As Anti-Violence Protests Continue, Oakland Police Call for Information on Officers' Shooting

Updated, 12:20 a.m. Wednesday

Oakland police put out a call to the public Tuesday for information on last week’s shooting of two federal security personnel, an attack that took place while protesters moved through nearby streets.

That call, from interim Police Chief Susan Manheimer, came as another day of protests triggered by last week’s killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police rolled through the Bay Area.

By the end of the evening, gatherings had drawn hundreds to San Francisco’s Great Highway, to City Hall, to north of the Golden Gate in Marin City, to Santa Rosa, Vallejo and Fairfield, to Broadway and the Fruitvale in Oakland, to the East Bay cities of Newark and Fremont, to Redwood City and San Jose. (See details below.)

Friday night’s drive-by attack, in which one of the officers was killed, took place at 9:45 p.m. outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on 12th Street. The Federal Protective Service officer who died in the incident was later identified as Dave Patrick “Pat” Underwood, 55, of Pinole. The second, unidentified officer suffered life-threatening wounds.

Oakland police initially said they didn’t believe the shooting was connected to the demonstrations called to protest the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. The FBI took over the investigation of the attack the next day.

But during a media briefing Tuesday, Manheimer said investigators now believe those involved in the attack were targeting uniformed officers.

“We know they were out and about in the area where our officers were stationed and ultimately came upon these two individuals who were off in a more secluded area,” Manheimer said.

She said that Oakland police are working on a daily basis with federal investigators, who are seeking evidence from the public.

“It’s very distressing. Those were local, wonderful individuals,” Manheimer said. “And so we’re asking now if anyone has any video or other information, please bring it forward.”

A quick rundown of Tuesday’s Bay Area protests:

San Francisco: More than 1,000 people thronged the Great Highway in a march from Sloat Boulevard to Lincoln Way. Protesters criticized curfew orders imposed in the city and around the Bay Area.

“The curfew is an attempt to curb First Amendment rights under the guise of ‘law and order,’ ” Margot Bruce, a San Francisco resident at the protest, said.

Later in the evening, about 50 people gathered outside City Hall in defiance of the curfew.

Police did not order them to disperse, however, and most of the crowd then marched to the city’s Hall of Justice and staged a sit-in. Police started detaining about 30 remaining protesters shortly before 10:30 p.m.

Officers also briefly detained KQED reporter Sheraz Sadiq, despite his telling police he is a reporter and his prominently displayed press credentials. Sadiq was not handcuffed but was held for about 10 minutes and then was issued a certificate of release.

Oakland: A crowd in the low hundreds kept up a protest vigil on the lower end of Broadway, near Oakland Police Department headquarters, for most of the day and into the evening. Among those gathered was Dione Green, 28, a lifelong Oakland resident who says he hopes to have a child soon. But he also said he wonders how he will raise children in the current situation.

“It’s a frightening moment living in today’s society, it really is,” he said. “Do you teach them to respect the police with all that’s being done?”

As in San Francisco, a small group of protesters remained on the street past the start of the 8 p.m. curfew. But unlike a similar scenario Monday, when officers responded to thrown objects with tear gas and flash-bang grenades and eventually arrests, the situation remained calm. After two hours of protesters chanting and trying to talk to individual officers, an order to disperse was given at 10 p.m. The remaining two or three dozen people at the gathering left without incident.

Santa Rosa: Things were not so placid as the evening ended in Santa Rosa. The evening began with a couple hundred people gathered in the city’s Roseland neighborhood to remember the slaying of 13-year-old Andy Lopez, shot to death from behind by Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Erick Gelhaus in 2013. The teenager was killed as he walked along a street on the city’s outskirts holding a replica automatic rifle that was actually a pellet gun.

One demonstrator held a sign that said “Andy Lopez=George Floyd” as speakers switched off between remembering Lopez, who was born on June 2 and would have turned 20 Tuesday, and talking about the Black Lives Matter movement.

About 50 or 60 young demonstrators remained on the streets past the start of the curfew at 8 p.m. and eventually blocked the intersection of Mendocino and Pacific avenues, adjacent to Santa Rosa High School. Around 11 p.m., officers surrounded the group, moved in and began making arrests. Just how many were detained wasn’t clear at midnight.

Newark/Fremont: Hundreds of people marched from Newark along Mowry Avenue to Fremont’s City Hall. As the Mercury News noted, relatively affluent, Asian-majority Fremont does not see many protests. They quoted one resident who had taken to the streets:

Kristie, a 21 year old from Fremont who didn’t want to give her last name, said she came to the protest to speak out against more than just police brutality. She was one of several Asian Americans at the protest holding a sign that read “Yellow Peril Stands With Black Power,” which she said is a way to acknowledge that without black people who fought for civil rights, people like her and her family likely wouldn’t be living in Fremont and the country today.

“It means making sure you’re cognizant of your privilege as an Asian American person, recognizing the work that black activists have paved and recognizing our need to continue to stand for the black community and with the black community, and make space to continue to make their voices heard,” she said.

Marin City: Several hundred people gathered for an afternoon rally in the historically segregated community adjacent to affluent Sausalito.

Ayana Morgan Woodard, from the Our City Our Voice movement, spoke to the crowd: “This is what we want from you guys: We want better relationships with the police, that’s Number One. We want you to be within the school district, that’s Number Two. We want solidarity in all the generations for this city. We cannot do this alone. All the generations. Elders: Talk to us. Don’t dictate us — talk to us. And young folks: Listen. Stop acting like you know everything — we don’t.”

Redwood City: An estimated 2,000 people rallied at the old San Mateo County Courthouse, then marched to U.S. 101. After an hours-long standoff with police that continued until the approach of an 8:30 p.m. curfew, several hundred remaining protesters dispersed after a California Highway Patrol officer took a knee with the crowd.

San Jose: Several hundred people gathered for an energetic but peaceful march and rally downtown, with a stop outside City Hall.

San Jose police were involved in a shooting at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night, but the department provided no further details.

Solano County: National Guard troops were deployed in Vallejo Tuesday night, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. A march and protest over the death of George Floyd drew several hundred people in the city.

A crowd, and dozens of vehicles, “surrounded” the Vallejo Police Department as calls reporting thefts, shots fired and other crimes came in from other areas of the city, the Chronicle reported.

In Fairfield, about 100 people gathered for a rally.

KQED’s Kathleen Quillian, Adhiti Bandlamudi and Alex Emslie contributed to this story.