Indybay

On October 2nd, facts surrounding the shooting death of Alan Blueford finally began to come to light. Alan Blueford's parents were provided copies of police and coroner reports on the killing of their son. Those reports were redacted by authorities yet still provide insight into a number of the circumstances surrounding the murder of an unarmed teenager by Oakland police officer Miguel Masso. On October 3rd, Alameda County district attorney Nancy O'Malley's office released the results their "investigation" into the shooting, effectively exonerating officer Masso of any criminal liability in the case. The DA's report relies almost entirely on Masso's account and ignores contradictory witness statements and factual evidence. For instance, Masso claims that Alan Blueford was holding a gun when Masso first shot him, but the police report says that a gun was found twenty feet away from Alan Blueford (although no forensic photographs were made of the location of the gun). Nancy O'Malley's report makes no mention of the gun being so far from the deceased Alan Blueford. Likewise, O'Malley's report completely ignores the discrepancy in the fact that Masso claimed to have first fired when Alan Blueford was still on his feet, yet eleven witnesses stated that Alan Blueford was on the ground before Masso fired the first of three shots. On October 16th, Alan Blueford's family, attorneys, and supporters delivered an 8-page response to the District Attorney and held a press conference on the steps of the Alameda County court house to announce their disgust with the District Attorney's "biased and unprofessional" work (full video and PDFs below). The Justice for Alan Blueford Coalition (JAB) is continuing to press their demands for accountability by sponsoring the "Bay Area Families March Against Police Brutality" in downtown Oakland on November 10th.