When a small homeless encampment appeared outside the Oakland family home of former Raiders star Marshawn Lynch, the complaint eventually reached one of the most powerful offices in California: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s.
Newly released text messages show Newsom’s office intervened on behalf of Lynch, who is also co-host of his podcast “Politickin’,” asking Oakland officials in 2024 to help clear the RVs, which had parked in front of the home where Lynch grew up, which is still owned by his grandmother.
The texts offer a glimpse into how several of Oakland’s top leaders personally responded to the small encampment in the days after the request, even though 311 requests show neighbors had been asking the city for help for months. However, the pressure from the governor’s office doesn’t appear to have led the city to move more quickly to clear the encampment, which the city said dispersed on its own.
The texts were among thousands released last week in response to a public records request that sought the text messages subpoenaed during the FBI’s corruption investigation into recalled Mayor Sheng Thao. The file also revealed crass texts sent between then-City Administrator Jestin Johnson and former Assistant City Administrator G. Harold Duffey about female employees, that led Johnson to resign over the weekend.
Newsom and Lynch have had a relationship since at least 2013. The two are connected by Politickin’ co-host Doug Hendrickson, Lynch’s longtime agent and a close friend of Newsom.
Lynch was not available to comment, Hendrickson said.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Lynch raised the issue with Newsom himself, or if others in their orbit did. Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Newsom, said in a statement that his office routinely raised public safety and encampment concerns with Thao and other Oakland officials, adding that the governor’s office had to “repeatedly step in, across the city, because the former mayor wasn’t moving with any urgency.”
The text records show city staff were under pressure from numerous angles to respond to individual encampments, including from local business leaders like real estate developer Riaz Taplin and Len Turner, of Turner Group Construction.
The Dover Street encampment began in early 2024, when an RV, a camper and an SUV moved onto the street between 43rd and 44th streets, backing up to the Grove Shafter Freeway. On May 22, city workers posted notices on the vehicles, warning they had been parked illegally for over 72 hours and needed to move.
On May 28, Thao’s Chief of Staff Leigh Hanson, texted Johnson and Duffey about the situation.
“I got a call from the Governor’s office regarding a number of RVs that are parked out in front of Marshawn Lynch’s family home,” she wrote. “The Governor’s office is requesting our support to help resolve the issues in a timely manner.”
She noted that “several campers” had set up in the neighborhood, doing “questionable things.”
Four days later, she asked Johnson and Duffey for an update, saying that the governor’s office had reached out again. She noted that she had visited the property, and that several pit bulls had taken over the street.
Johnson responded that he’d spoken with the Animal Services Department and offered to send in animal control alongside encampment clearance teams.
On June 7, Johnson and Duffey discussed how to move forward. Johnson suggested they coordinate with the fire department on an emergency closure, so that “fire can access permanent structures.” Such emergency closures – which can be called for when encampments pose threats to public safety – allow the city to avoid the 72-hour noticing required by city policy ahead of most encampment closures.
Duffey responded that he was headed over in his “Bat mobile” to check out the encampment. After that, discussion about the encampment stopped.
Asked Monday about the follow-up, Oakland spokesperson Jean Walsh said the city visited the area several times in the past few years to conduct encampment operations, but it didn’t take any steps to clear the encampment in June 2024. By August 2024, the residents of the encampment had moved on, taking their vehicles to nearby Caltrans-controlled lots, she said.
Michael Hunt, spokesperson for the Oakland Fire Department, said that the fire department also wasn’t asked by city leaders to initiate any encampment closures.
It’s not the first time Newsom has been of help to Lynch. In 2012, when Lynch was facing potential discipline from the NFL after a DUI arrest, Newsom, then the lieutenant governor, made a call to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and vouched for Lynch’s character, Yahoo! Sports reported.
“For Gavin to be the second-most powerful person in California and (still) talk to a kid from Oakland and help me learn about business, it tells you what kind of character he has,” Lynch said at the time.
Lynch’s family home has, at times, drawn complaints of its own. Oakland code enforcement officials cited the property for blight in 2015 amid complaints about longtime unfinished construction, boarded-up windows and abandoned cars in the driveway. In 2017, Lynch threw a block party at the home to celebrate signing with the Raiders, with attendees including Warriors star Draymond Green and Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters.
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This article originally published at Newsom’s office urged Oakland to clear homeless encampment by NFL star Marshawn Lynch’s family home.