Recall Sheng Thao Rally Devolves Into Chaos When Passerby Gets Called Out by Name, Tries to Grab Microphone
There may not have been many people attending a Recall Sheng Thao rally on Tuesday in Oakland, but it’s making headlines anyway, as a businessman walking past was yelled at from onstage, confronted the speaker, and mayhem ensued.
With one week to go before the November 5 vote whether to recall Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County DA Pamela Price, a group of activists behind the recall effort held a Tuesday rally outside Oakland City Hall to draw attention to the cause. While the rally had about 20 people onstage, the video below from independent journalist Michelle Dione shows that there were only about four audience members in attendance, one of whom was seemingly there just to heckle.
But as Oaklandside reports, the rally quickly devolved into a shouting match when a passerby was called out by name by rally organizer Seneca Scott. That passerby was Ray Bobbitt, co-founder of the African American Sports and Entertainment Group which is buying the Oakland Coliseum. Seneca Scott, meanwhile, ran against Thao for mayor in 2022 and finished in seventh place, and has had a couple misdemeanor gun charges against him.
Bobbitt told Oaklandside that the ralliers started “taunting” him, and so in his words “I walked over and I was gonna take the mic and have a dialogue.”
https://sfist.com/2024/10/30/recall-sheng-thao-rally-devolves-into-chaos-when-passerby-gets-called-out-by-name-tries-to-grab-microphone/