Oakland Crime Survivors Call for Justice, Healing at Emotional Gathering With Mayor
OAKLAND (KPIX) -- Oakland has now recorded 106 murders so far this year. On Friday, victims of crime shared their experiences at a meeting with mayor Libby Schaaf to help bring an end to the ongoing plague of violence.
It was a night of healing, reflection and hope as survivors of violent crime gathered in Oakland.
"I was seeking healing. I was looking for a place I can process the grief and the trauma I had experienced and I couldn't find it so, what I couldn't find, I decided to create," said Ebony Antoine.
Antoine created the advocacy group Broken by Violence after her husband was murdered in 2010. She has helped victims relocate to end the cycle of crime.
"A lot of people are angry and they're doing their own vigilante and justice for their own crimes," Antoine said.
"This has to be our absolute commitment: to bring justice to these survivors and to continue to invest in preventing violence happening in the first place which includes services, communication and it also includes enforcement," Mayor Schaaf told the gathering.
First Friday, a popular street festival, returned to the streets of Oakland for the first time in 18 months. Organizers not only had to keep festival goers safe from COVID but from crime as well so a large number of police officers patrolled the event.
"I'm over it you know because it makes me feel afraid all the time and I'm tired of feeling afraid," attendee Cheryl Meitzenheimer said.
