City Government

Oakland Police Association Backs Noel Gallo’s Opponent

Published

9 years ago

September 2, 2016

The Oakland Police Officers Association (OPOA) has given $1,400 in campaign contributions to Viola Gonzales, who is running for District 5 City Council seat against incumbent Noel Gallo, according to a campaign finance disclosure form.

Gallo, who has been on the council since 2012, has generally been an advocate of the police and had the backing of the Oakland police union when he ran for City Council in 2012.

More recently, Gallo played a strong role in supporting the citizens’ police oversight commission, working closely with the local police accountability coalition to get the measure on the November ballot.

He says he believes that this is why the police union has chosen to financially back his opponent.

“I can honestly say that I’ve supported the Police Department and increasing police in Oakland since I was elected,” Gallo told the Post.

“But when it comes to the police commission, you have to remember that I am elected to represent the public—not the police union. And at the end of the day, the citizens requested that we establish a police commission,” Gallo said.

According to Gonzales’ campaign consultant, Mitchell Oster of Eveleth Group based in San Mateo, the OPOA’s endorsement is a product of Gonzales’ ability to bring people of different views together.

“Her main message to all of District 5 is that her campaign and candidacy is about trying to bridge gaps between people on different sides of the message,” said Oster.

Oster also said that Gallo may have done something as a member of the City Council that cost him the police union’s support.

“It makes you wonder why (the police union) would not support him now,” Oster said. “Maybe there’s something he’s done to turn his previous supporters into opponents, and it makes you wonder about his leadership.”

Gallo said, “It’s my duty to honor the citizens who are paying my salary and who are living here, not those who just come to collect a paycheck and then leave the city.”

The OPOA did not reply to several phone calls seeking comment on why they are choosing to back Gonzales.

The Post reported last week that Mayor Libby Schaaf is also backing Gonzales, donating the maximum individual contribution of $700 to her campaign.

A representative of the mayor told the Post that she would announce her endorsements next week.

Oakland Post

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Related Topics:campaign city council District 5 elections noel gallo Oakland OPOA police union Viola Gonzales

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

15 hours ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.