Follow KQED’s reporting on criminal justice issues.
Staffing, Mental Health, Surveillance Tech Are Top of Mind for Richmond Police’s New Chief
Many California Prisoners Get a Second Chance. A Declining Parole Rate Shows That's No Guarantee
No Prison Time for 2 Former Antioch Cops Who Testified Against Colleagues
Antioch Agrees to Pay $4.6 Million, Reform Police Department After Misconduct Suit
Stockton Leaders Urge City to Invest in Youth After November Mass Shooting
Stanford’s Aradshar Chaddar Dreamed Big — and Left a Lasting Impact
SF Filmmaker Kevin Epps Convicted of Manslaughter, Not Murder, in 2016 Shooting
Alameda County DA Drops Charges Against San Leandro Officer in Fatal 2020 Shooting
Alameda County DA Moves to Drop Charges Against Officer for 2020 Fatal Shooting
Arguments Over Genocide Dominate Stanford Protester Trial Hearing
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"content": "\u003cp>When Timothy Simmons began his law enforcement career at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/contra-costa-county\">Contra Costa County\u003c/a> Sheriff’s Office 17 years ago, he knew he wanted to stay rooted in his hometown communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Originally from Vallejo, Simmons said the hallmarks of his childhood — soccer games and hangouts at the mall — took place just as much in Richmond, a city that has dealt with a history of high crime rates and headlines driven largely by the Chevron refinery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now not only have I adopted the city of Richmond as a second home, I actually have family members who live in this community, and that’s really informed a lot of my ideology and my philosophy,” said Simmons, who officially assumes the role of the department’s new chief, starting on Jan. 17.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simmons, who was formerly assistant chief, shared his vision with KQED’s Brian Watt, explaining the importance of community policing, ongoing staffing challenges and mental health. Here are highlights from their conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A reckoning after George Floyd\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Simmons said when he joined Richmond Police, former chief Chris Magnus was trying to shift the department toward community-oriented policing. According to Simmons, officers were encouraged to build relationships with community-based organizations, such as neighborhood councils and business districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[These groups] would begin to know who their beat officer [was], and there would be a personal connection made. And officers would assume the ownership of the quality of life and the crime issues within those areas that they’re assigned,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069790\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069790\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Simmons_Timothy-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Simmons_Timothy-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Simmons_Timothy-2000x3000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Simmons_Timothy-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Simmons_Timothy-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Simmons_Timothy-1365x2048.jpg 1365w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Timothy Simmons, the new chief for the Richmond Police Department, has been a law enforcement officer for 17 years, beginning at the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Richmond Police Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The department has faced its share of scandals. In 2014, Officer Wallace Jensen \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11733690/even-with-new-disclosure-law-fight-continues-to-unseal-californias-secret-police-files\">shot and killed\u003c/a> 24-year-old Richard “Pedie” Perez, who was unarmed. Richmond Police was also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11767613/ex-richmond-police-lieutenant-swapped-sexually-explicit-texts-with-exploited-teen\">involved\u003c/a> in a massive sexual exploitation case centered on a teenage sex worker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the watershed moment likely arrived in earnest in 2020, after racial justice protests sparked by the police murder of George Floyd. In response, law enforcement agencies around the country began to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/23/nx-s1-5399738/george-floyd-police-justice-change\">reexamine\u003c/a> their own policies and practices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Departments were thrown into disarray,” Simmons said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, several East Bay cities, such as Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond, created task forces to reimagine public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simmons represented the force in Richmond’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/4011/Reimagining-Public-Safety\">effort\u003c/a> but said the reallocation of $3 million from the city’s budget to fund policing alternatives had an unintended effect on staffing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There wasn’t a strong consideration as to what the impacts to the police department would be directly,” he said. “People on the lower end of the seniority tenure started to believe that there might be layoffs, and they didn’t want to stick around to see if they were going to lose their job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simmons said within a two-year period, Richmond Police lost around 45 officers who were hired at other jurisdictions — including those who had been working to build community relationships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We started to be a little bit more on the reactive side, rather than on the proactive side when it comes to solving neighborhood problems,” said Simmons, who, as chief, plans to focus on recruitment and retention to improve relationship-building work.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mental health for officers and residents\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of Simmons’ other priorities is to improve mental health support for officers. Research has long shown police officers face \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/26/nx-s1-5389653/police-protests-mental-health-treatment-growth\">worse\u003c/a> health outcomes than the general public, specifically as it relates to higher rates of depression, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you’re short-staffed, officers are working a lot of mandatory overtime. So, it’s a challenge for us to maintain proper mental health and proper work-life balance and make sure that our staff gets to spend time with their families and their friends and spend time doing things that you know fills their spirit, so to speak,” Simmons said.[aside postID=news_12068817 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS55037_023_KQED_ChevronRefineryStrike_04072022-qut-1020x680.jpg']The way Richmond Police handles mental health made headlines last year, following the police shooting death of 27-year-old \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12054383/during-mental-health-crises-california-police-are-still-first-responders-its-not-working\">Angel Montaño\u003c/a>. During a 911 call, his family said he was threatening to kill them and cited “mental health issues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, Bisa French, Richmond Police’s former chief, called for reforms but expressed uncertainty about “what can be done differently.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simmons acknowledged that distress calls associated with mental health continue to be a challenge. He said the department will keep focusing on annual training.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Until the system changes, this will continue to be an issue that society relies on law enforcement to be a response to,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do in this area, but Richmond [Police] and myself, we’re going to be committed to being as well-trained as we can, as empathetic as we possibly can and understanding the dynamics — while also putting the reverence for life as one of our primary things that is in our oath that we have to protect. It’s a balance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Concerns over surveillance tech\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As many California cities have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066989/california-cities-double-down-on-license-plate-readers-as-federal-surveillance-grows\">doubled down\u003c/a> on automated license plate readers, Simmons has prioritized data privacy concerns. Last fall, he decided to shut down Richmond’s system after a configuration error made local data potentially searchable by outside agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not only are we a sanctuary state, but we are also a sanctuary city,” he said. “As such, I support the values and ideals of this community, making sure that our immigrant community, our undocumented community, and everybody in Richmond who calls Richmond home have the right to feel like their privacy is protected and it’s not being exploited by any city government or police department.