Alameda Renters' Advocate Accused Of Assaulting Official At Heated Council Meeting
ALAMEDA (CBS SF) – Two renters' advocates were arrested Wednesday evening during a heated Alameda City Council meeting.
One of the people arrested, 68-year-old Bob Davis, a transgender woman and music professor at City College of San Francisco, could be facing serious charges in the assault of interim Assistant City Manager Bob Haun, who suffered a broken bone, Alameda police Lt. Jill Ottaviano said today.
Davis was slammed to the ground during the arrest, leaving a pool of blood in a crowded hallway outside the City Council meeting where dozens of Alameda Renters Coalition members demanded to enter.
The council was debating an emergency moratorium on rent increases and evictions. It eventually passed a 65-day emergency ordinance prohibiting no-cause evictions and rent increases of more than 8 percent over the previous 12 months, interim Assistant City Manager Amy Wooldridge said Thursday.
As the meeting got going, the chamber filled up quickly, leaving many of the renters' advocates outside.
The situation outside the chamber escalated quickly, with the crowd in the hallway chanting "Let them speak" and "moratorium now," according to numerous videos of the scene outside posted to the Internet.
A single Alameda police officer is typically assigned to the meeting, but called for assistance when one person, later identified as Davis, tried to rush into the chamber and got into an altercation with Haun, according to Ottaviano.
Haun was standing in the threshold between the chamber and the hallway when Davis tried to rush in. Haun pushed back Davis, who fell to the ground and then somehow brought Haun to the ground with her, Ottaviano said.
Haun was assisted to his feet and helped back to a seat in the chamber.
Meanwhile, video shows Davis retreating into the crowd. The officer did not immediately try to arrest Davis, waiting for assistance, Ottaviano said.
When two other officers arrived, they moved back in the crowd to locate Davis. When they tried to arrest her, she resisted and two officers fell to the ground with Davis, hitting her face hard on the linoleum floor.
"Stop hurting me," Davis said repeatedly as the officers held her to the ground. Protesters gathered around yelling at the officers, telling them to stop and accusing them of police brutality.
Davis was pulled to her feet with blood on her face. She was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries suffered in the fall, Ottaviano said.
Another officer then went back to arrest 64-year-old John Klein, who Ottaviano said swatted at one of the officers as they went by. Klein was arrested peacefully.
Davis was booked on suspicion of threatening a public official, resisting arrest and battery of a public official, which was amended to include causing great bodily injury when officials learned Haun had suffered a broken hip, Ottaviano said.
Klein was arrested on suspicion of battery on a police officer and obstructing a police officer, both misdemeanors, Ottaviano said.
Eventually, Alameda Mayor Trish Spencer stepped outside and promised the crowd that everyone would be granted equal time of one minute to speak on the issue and the meeting proceeded. Overall, there were between 80 and 100 speakers at the meeting, which lasted until 2 a.m., Wooldridge said.
Ottaviano said in the history of Alameda, the city has "never had anything like this happen at a City Council meeting."
The officers involved, she said, showed great restraint and judgment in dealing with the crowd.
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