Plainclothes CHP Officer Who Pulled Gun On Oakland Protesters Remains On Active Duty
OAKLAND (KCBS)— A CHP officer who pulled his gun on protesters in Oakland Wednesday night is still on active duty and his supervisor says it doesn't appear that the officer did anything wrong.
Wednesday's protest that began in Berkeley and spread to Oakland was the fourth night in a row of disruption after the recent grand jury decisions where no charges were filed against police in the killings of two unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City.
In Oakland, two plainclothes officers were watching the crowd from a car, trying to determine where the march was headed and trying to identify the vandals and looters of T-Mobile store in Oakland's Chinatown. When they got out of the car and started following on foot, protesters began pointing and yelling "they're cops".
One officer was attacked and that's when the other tried to protect him.
"At the same time a group of about 30 to 50 folks encircled the officers and began to close in upon them. Our officer drew his baton and badge telling the crowd to stop and back up. They did not. They continued to advance so he transitioned from his baton and drew his firearm and pointed it at the crowd," said Division Commander Avery Brown.
Oakland police arrived to disperse the crowd. The protester who allegedly attacked the officer was taken away and booked on felony assault charges. CHP said that officer suffered head injuries and may have a concussion. According to Brown, the incident will go to the district attorney's office for review.