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12051259\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1777px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12051259\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/20160901_115600_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1777\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/20160901_115600_qed.jpg 1777w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/20160901_115600_qed-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/20160901_115600_qed-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1777px) 100vw, 1777px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Richmond Police vehicle on Sept. 1, 2016. \u003ccite>(Alex Emslie/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In December, Flock Safety, the system vendor, told KQED that it had shut off out-of-state access to camera data from California law enforcement agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The police department wrote in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/richmondpolicecali/posts/pfbid02DLgEZwDpaCE6ZEXMyYboDY4EFiQFq8axkX2SG9YE6oQFUdgQDVuHMdPwx8xzXbpel\">Facebook post\u003c/a> announcing the suspension that it has no evidence that any outside agency actually viewed Richmond’s data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, Simmons said he wanted to get the system running again, arguing the lack of access to ALPR data has left investigators, officers and victims of crime “at a deficit, where we would have had a lot of investigative leads.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of crimes that have been committed in our city and our community since turning that off,” Simmons said. “It is extremely important for us to be able to leverage technology so that we can provide the best possible law enforcement services to our community, [while] ensuring that privacy is protected. I value both of those things equally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A reckoning after George Floyd\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Simmons said when he joined Richmond Police, former chief Chris Magnus was trying to shift the department toward community-oriented policing. According to Simmons, officers were encouraged to build relationships with community-based organizations, such as neighborhood councils and business districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[These groups] would begin to know who their beat officer [was], and there would be a personal connection made. And officers would assume the ownership of the quality of life and the crime issues within those areas that they’re assigned,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069790\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069790\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Simmons_Timothy-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Simmons_Timothy-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Simmons_Timothy-2000x3000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Simmons_Timothy-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Simmons_Timothy-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Simmons_Timothy-1365x2048.jpg 1365w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Timothy Simmons, the new chief for the Richmond Police Department, has been a law enforcement officer for 17 years, beginning at the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Richmond Police Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The department has faced its share of scandals. In 2014, Officer Wallace Jensen \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11733690/even-with-new-disclosure-law-fight-continues-to-unseal-californias-secret-police-files\">shot and killed\u003c/a> 24-year-old Richard “Pedie” Perez, who was unarmed. Richmond Police was also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11767613/ex-richmond-police-lieutenant-swapped-sexually-explicit-texts-with-exploited-teen\">involved\u003c/a> in a massive sexual exploitation case centered on a teenage sex worker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the watershed moment likely arrived in earnest in 2020, after racial justice protests sparked by the police murder of George Floyd. In response, law enforcement agencies around the country began to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/23/nx-s1-5399738/george-floyd-police-justice-change\">reexamine\u003c/a> their own policies and practices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Departments were thrown into disarray,” Simmons said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, several East Bay cities, such as Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond, created task forces to reimagine public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simmons represented the force in Richmond’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/4011/Reimagining-Public-Safety\">effort\u003c/a> but said the reallocation of $3 million from the city’s budget to fund policing alternatives had an unintended effect on staffing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There wasn’t a strong consideration as to what the impacts to the police department would be directly,” he said. “People on the lower end of the seniority tenure started to believe that there might be layoffs, and they didn’t want to stick around to see if they were going to lose their job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simmons said within a two-year period, Richmond Police lost around 45 officers who were hired at other jurisdictions — including those who had been working to build community relationships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We started to be a little bit more on the reactive side, rather than on the proactive side when it comes to solving neighborhood problems,” said Simmons, who, as chief, plans to focus on recruitment and retention to improve relationship-building work.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mental health for officers and residents\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of Simmons’ other priorities is to improve mental health support for officers. Research has long shown police officers face \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/26/nx-s1-5389653/police-protests-mental-health-treatment-growth\">worse\u003c/a> health outcomes than the general public, specifically as it relates to higher rates of depression, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you’re short-staffed, officers are working a lot of mandatory overtime. So, it’s a challenge for us to maintain proper mental health and proper work-life balance and make sure that our staff gets to spend time with their families and their friends and spend time doing things that you know fills their spirit, so to speak,” Simmons said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The way Richmond Police handles mental health made headlines last year, following the police shooting death of 27-year-old \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12054383/during-mental-health-crises-california-police-are-still-first-responders-its-not-working\">Angel Montaño\u003c/a>. During a 911 call, his family said he was threatening to kill them and cited “mental health issues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, Bisa French, Richmond Police’s former chief, called for reforms but expressed uncertainty about “what can be done differently.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simmons acknowledged that distress calls associated with mental health continue to be a challenge. He said the department will keep focusing on annual training.