As of now, the effort to recall District Attorney Pamela Price is underway, and although there’s ample reason to believe it will be scutled by the same structure that allowed Alameda County Registrar Tim Dupuis to keep his job after a completely botched 2022 Oakland Mayoral Election Ranked-Choice Voting process. The fact is, we got this far as much for another reason as the one regarding how she handled cases: DA Price insists on being combative and divisive.
This author must be completely transparent. My first encounter with now DA Price, then Ms. Price, was after her client Jasmine Celeste Abuslin AKA Celeste Guap contacted this author on Facebook and agreed to what turned out to be a 23-minute interview for Zennie62 YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@zennie62.
Who Is Celeste Guap, Once The Client Of Pamela Price?
Now, if you do not know who Celeste Guap is, she’s best described in what this author wrote about her and the video interview:
Celeste Guap is the young woman who has been at the center of a very sad story that started when she was but 16 years old. Ms Guap took up a relationship with an Oakland police officer she met while turning tricks as a prostitute working in Oakland and the East Bay. His name was Brendan O’Brien.
In my 23 minute unedited video interview posted at Zennie62 on YouTube, Zennie62.com, and Oakland Focus Blog, to name the main outlets of Zennie62Media, Ms. Guap explained that their relationship was a romantic one. But that the encounter with him caused a series of sexual relationships with what she reports as 16 Oakland police officers, as well as 6 Richmond police officers, 4 Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputies, 3 San Francisco police officers, and one officer each: a U.S. Military Defense Logistics Agency officer, a Contra Costa Sheriff’s deputy, and a Livermore police officer.
Some of the encounters were while she was 16, although the four Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputies were cleared because she was 18 and no exchange of money was involved. What opened up the situation that Guap finds herself in is that Officer O’Brien died September 25th, 2015.
Officer O’Brien reportedly took his own life, and it’s an act that Guap blames herself for. Celeste told me on video that she was in Puerto Rico and that she drunk-dialed the man she was in love with, O’Brien. But she says he did not answer her calls, but she could see he was on Facebook and making comments.
She became upset that he was ignoring her, and then threatened to expose their relationship.
Celeste Guap’s Advice To Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf
My objective in the interview was to talk to Ms. Guap and understand the experience from her point of view, and in a way that didn’t have the sex-oriented presentation we have been presented with in the mainstream media. Celeste has been through enough to have an educated view of what’s wrong with the Oakland Police Department and how to fix it – if anyone would ask her.
When I asked her what she would tell Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf , Guap said, after a bit of pause to thought, that she would tell her that their needed to be a higher minimum age standard because the police were “too young” and that they were just bringing anyone in to be a cop.
Guap also called for citizen oversight. (On the subject of youth, what we also talked about was how, at 16 and 17, Guap did have conversations with her officer sex partners about her being underage. They were on the average over 30, but would only tell her to “hurry up and turn 18.” There’s more in the interview.)
For example, where one media outlet said that Guap told her she was still a street worker, Celeste told me she was a makeup artist. Overall, I think Celeste Guap can be a great elected official and can help spearhead police reform. Indeed, she also believes that prostitution should be legalized and sex-workers allowed to get registered. If that and the legalization of marijuana happens, we will see a sea change end in the kind of environment that caused Celeste Guap to wind up in the situation she found herself in.
Zennie Abraham Interview With Celeste Guap.
The entire video is viewable here (age restricted by this author and to those over 18 years old):
Through the time leading up to the interview, and after it, this author reached out to Celeste Guap’s lawyer, Pamela Price. Never once was a call returned or email answered. A 2021 effort to interview Price in the run-up to the 2022 election was responded to by Price’s assistant Hae Min Cho, who wrote:
“I’m helping with Pamela’s social media campaign. I’ll relay this message to her campaign manager, Mark Van Landuyt. Thanks for reaching out!”
To which this author wrote back:
“Thanks!”
To which Hae Min Cho wrote:
“You got it. I’ll check in again tomorrow to make sure Mark and Pamela got back to you.”
Pamela Price never got back to me and neither did her campaign manager Mark Van Landuyt.
