The person prosecutors have accused of accelerating a U-Haul truck backward toward federal agents during an Oct. 23 protest in Oakland, resulting in federal agents shooting the truck, the driver, and a bystander, does not have a criminal history.
Federal prosecutors have charged 26-year-old Bella Thompson with assault on a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon following an FBI investigation of the shooting in front of Coast Guard Island. If convicted, Thompson could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Thompson, making her second appearance in Oakland’s federal courthouse Monday morning, does not have any active warrants or prior convictions, her defense attorney said in court. Thompson did not enter a plea, as the court still needs to review the totality of her circumstances and determine whether bail would be appropriate.
Thompson’s next hearing is scheduled for Friday at 10:30 a.m., where the court will discuss whether to grant her bail.
On the night of Oct. 23, demonstrators had gathered in front of the entrance to Coast Guard Island, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents were said to be staging ahead of a planned immigration enforcement operation in the San Francisco Bay Area. Around 10 p.m., a driver backed a U-Haul rental truck onto the bridge and toward a group of federal officers guarding the Coast Guard Base entrance.
According to the criminal complaint filed by the FBI one week after the incident, the Coast Guard officers “feared the possibility that the truck was a vehicle borne Improvised Explosive Device,” or that additional people inside the truck would “open fire on them.” The federal agents shot into the U-Haul using rifles.
After the shooting, the U-Haul driver steered the vehicle onto Dennison Street, dropped off the truck, got into another car, and left the scene.
Thompson checked into Highland Hospital at about 10:08 p.m. While receiving treatment for a gunshot wound, federal prosecutors say Oakland police officers investigating the shooting identified Thompson through her driver’s license and the clothing collected by hospital staff upon admission. Alameda police officers arrived at the hospital and detained Thompson as a suspect in the case.
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