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Until the system changes, this will continue to be an issue that society relies on law enforcement to be a response to,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do in this area, but Richmond [Police] and myself, we’re going to be committed to being as well-trained as we can, as empathetic as we possibly can and understanding the dynamics — while also putting the reverence for life as one of our primary things that is in our oath that we have to protect. It’s a balance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Concerns over surveillance tech\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As many California cities have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066989/california-cities-double-down-on-license-plate-readers-as-federal-surveillance-grows\">doubled down\u003c/a> on automated license plate readers, Simmons has prioritized data privacy concerns. Last fall, he decided to shut down Richmond’s system after a configuration error made local data potentially searchable by outside agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not only are we a sanctuary state, but we are also a sanctuary city,” he said. “As such, I support the values and ideals of this community, making sure that our immigrant community, our undocumented community, and everybody in Richmond who calls Richmond home have the right to feel like their privacy is protected and it’s not being exploited by any city government or police department.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12051259\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1777px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12051259\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/20160901_115600_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1777\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/20160901_115600_qed.jpg 1777w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/20160901_115600_qed-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/20160901_115600_qed-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1777px) 100vw, 1777px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Richmond Police vehicle on Sept. 1, 2016. \u003ccite>(Alex Emslie/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In December, Flock Safety, the system vendor, told KQED that it had shut off out-of-state access to camera data from California law enforcement agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The police department wrote in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/richmondpolicecali/posts/pfbid02DLgEZwDpaCE6ZEXMyYboDY4EFiQFq8axkX2SG9YE6oQFUdgQDVuHMdPwx8xzXbpel\">Facebook post\u003c/a> announcing the suspension that it has no evidence that any outside agency actually viewed Richmond’s data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, Simmons said he wanted to get the system running again, arguing the lack of access to ALPR data has left investigators, officers and victims of crime “at a deficit, where we would have had a lot of investigative leads.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of crimes that have been committed in our city and our community since turning that off,” Simmons said. “It is extremely important for us to be able to leverage technology so that we can provide the best possible law enforcement services to our community, [while] ensuring that privacy is protected. I value both of those things equally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Many California Prisoners Get a Second Chance. A Declining Parole Rate Shows That's No Guarantee",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thousands of prisoners in California go before the Board of Parole Hearings each year in hopes of a chance at freedom. It’s a daunting situation that deals in high stakes for all involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parole commissioners must follow legal standards while balancing questions of rehabilitation, public safety and the lasting harms caused by the crime. Convicted offenders \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/09/menendez-brothers-parole-lessons/\">must try to present themselves truthfully\u003c/a> — warts and all — as their custody files and psychological risk assessments are openly discussed. Victims and prosecutors attend hearings, usually to argue against someone’s parole. Every so often, they advocate for the incarcerated person’s release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other than the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-05-31/leslie-van-houten-california-parole-gavin-newsom\">governor’s veto power\u003c/a>, the commissioners’ findings are generally the last buffer against a former criminal being released. Commissioners go through extensive training and take great care in their decisions of whether someone is suitable for parole, as evidenced by a recidivism rate of less than 3% — meaning 97% of prisoners paroled never reoffend. Less than 1% return for crimes involving violence against another person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last decade or so, California \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/bph/changes-in-the-law-expanding-parole-eligibility-for-long-term-offenders/\">expanded parole opportunities\u003c/a> for people convicted of crimes during their youth and for older prisoners. The annual number of parole hearings steadily increased — from 5,226 in 2018 to 9,017 in 2022, before plateauing at about 8,000 in 2023 and remaining there. The state’s prison population also dropped significantly during those years, from 128,000 in 2018 to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/09/california-prisons-recidivism-study/\">about 90,000 today\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has tried to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2022/06/prison-rehabilitation-norway-model/\">shift its model of incarceration\u003c/a> to focus on release from incarceration and re-entering society. Offering young prisoners better opportunities early in their incarceration can help them avoid the pitfalls of drug use, violence and gang activity in prison. Older prisoners generally tend to “age out” of their previous criminal behavior.[aside postID=news_12069430 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-AntiochPolice-02-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']By incentivizing rehabilitative programming, substance abuse treatment and higher education, the system now aspires to help offenders work productively toward personal growth and self-improvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But at the same time, even with seemingly much more opportunity and incentives, the success rate for prisoners to be found suitable for parole has gradually declined — from 39% in 2018 to roughly 35% for 2019 through 2021 to below 25% in 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters talked to parole experts to try and understand the dynamics behind the numbers. No one could point to any one reason for the significant decline in parole suitability rates; the experts instead said the downward turn can be attributed to many different factors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what we learned:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Some older prisoners struggle at hearings\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many elderly California prisoners with life sentences began their terms decades ago when parole opportunities were scarce. They logically believed they had no hope of ever being paroled. Many were stuck at remote prisons that lacked access to rehabilitative programs. Now they face significant challenges to fully grasp and articulate evidence of personal transformation that parole commissioners require, such as insight, remorse and accountability.[aside postID=news_12069220 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/KernCountyICEDetentionGetty.jpg']“The number of people who are now elderly parole-eligible is going up in a significant way,” said Lilli Paratore, director of legal services for UnCommon Law, an organization that represents dozens of parole candidates each year at no cost to the prisoners. “In 2013, only 19% of hearings were 60-plus, but now 32% of hearings are people who are 60-plus, and of course that just mirrors the aging prison population.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 19,000 prisoners are 55 or older, according to the state budget proposal Gov. Gavin Newsom released this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as these older prisoners continue to age, their mental and physical health can deteriorate and adversely impact their ability to present themselves to the parole board. Instead of becoming better prepared over time, repeated parole denials just leave them feeling more and more frustrated, confused and discouraged.