Price’s Supporters Seemed To Point The Way Toward A District Attorney Who Would Not Turn Her Backs On Victims
After Ms. Guap’s ordeal, Sheng Thao, now-Oakland Mayor, then aide to Oakland At-Large Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, issued this statement on behalf of her boss:
OAKLAND, CA – Tonight, the Oakland City Council voted to settle Jasmine Abuslin’s (formerly known as Celeste Guap) claim against the city. According to Abuslin’s claim, she was victimized and exploited by Oakland police officers. The city will pay $989,000 to settle the case, many are feeling dismay with this gross misconduct that was not only harmful to the then minor, Jasmine, but also that the misconduct will cost tax-payers as well.
Sheng Thao for Oakland At-Large Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan
Oakland City Councilmember At-Large, Rebecca Kaplan, who has been outspoken and actively working to change the culture of the Oakland police department states, “The magnitude of this scandal, not only the number of officers accused of sexual misconduct, but the number that are alleged to have known about it and not done anything, suggest that we need fundamental cultural change,” said Kaplan.
Councilmember Kaplan’s Statement (and by extension Sheng Thao’s authorship) would seem to imply that Ms. Price would agree with both of them if she ever won an election to be district attorney or high-ranking elected official. Well, after trying twice before (for DA and for Mayor of Oakland), Price finally won. And she won her chance to make meaningful reforms.
But the climate leading up to her election breakthrough was punctuated by several giant events in Modern American Civil Rights History: the Murder of George Floyd, as well as the giant list of Black Americans coldly killed by police officers Americans were told were there to “serve and protect.” Of late, police officers in a number of cities have acted like they’re the Pirates of the Carribean but there to eat, not entertain, the tourists.
And that happened just before The Pandemic, which closed businesses and killed millions of hard-working Americans, and put the perfect counter to calls to “defund the police”. Thus, the climate was set for a district attorney that would just enforce the law, rather than make radical change – trouble is Ms. Price ignored the message.
Pamela Price Became More Divisive And Combative As She Approached Her 2022 Run For District Attorney
For her 2022 Campaign Pamela Price wrote the following:
The Justice Done Right slate of (JoAnn ) Walker and (Pamela) Price wants to highlight and eliminate the double standard in policing and sentencing in Alameda County. According to Campaign Zero, based on data from 2016-2018, Black people in Alameda County were 5.5 times more likely to have deadly force used on them than a White person. When it comes to complaints of police misconduct, 80% of complaints were ruled in favor of the police officer from 2016-18. And in cases where police say they “saw a gun” – it was found 1 out of every 3 instances – a gun was never found.
Campaign Zero does a yearly police scorecard that grades County Sheriffs all across California. The Alameda County Sheriff received a failing F grade with 35% (ranking 53 out of 58 California Counties).
These stark data points are coupled with the numerous issues facing the Alameda County Sheriff Office like 1,200+ untested rape kits, numerous allegations of mistreatment, abuse and rape of women in the custody and an ever-changing response to the Covid-19 pandemic and safety in the Santa Rita jail.
The common platform of the Justice Done Right slate on many of the issues that Alameda County residents want to see addressed in the County justice system are:
- Restore public trust in our criminal justice system
- Develop and fully fund more robust and effective reentry strategies
- Reduce gun violence
- Protect immigrant communities
- Stop over-criminalizing our youth
- Hold police accountable for misconduct
- Implement fair justice reform measures
- Support investment in public health and social services
- Establish law enforcement and prosecutorial oversight
- End the death penalty
- Increase de-escalation and anti-bias Training for the law enforcement workforce
Pamela Price then took her campaign platform from paper to behavior, as she took time to write a missive against then California Senator Kamala Harris. Here’s a sample of it:
Many Black women across the US are quite disturbed in the days since Kamala Harris dropped out of the Presidential race. Some Black women are even devastated by her decision. Others are crying “foul” and shame on the Democratic Party. I’m writing to you because your anguished despair about Kamala troubles me.
