No question about it, Price is running scared. She thought she could assume office and start carrying out her plan to “decarcerate” the prisons. But then she heard from us, the public, who were none too pleased that a soft-on-crime D.A. was intent on injecting her race politics into the criminal justice system. And we spoke up with a loud, thunderous NO!
You could sense Price’s defensiveness after she mishandled the Jasper Wu murder case. She was forced to make a video explaining herself—an uncommon instance for a politician who prefers to work in the shadows. In her video, Price came across as whiny and defensive. The Wu case, and others, have revealed her as desperate to keep her job, throwing spaghetti at the walls to see what sticks, trying to have her cake and eat it too. But it isn’t working. The public now looks at every news article about her for more evidence that she is working against safety and security; once a politician is saddled with something like that, it’s nearly impossible for them to overcome the skepticism that accompanies their every move—which is yet another reason why Price’s office lacks all semblance of transparency.
Her two latest blunders only add to the impression that a dishonest, manipulative politician is running the D.A.’s office. As for Jasper Wu, yesterday’s news, reported by the East Bay Times, is that Price “decided…to leave open the possibility of parole for the men” who killed him.
This comes, of course, after Price decided not to charge one of the three defendants who had been arrested. This latest development means the two men who remain under arrest may be back on the streets at some point. Little Jasper’s parents are upset and angry, as they should be. Carl Chan, the head of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce (and the Coalition for a Better Oakland’s “Person of the Year” award for 2023), put it well: “It is important to the family to seek the maximum so-called sentencing as possible. We are not only talking about how many years, it's about what message are we willing to send to the people that are committing the crimes against innocent families.”
It’s not only Price’s favorable handling of Jasper’s killers that is further eroding the public’s confidence in her, it’s the way she’s dealing with the triple murder case involving Delonzo Logwood. It’s a complex case, but in essence, Price once again criticized her predecessor, Nancy O’Malley, the D.A. who originally charged Logwood with murder. “The fact is, Mr. Logwood was overcharged by my predecessor,” Price said. “That was wrong. And we have been working mightily to right that wrong.” As she often does, Price suggested that Logwood—who has been in jail for years for the murders—is actually innocent; she suggested that mysterious “persons” actually did the killings. This, despite the considerable evidence that Logwood is the killer.
It’s not hard to see what Price is up to. Her playbook is this:
1. Work in the dark. Don’t let the public know what you’re doing.
2. Don’t have press conferences, so you don’t have to answer inconvenient questions from reporters.
3. Continue to insist that the prisons be shut down and depopulated.
4. Look for any and every excuse to go soft on Black felons.
Last month, Price began fundraising for her re-election campaign, which is slated for 2026. Why she’s starting so early isn’t clear; the reason may be that she realizes she’s going to need a hefty bank account to fight off a pending Recall; the papers are already circulating, with 20,000 people having signed up. Please join them!
At any rate, the good news—and you all should be proud of the role you’ve played—is that we, the Coalition, as well as many, many other good citizens are demanding accountability for this out-of-control, race-obsessed, radical District Attorney. Our collective voice is being heard, not only by Price but by the media and the public-at-large. Price is coming to understand that her assault on the criminal justice system is reaching its limits. The pushback is underway. Anyone who’s been reading the news now knows exactly who and what Pamela Price is: a race-baiting pseudo-Black Panther, who believes that Black men currently incarcerated should be back out on the streets, and cops should be out of a job.
Steve Heimoff