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Less urgency from some young offenders\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The stakes are not nearly the same for offenders without a life sentence who committed crimes while under age 26. Expanded parole opportunities now allow them to go before the board after 15 years. Unlike lifers, they know they have a pre-determined release date. Getting denied parole might mean waiting another five or 10 years to go home, rather than potentially never being found suitable to be set free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, younger people may not make the best use of those first 15 years behind bars to pursue rehabilitation. Some do, but many falter before figuring themselves out. They tend to view their parole hearing as a chance to serve a reduced sentence, rather than their only chance at freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In contrast, youthful offenders serving life sentences get their first chance at parole after serving a minimum of either 20, or more usually, 25 years. That naturally allows them more time to mature and prepare themselves for a hearing. They appreciate their parole opportunities in ways non-lifers just can’t, because their sentences are open-ended.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>High bar for sex offenders\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sex crimes generate the most scrutiny at parole hearings and raise the most psychological red flags. Because these crimes are so difficult to speak about openly in group discussion — particularly within incarcerated communities — few rehabilitative programs are designed to address the specific triggers, causative factors and flawed belief systems underlying these offenses.[aside postID=news_12039556 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/050525-Corcoran-State-Prison-GR-Getty-01-CM-copy-1020x680.jpg']“There’s so many different types of people who commit sex crimes for a large variety of reasons and successful programming for those folks has to be tailored to that specific issue,” said former Board of Parole Hearings Executive Officer Jennifer Shaffer. “So you’ll have, for instance, sadists, people who actually get physically turned on by torturing people. That’s very different from somebody who has anger issues and expresses them through basically sexually dominating somebody.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because it’s much harder for sexual offenders to demonstrate to the parole board the necessary personal insight and transformation, parole commissioners are less likely to clear these offenders as no longer an “unreasonable risk to public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of the problem is that it’s more difficult for sexual offenders to clear a psychological risk assessment. “As horrible as this sounds, they may have at some point equated pain with sexual arousal — and breaking that connection is really difficult and takes a lot of very intense programming,” said Shaffer.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A prisoner’s digital footprint\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Parole commissioners look through a person’s entire dossier days before their hearing and are tasked with interpreting all the facts within it through the lens of public safety. Any piece of information — such as visitor logs, write-ups, personal expenses and more — might be deemed pertinent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the last few years, the world of information the board is looking at is growing — even though that information isn’t necessarily related to violence risk,” said Paratore. “They’re looking more and more at (unemployment) fraud and restitution avoidance. They’re looking at medical records. They’re looking at confidential information more and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What they think they need to consider has just grown without any guardrails and resulting in more people being denied parole because the board does not know how to properly interpret that information. This is especially true of medical records.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California began providing free electronic tablets to its incarcerated population in 2021, which ensures that all phone calls and text messages are now digitally monitored and ripe for analysis and search by artificial intelligence. Those types of detailed records can easily be highlighted now and made available to parole commissioners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, more focus can be paid to how prisoners get outside money placed into their institutional trust accounts, and how they go about paying for canteen and other services. In the aftermath of COVID relief and the huge rash of fraudulent unemployment claims statewide, some incarcerated individuals’ trust account activity came into question. The extra level of scrutiny drew unwanted attention to other forms of potential misconduct.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Restitution fraud\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Criminal courts can order large amounts of restitution when a person is convicted, usually separated into court fees and victims services fees. Prisoners who owe restitution will always have 50% deducted from any wages or incoming money until the debt is paid off. If a person works in the kitchen for $80 a month, they get to keep $40. Same thing if their family sends them $200. They’ll receive $100 to spend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Particularly for lifers convicted of violent crimes, restitution can be quite high and seemingly impossible to finish paying through these 50% deducted installments. To avoid losing half their spending money, some prisoners will direct their families and friends to deposit money into other people’s accounts who do not owe restitution. The prisoners will agree to a much lower deduction fee amongst themselves, usually 20%, and hold onto more spending money for canteen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But such under-the-table transactions now leave more of a digital footprint. Parole commissioners want to see a person show remorse and demonstrate awareness into the impact of their crime on the victims. It’s a bad look for that same individual to be seen participating in \u003ca href=\"https://knock-la.com/california-lifers-are-kept-behind-bars-despite-being-found-suitable-for-parole/\">restitution avoidance\u003c/a> to save themselves money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The restitution issue is the only thing I can think of to really explain the decline in the grant rate,” said Vanessa Nelson-Sloane, Director of Life Support Alliance, an advocacy group for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated lifers. “Sometimes when they pass a new law, a new population comes into the parole cycle, but there’s been no new laws recently that would make any difference in the considerations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am so sure that this is it because that’s all I hear about from people who are getting denied — restitution, restitution, restitution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CalMatters data reporter Jeremia Kimelman contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Joe Garcia is a California Local News fellow.