I am a Black woman who has been on the front lines of the fight for civil and human rights for more than 50 years. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a strident advocate for the leadership of Black women. I know how transformative our leadership can be. My favorite hashtag is #BlackWomenLead.
As the Political Director for a local chapter of Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) and a member of the statewide BWOPA Board, I helped raise tens of thousands of dollars to elect Kamala to the Senate. Our statewide President, Dezie Woods-Jones, declared early that we would support Kamala and raise money for her. And if you know Dezie who is a force of nature herself, you do not tell Dezie “No.”
I did, however, share with Dezie and my BWOPA sisters, that I had serious misgivings about Kamala. And I had to defend my decision to support Kamala with those who knew that she had even then, betrayed us as Attorney General.
The Betrayal of Black Women
In California politics, with very few exceptions, Kamala has not supported progressive Black women running for office. In 2017 and again, in 2019, we fought to elect Kimberly Ellis as the Chairwoman of the California Democratic Party. Kamala did not support Kimberly Ellis in 2017 or 2019.
In 2018, 2 Black women ran for Oakland Mayor. Kamala did not support either one of us. In the 2018 race for Assembly District 15 to represent Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond and West Contra Costa County, there were 3 Black women running for State Assembly. Kamala did not support any of them. As a result, today, there are no Black representatives from the Bay Area in the California Legislature.
In three local races in 2018, Oakland Mayor, Assembly District 15 and Alameda County District Attorney, Kamala provided major support for all of the white women who won.
From Kamala Is Not “The One” By Pamela Price
And Then Pamela Price Finally Showed Her True Colors To This Author In An Unnecessary 2021 Press Conference Attack
Before we continue, it’s important to post this video demonstrating this author’s support for Kamala Harris during her run for Senate:
The scene was toward the end of a 2021 ZOOM Press Conference on the African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG) plan to bring the WNBA to Oakland. Near the end of the question and answer, the topic turned to Howard Terminal and I asked a question regarding the matter of tax increment financing. In the background, with a hot mic, this author caught Ms. Price saying words that were attacking of my very act of speaking. An effort was made to go back and figure out exactly what she was saying, but it could not be clearly figured out, except that the tone was awfully hostile and directed toward this author. For me, it cemented what, for years to that point, I privately believed: that she has something against me from the perspective of blackness.
That brings us to a sad fact in Oakland. Black Progressives spend as much time attacking other Black Oaklanders, as anyone white. Moreover, Black Progressives in Oakland show a rather wild love for white media and what is perceived as white liberal idelogs – and almost completely ignore black media. They’re quick to tout their support for Bernie Sanders and prone to seeking attention from traditional white media and all but ignoring (or pretending to ignore) black media personalities, like this author, in the process.
Or, when they do pay attention, it’s with hostility that says “You don’t belong here, boy”, to this black blogger. In other words, Pamela Price and her associates are as much supporters of white institutional supremacy as white supremacists. After years of experiencing subpar treatment from that group, this author is only calling it as he has experienced it.
Moreover, their attacks have come for completely silly reasons and are completely disrespecful of the fact that I am caregiver for my Mom, who just happens to be an 88-year-old Black Woman of Legendary Status, who was one of United Airlines first generation of African American reservation sales agents during the 1960s.
What’s bothersome about Black relations with other Black folks today, is the desire to question the blackness of the other. Does anyone realize that has not helped us?
All of this points to one central problem with Pamela Price that explains where she finds herself today: the constant work to make enemies of other black folks in Oakland, not to mention anyone else she perceives as against her. Pamela Price has not learned how to turn off that switch, and the sad bet here is that it may be too late for her.
Price’s one savior may be amoung the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and the overall Alameda county managers. Given the overall and still very active push to protect and advance progressive candidates, the matter of signatures and other fine points of a recall election could be used against the effort to remove her. Don’t bet against it.
All of this masks the very fact that Oakland’s crime problems will not be solved by locking up criminals, but by destroying the very climate that produces them: one of high-rates of disinvestment, too many drugs, a complete lack of low-skill but well paying jobs, and a non-functioning financial safety net, alergic to giving out grants to those in need, but large enough to restart their lives.