An elderly woman was brutally attacked without provocation in Oakland – just days after the city’s mayor touted a decrease in crime.
In a shocking video circulating on social media, the victim could be seen walking down the street behind another bystander while carrying a bag and piece of luggage by her side.
The unidentified woman looks up at a man wearing a ‘Wild Boyz’ black zip-up hoodie, white shirt, and black pants before being savagely punched in the head and falling to the ground.
After slugging the elderly woman, the maniac then takes a swing at the bystander walking in front of her, who was also carrying the suitcase.
As the suspect stole one of the elderly woman’s bags and the bystander’s suitcase, four men who watched the altercation unfold chased after the perpetrator.
The identities of the victims and the suspect have yet to be revealed.
Just days earlier, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, 38, had been boasting of a reduction in crime in the city which has been blighted by violence in recent years.
‘Oakland is seeing positive results from new public safety strategies’, the mayor said claiming that it was a ‘proven data-driven strategy that focuses law enforcement violence prevention and community resources on individuals in Oakland who are at highest risk to be involved in violence.’
Mayor Thao said that since introducing ‘operation ceasefire’ ‘violent crime and overall crime have decreased in a significant and sustained manner.’
The mayor failed to provide any figures explaining how levels of crime had reduced in any meaningful way.
Thao, 38, is facing a recall election less than two years into her term as mayor, with the measure that could see her booted from office set to be put to voters in November.
Increased crime and budgetary problems have challenged Thao since she assumed office in January 2023 after a stint on the Oakland City Council.
Oakland voters are upset about soaring crime in the Bay Area city.
They say Thao’s progressive, soft-on-crime policies have emboldened criminals and driven away businesses. It is a familiar story in many progressive, Democrat cities across the country.
In Mayor Thao’s case, she has previously decried the increase in crime, stating that the uptick began in 2019 before her tenure.
But it is lax bail reform policies and the failure to bring successful prosecutions even for low-level offenses that had led to the continual rot in Oakland.
In Oakland’s case, the city has been rocked by violent crime in recent months, including murders, which soared from 78 in 2019 to 126 last year.
Crime overall increased by 18 percent in 2023 with property crime up 17 percent and violent crime up 21 percent.
And in the first four months of 2024, residential robberies soared by 118 percent on the same period last year.
Staggeringly, one car per every 30 residents was also stolen in 2023.
The situation has prompted several large corporations to pull out of the city, citing fears for staff safety and the crippling impact of retail theft.
The progressive Democrat lawmaker is the first mayor in the city’s history to be up for recall, after a campaign to oust her gained more than 40,000 signatures.
Public support for Thao has been on the wane, with Oakland’s former police chief LeRonne Armstrong urging her to resign.
‘What’s really challenging is that not only the absence of the mayor, but the absence of other city leaders stepping up in this moment to make sure that residents and people in the city of Oakland know that leadership is in place and working to help solve some of these problems,’ said LeRonne Armstrong, a former police chief fired by Thao.
Last month, federal authorities raided her home. Thao was defiant and furious, insisting she did not do anything wrong and she has no plans to resign from office.
Mayor Sheng Thao read from a prepared statement and took no questions four days after FBI agents carried boxes out of the home she shares with her son and partner as part of an investigation that included searches of two other houses owned by another family.
Retired judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, who is leading the recall campaign, is calling for Thao to step down.
‘She should do the honorable thing, and resign. The FBI raid is going to be a distraction, no matter which way you cut it. Even if she’s not charged, it’s going to be a distraction trying to manage this investigation and try to lead a city,’ Harbin-Forte said.