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/01/parole-board-suitability-denials/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thousands of prisoners in California go before the Board of Parole Hearings each year in hopes of a chance at freedom. It’s a daunting situation that deals in high stakes for all involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parole commissioners must follow legal standards while balancing questions of rehabilitation, public safety and the lasting harms caused by the crime. Convicted offenders \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/09/menendez-brothers-parole-lessons/\">must try to present themselves truthfully\u003c/a> — warts and all — as their custody files and psychological risk assessments are openly discussed. Victims and prosecutors attend hearings, usually to argue against someone’s parole. Every so often, they advocate for the incarcerated person’s release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other than the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-05-31/leslie-van-houten-california-parole-gavin-newsom\">governor’s veto power\u003c/a>, the commissioners’ findings are generally the last buffer against a former criminal being released. Commissioners go through extensive training and take great care in their decisions of whether someone is suitable for parole, as evidenced by a recidivism rate of less than 3% — meaning 97% of prisoners paroled never reoffend. Less than 1% return for crimes involving violence against another person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last decade or so, California \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/bph/changes-in-the-law-expanding-parole-eligibility-for-long-term-offenders/\">expanded parole opportunities\u003c/a> for people convicted of crimes during their youth and for older prisoners. The annual number of parole hearings steadily increased — from 5,226 in 2018 to 9,017 in 2022, before plateauing at about 8,000 in 2023 and remaining there. The state’s prison population also dropped significantly during those years, from 128,000 in 2018 to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/09/california-prisons-recidivism-study/\">about 90,000 today\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has tried to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2022/06/prison-rehabilitation-norway-model/\">shift its model of incarceration\u003c/a> to focus on release from incarceration and re-entering society. Offering young prisoners better opportunities early in their incarceration can help them avoid the pitfalls of drug use, violence and gang activity in prison. Older prisoners generally tend to “age out” of their previous criminal behavior.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>By incentivizing rehabilitative programming, substance abuse treatment and higher education, the system now aspires to help offenders work productively toward personal growth and self-improvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But at the same time, even with seemingly much more opportunity and incentives, the success rate for prisoners to be found suitable for parole has gradually declined — from 39% in 2018 to roughly 35% for 2019 through 2021 to below 25% in 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters talked to parole experts to try and understand the dynamics behind the numbers. No one could point to any one reason for the significant decline in parole suitability rates; the experts instead said the downward turn can be attributed to many different factors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what we learned:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Some older prisoners struggle at hearings\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many elderly California prisoners with life sentences began their terms decades ago when parole opportunities were scarce. They logically believed they had no hope of ever being paroled. Many were stuck at remote prisons that lacked access to rehabilitative programs. Now they face significant challenges to fully grasp and articulate evidence of personal transformation that parole commissioners require, such as insight, remorse and accountability.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The number of people who are now elderly parole-eligible is going up in a significant way,” said Lilli Paratore, director of legal services for UnCommon Law, an organization that represents dozens of parole candidates each year at no cost to the prisoners. “In 2013, only 19% of hearings were 60-plus, but now 32% of hearings are people who are 60-plus, and of course that just mirrors the aging prison population.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 19,000 prisoners are 55 or older, according to the state budget proposal Gov. Gavin Newsom released this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as these older prisoners continue to age, their mental and physical health can deteriorate and adversely impact their ability to present themselves to the parole board. Instead of becoming better prepared over time, repeated parole denials just leave them feeling more and more frustrated, confused and discouraged.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Less urgency from some young offenders\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The stakes are not nearly the same for offenders without a life sentence who committed crimes while under age 26. Expanded parole opportunities now allow them to go before the board after 15 years. Unlike lifers, they know they have a pre-determined release date. Getting denied parole might mean waiting another five or 10 years to go home, rather than potentially never being found suitable to be set free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, younger people may not make the best use of those first 15 years behind bars to pursue rehabilitation. Some do, but many falter before figuring themselves out. They tend to view their parole hearing as a chance to serve a reduced sentence, rather than their only chance at freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In contrast, youthful offenders serving life sentences get their first chance at parole after serving a minimum of either 20, or more usually, 25 years. That naturally allows them more time to mature and prepare themselves for a hearing. They appreciate their parole opportunities in ways non-lifers just can’t, because their sentences are open-ended.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>High bar for sex offenders\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sex crimes generate the most scrutiny at parole hearings and raise the most psychological red flags. Because these crimes are so difficult to speak about openly in group discussion — particularly within incarcerated communities — few rehabilitative programs are designed to address the specific triggers, causative factors and flawed belief systems underlying these offenses.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“There’s so many different types of people who commit sex crimes for a large variety of reasons and successful programming for those folks has to be tailored to that specific issue,” said former Board of Parole Hearings Executive Officer Jennifer Shaffer. “So you’ll have, for instance, sadists, people who actually get physically turned on by torturing people. That’s very different from somebody who has anger issues and expresses them through basically sexually dominating somebody.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because it’s much harder for sexual offenders to demonstrate to the parole board the necessary personal insight and transformation, parole commissioners are less likely to clear these offenders as no longer an “unreasonable risk to public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of the problem is that it’s more difficult for sexual offenders to clear a psychological risk assessment. “As horrible as this sounds, they may have at some point equated pain with sexual arousal — and breaking that connection is really difficult and takes a lot of very intense programming,” said Shaffer.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A prisoner’s digital footprint\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Parole commissioners look through a person’s entire dossier days before their hearing and are tasked with interpreting all the facts within it through the lens of public safety. Any piece of information — such as visitor logs, write-ups, personal expenses and more — might be deemed pertinent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the last few years, the world of information the board is looking at is growing — even though that information isn’t necessarily related to violence risk,” said Paratore. “They’re looking more and more at (unemployment) fraud and restitution avoidance. They’re looking at medical records. They’re looking at confidential information more and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What they think they need to consider has just grown without any guardrails and resulting in more people being denied parole because the board does not know how to properly interpret that information. This is especially true of medical records.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California began providing free electronic tablets to its incarcerated population in 2021, which ensures that all phone calls and text messages are now digitally monitored and ripe for analysis and search by artificial intelligence. Those types of detailed records can easily be highlighted now and made available to parole commissioners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, more focus can be paid to how prisoners get outside money placed into their institutional trust accounts, and how they go about paying for canteen and other services. In the aftermath of COVID relief and the huge rash of fraudulent unemployment claims statewide, some incarcerated individuals’ trust account activity came into question. The extra level of scrutiny drew unwanted attention to other forms of potential misconduct.