correctness creep over police work for most of my career, I immediately identified with what he said. Cops get second-guessed so much, that eventually it does affect some officers perceptions and reactions.
God speed, brothers. Rest in Peace.
Yesterday, I caught ABC's
March 28, 2009 - 13:11 ET by TEYesterday, I caught ABC's nightly news program, and predictably they did not show a photo of the murderer. I don't think they even mentioned his name. I suspect that had the murderer been a white male who had murdered four black, hispanic, asian, native american or arab police officers, ABC would have shown dozens of photos of the murderer.
Sad...but you are
March 28, 2009 - 13:47 ET by JerSad...but you are correct.
Jer
A fitting tribute Noel
March 28, 2009 - 13:34 ET by BlondeThank you.
My condolences to the families of these fine men, and to the community of law-abiding and law-respecting citizens of the community.
I hope he fails, too.
What? No Al Sharpton,
March 28, 2009 - 15:21 ET by jdhawkWhat? No Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, etc. to tell black America to start taking responsbility for their actions. That they are overwhelmingly the casue of the murder, armed robberies, rape, and mayhem in our streets across America.
Don't believe me? Go to the FBI crime statistics web site and believe. Blacks are 13% of the population. Yet, they murder more than all other races in American combined.
You will NEVER EVER hear the above from those buffons that perport to speak for black Americans or the "take no responsiblity for anything" drive by media.
It is open season on our police officers. The murderers are overwhelmingly likely to be black Americans. Welcome to bambi, the first stupid liberal's America . . .
Care to vote conservative Republicans back into office in 2010, yet?
Agreed...but do you have
March 28, 2009 - 15:58 ET by JerAgreed...but do you have any evidence of a significant statistical differential during Republican administrations?
Jer
Where, Oh Where Was Fat Al?
March 29, 2009 - 08:39 ET by fatharryJDHawk, there was no need for Sharpton to be there. The "rev's" already done his work. Remember Tawana Brawley or Freddie's Fashion Mart? Funny How time changes things. That phony has gone from being a racist, fear-mongering pig to a quote, unquote "spokesman" for the black community. Even on Fox. I wish either Hannity or O'Reilly would have the guts to ask him about those two incidents. Oh, that's right. Today's another day.
Edd B.
Our esteemed leader
March 28, 2009 - 15:33 ET by Kat Outta the BagBarry Obama seems to enjoy burning expensive fuel on Air Force One so much, it would have been nice to see him fly to Oakland and attend the funeral to show his respect for these men who lost their lives trying to protect the citizens of that city and maybe send a message to his 'bruthas and sistahs' that cop killing is not tolerated. Yeah, right...
Save me...save me from tomorrow. I don't want to sail with this ship of fools.
~World Party
Re our esteemed leader
March 28, 2009 - 15:47 ET by slickwillie2001He doesn't attend events unless it is absolutely certain that He will be the center of attention. At a funeral the center of attention is likely to be the families of the dead officers. Teleprompters around caskets might also be seen as tacky.
Obama, in his Reverend
March 28, 2009 - 15:51 ET by JerObama, in his Reverend Wright speech last summer, probably spoke more about blacks taking responsibility than any other President or major presidential candidate in American history.
Jer
Yes, he did
March 28, 2009 - 16:04 ET by Kat Outta the BagAnd we all know what Jesse Jackson thought of it, don't we? But have we heard Obama make that sort of speech again? I'm not being facetious here, I seriously don't know if he has or not.
Save me...save me from tomorrow. I don't want to sail with this ship of fools.
~World Party
I don't know either,
March 28, 2009 - 16:15 ET by JerI don't know either, Kat...but my guess would be that he has [or at least referred to the general theme]. It is a subject I certainly hope he will continue to address.
Jer
Re Yes he did
March 28, 2009 - 16:47 ET by slickwillie2001The Bamster said many good and reasonable things during the campaign. That was just to get elected, we'll never hear any serious take-responsibility talk from Him again.
Obama can say what ever he wants
March 28, 2009 - 20:00 ET by general companyIf you dont change the culture it wont stop. Until we quit promoting bad behaviour, it wont stop.
Everything we are doing to stop it is making it worst,
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
Yes, he did
March 29, 2009 - 10:11 ET by fatharryDid you say the "Reverend" Jesse Jackson? Jessie Jackson of "Hymietown" fame? Oh, that's right. That was a long time ago. Musn't speak ill of the spokesman.
Edd B.
Yeah Jer, but if any white
March 29, 2009 - 14:41 ET by JerryYeah Jer, but if any white conservative president had talked about blacks taking responsibility, he have been run out of town as a racist, bigoted, hate-mongering, narrow minded, stereo-typer.
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
You're right, Jerry...
March 29, 2009 - 15:33 ET by JerYou're right, Jerry...although I think a white liberal president would also face obstacles of a different sort, e.g. alienating a reliable base. This is why I believe Obama has a unique opportunity to address the issue productively and in depth. I hope he does so--and not just casually and/or briefly.
Jer
'O' can't risk it
March 28, 2009 - 18:14 ET by sam12663The 'O' man can't risk alienating the African American community, not if he's interested in getting re-elected, especially now that many of the so called 'moderate' voters seem to be onto his game. Besides, it would have required him to delay his weekly weekend retreat to Camp David, and besides, he is probably still suffering from jet lag with his travels to L.A to see Jay Leno, he needs another weekend off. Is it just me, or has this guy taken alot of little mini vacations already? I seem to remember G.W.B getting slammed for the amount of time he spent at the Crawford ranch. I guess when you have to deal with the "greatest economic crisis since the great depression"; ramming legislation that no one reads through congress; throwing weekly parties for the upper crust; joking it up on late night TV; picking NCAA brackets; and teleprompter practice, you need to take off every weekend. The needs of the nation be damned! Besides, Nancy has everything covered.
President Obama is nothing more than a empty suit; a Hollywood
style special effects smoke and mirrors show that has shown itself to
be a total fraud.
WAKE UP AMERICA! SAVE OUR CONSTITUTION!
Re Vacations
March 28, 2009 - 18:47 ET by slickwillie2001I don't see the weekends at Camp David as unusual, I see his day schedule as not what we expect from a President. By all accounts he's no early riser, and then he has his morning workout session. He rarely does any of the people's business before 9:30am, and he's off by 4:30pm, to get ready for the evening bacchanalia and star-studded entertainment. He appears to be a six-hours a day, five days a week President. If our economy picks up I wonder if he will do any work at all.
But maybe given his philosophy, the less he does the better?
Noel,
March 29, 2009 - 00:21 ET by R D HelmThank you for taking the time to put this together. I am truly sorry that this tragedy touched you personally.
I pray that God will be with the family members and friends of those who died needlessly in this hideous tragedy, and particularly with that young girl who was raped by that animal.
I listened to Michael's show last night, and I believe he relayed what many of us are thinking, but might not be comfortable publicly proclaiming. Like him, I was shocked that those politicians had the nerve to attend as well, as I see them being every bit as responsible for the deaths of those four officers and the rape of that young girl as was Mixon.
My sense is that people are tiring of those who coddle criminals along with the terrorists who wish to harm us. I sense a backlash boiling up.
-Dave
This coup has gone on long enough. The time to put it down is NOW.