Soft Machine³ - Arts Tech and Other

You will see on their site that the Uhuru Movement of Oakland still (as of June 8, 2009) attempts to conflate these two young men and the events as they have developed. It is disturbing that a rapist and killer of four Oakland police officers is still deemed a “victim” by some and continually mentioned in conjunction with Oscar Grant, a victim of real police brutality, who was shot and killed by BART police while unarmed, and for no apparent reason. 

Notably absent from their site is any mention of the May 5 report that stated “DNA evidence has linked Lovelle Mixon to the sexual assaults of two Oakland women that occurred fewer than eight hours before he began a violent crime spree, which left him and four police officers fatally shot.”

March 25: Dozens march for Mixon, against police

March 25: Political Blotter: Uhuru Movement praises cop killer

May 5: DNA evidence links Oakland officers’ killer to sexual assaults of two women - Inside Bay Area

I have to raise the alarm here and warn reporters that if you interview Uhuru Movement representatives, please do not just print their radical taking points verbatim. To do that is to embrace a sort of group think where all young men (of color) in Oakland are victims - and all Oakland police are corrupt and brutal. The political aims of this radical group would be achieved at the expense of common sense and common decency, and could well just widen the divide and increase violence and anger.

This video is titled by them “March for Lovelle Mixon who shot four Oakland cops before being murdered”

The DNA evidence that links Mixon to these sexual assaults makes him a “serial rapist” and then a “cop killer” and he was most certainly not “murdered” by the police. He also had a conviction for assault with a firearm and was wanted on a parole violation. I’m amazed at the gall of the Uhuru people in attempting to paint this young man as any sort of “victim” or “hero.”

If one didn’t know such absurd folly is sincere, one would conclude that the Uhuru Movement is actively seeking to harm Oakland and instigate riots. But, I’m sure they are sincere — and extremely misguided — to the point where I can only hope many in the black community in Oakland realize it before even more damage is done. No-one wants more crime, violence and mayhem, and police brutality, surely.

Let’s actively stop people from fanning the flames, and attempt an honest dialog about real problems…. such as what happened to Oscar Grant.

Oakland residents react to the fatal police shooting of Oscar Grant