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Restitution fraud\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Criminal courts can order large amounts of restitution when a person is convicted, usually separated into court fees and victims services fees. Prisoners who owe restitution will always have 50% deducted from any wages or incoming money until the debt is paid off. If a person works in the kitchen for $80 a month, they get to keep $40. Same thing if their family sends them $200. They’ll receive $100 to spend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Particularly for lifers convicted of violent crimes, restitution can be quite high and seemingly impossible to finish paying through these 50% deducted installments. To avoid losing half their spending money, some prisoners will direct their families and friends to deposit money into other people’s accounts who do not owe restitution. The prisoners will agree to a much lower deduction fee amongst themselves, usually 20%, and hold onto more spending money for canteen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But such under-the-table transactions now leave more of a digital footprint. Parole commissioners want to see a person show remorse and demonstrate awareness into the impact of their crime on the victims. It’s a bad look for that same individual to be seen participating in \u003ca href=\"https://knock-la.com/california-lifers-are-kept-behind-bars-despite-being-found-suitable-for-parole/\">restitution avoidance\u003c/a> to save themselves money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The restitution issue is the only thing I can think of to really explain the decline in the grant rate,” said Vanessa Nelson-Sloane, Director of Life Support Alliance, an advocacy group for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated lifers. “Sometimes when they pass a new law, a new population comes into the parole cycle, but there’s been no new laws recently that would make any difference in the considerations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am so sure that this is it because that’s all I hear about from people who are getting denied — restitution, restitution, restitution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CalMatters data reporter Jeremia Kimelman contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Joe Garcia is a California Local News fellow.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/01/parole-board-suitability-denials/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Two former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/antioch-police-department\">Antioch police\u003c/a> officers were sentenced Tuesday to time served or probation for federal charges, including widespread distribution of steroids among law enforcement officers and obstruction of justice in the investigation of a gang murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The court believes it’s appropriate in this case to temper justice with mercy,” U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said from the bench in Oakland before handing down non-custodial sentences to the two men, who cooperated with federal prosecutors and\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030234/ex-antioch-officer-testifies-against-former-partner-in-federal-civil-rights-case\"> testified against their colleagues\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White sentenced Timothy Manly Williams to probation for two obstruction-related charges and one charge of deprivation of rights under color of law. The judge sentenced Daniel Harris to time served on charges of conspiracy to distribute and possession of steroids, as well as one charge of bank fraud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sentences imposed on Tuesday conclude prosecutions for two of the final three defendants in a massive investigation of corruption and abuse of power by officers and non-sworn staff in the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments. In all, 10 former law enforcement employees across both departments were charged and either pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The investigation started in May 2021 when a routine audit within the Antioch Police Department flagged a suspicious call made to a wiretapped suspect in an investigation of a gang-related murder. The call, it was found, came from the officer monitoring the wiretap — Manly Williams. He later told prosecutors that he wanted the suspect to end a long, irrelevant conversation, so he dialed the tapped phone on his own cellphone and tried, unsuccessfully, to cover his tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But obstruction of a murder investigation and falsification of records weren’t his only charges. Manly Williams, who was first trained as a Pittsburg police officer before he worked for Antioch, also pleaded guilty to destroying the cellphone of a citizen who’d recorded Manly Williams’ colleague and then-roommate Morteza Amiri, who let loose a police K-9 on a suspect. He pleaded guilty to separate state-level charges involving accepting bribes to fix tickets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029718\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029718\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Antioch Police vehicle drives through Antioch on March 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And he got into other trouble with his friend Amiri, who was himself \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12045925/7-year-sentence-for-former-antioch-cop-stands-out-among-east-bay-officers-cases\">sentenced to a seven-year prison term\u003c/a> in June for violating the constitutional rights of a suspect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“i got a basketball size bag of weed in my trunk,” Amiri messaged Manly Williams in late 2020, which the two went on to personally consume, according to federal prosecutors. Manly Williams also sold marijuana around the same time period, prosecutors said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White asked Manly Williams during the sentencing hearing what was in his mind and the minds of his fellow officers as they violated the rights of citizens and betrayed their oaths as peace officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When was somebody on the force going to say, ‘Stop, that’s enough’?” White asked, referring at one point to the Antioch Police Department as the “Wild West of lawlessness.”[aside postID=news_12068020 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250303-AntiochPolice-12-BL_qed.jpg']“It really troubled the court to be a citizen, and you have this rampant lawlessness and evil and violence and racism and sexism,” White said, “and nobody stepped forward until someone was caught and the dominoes fell.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Manly Williams said his job as a police officer in Pittsburg taught him accountability and responsibility, but he strayed when he joined the force in Antioch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I went away from what I was taught initially from my first department, and adopted the behaviors that I believe had been going on for a very long time at the Antioch Police Department,” Manly Williams replied. “I wanted to be recognized. I wanted to get along with everybody else. And I wanted to rise through the ranks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge noted Manly Williams’ cooperation from the outset with federal authorities, and his work since he was charged as a special education teacher in Brentwood, before handing down a sentence of probation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Think about the idea that you still owe a debt to society and you need to repay that,” White said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris, the other former Antioch officer sentenced Tuesday, presented himself as a “broken man” in his pre-sentencing statement to the court. He said his personal use of anabolic steroids began while he fought to recover from severe spinal injuries from his military service, as well as time in law enforcement as a Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputy and Antioch police officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037105\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037105\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Federal Courthouse in Oakland on Aug. 16, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors, the defense and the court agreed that Harris had a very difficult childhood, marked by violence, emotional torment and “horrific sexual abuse,” according to court filings. He spoke through tears at his sentencing hearing, begging the judge to spare him a prison sentence for the sake of his two children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day feels like I’m inside of a nightmare, haunted constantly by the consequences of my decision,” Harris said. “I’m not a danger to society. I never have been. I never will be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Please don’t take my children from me,” he added. “They need me, your honor.”