Elaine Brown’s affordable housing company is suing the San Francisco Police Department, accusing officers of a “military-style, violent ransacking and vandalizing” of the Black Panther Apartments in West Oakland.
Brown’s lawyer has indicated they might eventually name the Oakland Police Department as a defendant as well.
On May 21, a group of around 20 SFPD officers arrested an 18-year-old man outside of the 7th Street building for suspected robbery and seized a firearm, according to police. They then attempted to enter the property, low-income housing developed and owned by Brown, a former Black Panther Party leader.
Brown and her staff claim the officers refused to show a warrant when building staff repeatedly requested one. SFPD previously denied this.
A video taken by a staff member shows an officer demanding entrance and eventually smashing a glass door, letting several police inside. They get into a brief, heated interaction with building manager Misty Cross, who had just come downstairs. She accompanies them to a fifth-floor apartment, where they conduct a search. She said they provided a copy of their warrant to the tenant in the apartment only after concluding the search.
The warrant, reviewed by The Oaklandside, says police were searching for clothing worn by the suspect in two prior armed robberies, as well as a stolen “yellow metal chain.” The officers ended up taking shoes and a jacket from the apartment they searched. The suspect himself did not live at the property but reportedly was romantically involved with a teenager who lived in the apartment with her father and infant sister.
The lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday by 7th & Campbell LLC (Brown’s company), Cross, and Shawn Johnson describes SFPD officers as looking “like gang members.” The SFPD officers were not in full uniform but wore shirts that said “police” on the back.
Johnson is a security guard at the property, whom SFPD arrested on suspicion of obstructing their entrance.
At a press conference in front of The Black Panther Apartments on Wednesday, civil rights lawyer Adanté Pointer called the cops’ conduct “terrorism.”
“This is a 79-unit, 100% affordable housing building — a complex that’s here to house some of our most vulnerable community members, people who have faced all types of indignities and tragedies, looking for assistance,” he said.
Many noted that the stretch of 7th Street used to be a thriving Black commercial and cultural strip before businesses and homes were razed for the development of BART and the post office across the street. The neighborhood was also the setting for much of the Black Panthers’ organizing and community service activities.
Speakers at the event had to pause frequently to wait out the rumble of BART trains passing on the tracks that run parallel to the building.
“This was a place where we were talking about Black economic independence, talking about Black people rising up from oppression and degradation,” said Brown, explaining that she developed her building in that “spirit.”
“The only time we’ve ever had any windows broken or any damage to the building has been by the police themselves,” she said.
Brown previously told us she instructs staff and residents not to let law enforcement into the building without a warrant, primarily over concerns about ICE agents going after tenants. Several speakers noted that the semi-plainclothes outfits looked similar to unmarked uniforms often donned by immigration agents.
Isaac Joseph, the resident in the unit SFPD searched, said he and his children were “devastated” by the experience.
“It was too much for everybody,” said Joseph, who emphasized that he hadn’t done anything illegal and was shocked to see the police outside his apartment.
Elected officials spoke in support of lawsuit claiming unlawful search and surveillance
The 2-year-old Black Panther building developed by Elaine Brown’s Oakland & The World Enterprises has 79 units of affordable housing. Credit: Natalie Orenstein/The Oaklandside
The lawsuit alleges that SFPD violated the Fourth Amendment by unlawfully searching the property, used excessive force against staff, vandalized the building, and illegally arrested Johnson, among other claims.
“Once we are served, we will review the complaint and respond in court,” said Jen Kwart, spokesperson for San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, in an email to The Oaklandside.
The lawsuit also alleges that an officer told building staff during the May incident that the department had been surveilling the building for the month prior.
“Not only did they have the building under surveillance with undercover cars and things like that, but they actually had searched the building’s Wi-Fi, and also the Wi-Fi of the unit that they claim that they were here to search,” Pointer said at the press conference. He took issue with the alleged surveillance, claiming SFPD either hadn’t gotten a separate warrant to carry out this activity, or had failed to provide them with a copy of it.
We asked SFPD about these specific claims, but a spokesperson said the department can’t comment on pending litigation.
Some elected officials showed support at the press conference, including City Councilmember Charlene Wang and Assemblymember Mia Bonta, who spoke, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, who had a statement read on her behalf, and Councilmember Ken Houston, who was in attendance.
Wang said that, as chair of the council’s committee on public safety, the SFPD incident “enrages” her.
“It is not acceptable, nor is it lawful, and we are all obligated as elected leaders to demand accountability for this incident,” said Wang, who does not represent West Oakland but said she was asked to attend by Brown. “This is law enforcement being used to criminalize and terrorize poor people.”
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that the Oakland Police Department coordinated with SFPD during the operation in May.
“OPD and the City of Oakland participated in, assisted with, facilitated, or subsequently ratified conduct that violated Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights,” they allege. However, they say the exact nature of OPD’s involvement is unclear, and the legal inquiry is needed to determine that.
When we asked OPD at the time, a department spokesperson said SFPD had requested that Oakland “assist with crowd-control efforts.”
“OPD was not involved in the arrest or in serving the search warrant, and its sole role was to provide crowd management support,” spokesperson Paul Chambers told us in May.
Asked if he’s considering suing OPD as well as SFPD, Pointer on Thursday indicated that’s a possibility.
“Anyone who played a role in the assault and the attack…is on our list,” he responded. “So we’ll continue to move forward with the litigation, and as we uncover the people who are behind this, be sure you’ll see them as a defendant in this case.”
OPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit and this statement.
Shortly after the May incident, Oakland and San Francisco’s police unions put out a joint statement saying the operation followed typical and lawful protocols for cross-city policing.
“The Oakland Police Department was informed about this suspect and the planned SFPD enforcement action,” said Huy Nguyen, the Oakland union president, in that press release. “Our members were ready to provide support to SFPD officers, and follow established procedures for interagency cooperation.”
We asked Wang about the potential implication of OPD in the lawsuit. She didn’t provide a response by publication time.
The lawsuit seeks financial damages from SFPD. It doesn’t name a specific amount.
Brown, 83, whose building stands at an intersection named in honor of her, told the crowd Wednesday that she’ll continue fighting for vulnerable residents: “I’m not dead yet.”
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