[aside postID=news_12067852 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/GettyImages-2248702777-2000x1334.jpg']In addition to lifelong spinal injuries, Harris noted emotional scars from his time in law enforcement, describing in a letter to the court how his ex-wife once discovered him performing “CPR on a pillow while sobbing, reliving the moment I failed to save a two-year-old girl who drowned. Those memories have never left me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge White noted the volatility of steroid abuse and the seriousness of Harris’ decision to sell steroids to other law enforcement officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anabolic steroids definitely do have an effect on your mindset,” Harris acknowledged. “Sometimes I look in the mirror today, and I don’t even recognize the person I was.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge took note of the fact that, unlike several other defendants in the broad Antioch police corruption cases, Harris’ conduct never involved violating the constitutional rights of citizens. White said Harris’ testimony against other officers was a service to the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The people against whom you testified were serious bad actors in my view,” White told Harris. “Serious, bad police officers who not only violated their oaths but really visited terror on the communities they served.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final remaining defendant to be sentenced, Eric Rombough, also cooperated with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to conspiracy against rights and deprivation of rights under color of law. Rombough regularly encouraged \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030325/dog-bites-foam-bullets-and-fear-victims-testify-to-ex-antioch-officers-excessive-force\">serious use of force by Amiri\u003c/a> and his K-9 partner, and he himself collected spent 40-millimeter impact rounds that he fired at suspects to display on his mantel at home. His sentencing is set for Feb. 10.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sentences imposed on Tuesday conclude prosecutions for two of the final three defendants in a massive investigation of corruption and abuse of power by officers and non-sworn staff in the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments. In all, 10 former law enforcement employees across both departments were charged and either pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The investigation started in May 2021 when a routine audit within the Antioch Police Department flagged a suspicious call made to a wiretapped suspect in an investigation of a gang-related murder. The call, it was found, came from the officer monitoring the wiretap — Manly Williams. He later told prosecutors that he wanted the suspect to end a long, irrelevant conversation, so he dialed the tapped phone on his own cellphone and tried, unsuccessfully, to cover his tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But obstruction of a murder investigation and falsification of records weren’t his only charges. Manly Williams, who was first trained as a Pittsburg police officer before he worked for Antioch, also pleaded guilty to destroying the cellphone of a citizen who’d recorded Manly Williams’ colleague and then-roommate Morteza Amiri, who let loose a police K-9 on a suspect. He pleaded guilty to separate state-level charges involving accepting bribes to fix tickets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029718\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029718\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-10-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Antioch Police vehicle drives through Antioch on March 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And he got into other trouble with his friend Amiri, who was himself \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12045925/7-year-sentence-for-former-antioch-cop-stands-out-among-east-bay-officers-cases\">sentenced to a seven-year prison term\u003c/a> in June for violating the constitutional rights of a suspect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“i got a basketball size bag of weed in my trunk,” Amiri messaged Manly Williams in late 2020, which the two went on to personally consume, according to federal prosecutors. Manly Williams also sold marijuana around the same time period, prosecutors said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White asked Manly Williams during the sentencing hearing what was in his mind and the minds of his fellow officers as they violated the rights of citizens and betrayed their oaths as peace officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When was somebody on the force going to say, ‘Stop, that’s enough’?” White asked, referring at one point to the Antioch Police Department as the “Wild West of lawlessness.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It really troubled the court to be a citizen, and you have this rampant lawlessness and evil and violence and racism and sexism,” White said, “and nobody stepped forward until someone was caught and the dominoes fell.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Manly Williams said his job as a police officer in Pittsburg taught him accountability and responsibility, but he strayed when he joined the force in Antioch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I went away from what I was taught initially from my first department, and adopted the behaviors that I believe had been going on for a very long time at the Antioch Police Department,” Manly Williams replied. “I wanted to be recognized. I wanted to get along with everybody else. And I wanted to rise through the ranks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge noted Manly Williams’ cooperation from the outset with federal authorities, and his work since he was charged as a special education teacher in Brentwood, before handing down a sentence of probation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Think about the idea that you still owe a debt to society and you need to repay that,” White said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris, the other former Antioch officer sentenced Tuesday, presented himself as a “broken man” in his pre-sentencing statement to the court. He said his personal use of anabolic steroids began while he fought to recover from severe spinal injuries from his military service, as well as time in law enforcement as a Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputy and Antioch police officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037105\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037105\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Federal Courthouse in Oakland on Aug. 16, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors, the defense and the court agreed that Harris had a very difficult childhood, marked by violence, emotional torment and “horrific sexual abuse,” according to court filings. He spoke through tears at his sentencing hearing, begging the judge to spare him a prison sentence for the sake of his two children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day feels like I’m inside of a nightmare, haunted constantly by the consequences of my decision,” Harris said. “I’m not a danger to society. I never have been. I never will be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Please don’t take my children from me,” he added. “They need me, your honor.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In addition to lifelong spinal injuries, Harris noted emotional scars from his time in law enforcement, describing in a letter to the court how his ex-wife once discovered him performing “CPR on a pillow while sobbing, reliving the moment I failed to save a two-year-old girl who drowned. Those memories have never left me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge White noted the volatility of steroid abuse and the seriousness of Harris’ decision to sell steroids to other law enforcement officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anabolic steroids definitely do have an effect on your mindset,” Harris acknowledged. “Sometimes I look in the mirror today, and I don’t even recognize the person I was.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge took note of the fact that, unlike several other defendants in the broad Antioch police corruption cases, Harris’ conduct never involved violating the constitutional rights of citizens. White said Harris’ testimony against other officers was a service to the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The people against whom you testified were serious bad actors in my view,” White told Harris. “Serious, bad police officers who not only violated their oaths but really visited terror on the communities they served.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final remaining defendant to be sentenced, Eric Rombough, also cooperated with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to conspiracy against rights and deprivation of rights under color of law. Rombough regularly encouraged \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030325/dog-bites-foam-bullets-and-fear-victims-testify-to-ex-antioch-officers-excessive-force\">serious use of force by Amiri\u003c/a> and his K-9 partner, and he himself collected spent 40-millimeter impact rounds that he fired at suspects to display on his mantel at home. His sentencing is set for Feb. 10.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The city of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/antioch\">Antioch\u003c/a> has agreed to implement a series of police reforms and pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit over allegations of widespread officer misconduct, officials announced Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reforms include enhanced training for officers, new restrictions on acceptable use of force and an independent monitor meant to assess the department’s ongoing compliance \u003ca href=\"https://bncllaw.com/antioch-agreement.pdf\">with the agreement. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The settlement came more than two years after 23 residents sued 45 Antioch Police Department officers over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11947876/antioch-police-racist-texting-scandal-confirms-what-many-black-and-brown-residents-have-decried-for-years\">accusations of physical abuse\u003c/a>, widespread use of various slurs and a lack of supervision or accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The important part is not that we have put the agreement together,” civil rights attorney John Burris, who filed the complaint on behalf of the residents, said. “The important part is to implement it and that it’s followed, and that people are held accountable if they, in fact, do not follow the rules and procedures set forth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burris said his clients reached the $4.6 million settlement agreement with the city earlier this year. He appeared alongside city government officials on Friday morning to sign the agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last few years have been difficult and for many residents deeply unsettling,” Antioch City Manager Bessie Scott said. “Trust was strained, confidence in institutions took a serious hit and many in our community have carried that weight in ways that don’t throw up in the headlines.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062501\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062501\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251030-ATIOCHPITTSBURGFILE_00937_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251030-ATIOCHPITTSBURGFILE_00937_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251030-ATIOCHPITTSBURGFILE_00937_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251030-ATIOCHPITTSBURGFILE_00937_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Antioch Police Department in Antioch, California, on Oct. 30, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some of the changes to police department policy seemed to address specific allegations of misconduct from the suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One plaintiff, Trent Allen, was arrested on murder charges in 2021. Allen alleged that Antioch officers knocked him unconscious and then continued to kick him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During an FBI investigation into alleged criminal activity by Antioch and Pittsburg officers, investigators found a \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23778279/disclosure-report-court-redactions-final.pdf\">trove\u003c/a> of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029300/former-antioch-officers-face-trial-for-alleged-conspiracy-civil-rights-violations\">racist and violent text messages\u003c/a> from the arresting officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That federal investigation ultimately resulted in\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958522/fbi-arrests-antioch-pittsburg-police-officers-following-indictments\"> the arrests of several other officers\u003c/a> from both Antioch and Pittsburg for a range of charges, including illegally obtaining and distributing anabolic steroids, destroying evidence and faking college credits to get pay bumps.[aside postID=news_12065727 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230816-Dublin-Womens-Prison-Suit-MD-01_qed-1020x680.jpg']Former officer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030234/ex-antioch-officer-testifies-against-former-partner-in-federal-civil-rights-case\">Eric Rombaugh\u003c/a> sent messages saying he kicked Allen’s head like a field goal while using racist slurs against Black people. Rombaugh, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy, testified that he and former officer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12045925/7-year-sentence-for-former-antioch-cop-stands-out-among-east-bay-officers-cases\">Morteza Amiri \u003c/a>would send each other photos of the injuries they caused and congratulate each other on uses of force. Amiri was later convicted of using excessive force with his police K-9.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department’s new policy states that head strikes with hands, feet or hard objects are now explicitly prohibited unless no reasonable alternative is available and it’s justifiable force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Antioch officers are also required to establish a database for any incidents where force was “used and/or displayed, articulated, or suggested,” including K-9 deployments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Complaints of officer misconduct relating to discriminatory policing, use of force or unbecoming conduct must now be forwarded to the chief of police within three days and the city manager is also required to be kept in the loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The community, when they make a complaint against an officer … they need to know that matter is going to be investigated timely and objectively, fairly. That doesn’t always happen,” Burris said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agreement expires after two years of compliance. If the city has not reached compliance after 5 years, an extension would have to be determined in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The city of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/antioch\">Antioch\u003c/a> has agreed to implement a series of police reforms and pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit over allegations of widespread officer misconduct, officials announced Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reforms include enhanced training for officers, new restrictions on acceptable use of force and an independent monitor meant to assess the department’s ongoing compliance \u003ca href=\"https://bncllaw.com/antioch-agreement.pdf\">with the agreement. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The settlement came more than two years after 23 residents sued 45 Antioch Police Department officers over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11947876/antioch-police-racist-texting-scandal-confirms-what-many-black-and-brown-residents-have-decried-for-years\">accusations of physical abuse\u003c/a>, widespread use of various slurs and a lack of supervision or accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The important part is not that we have put the agreement together,” civil rights attorney John Burris, who filed the complaint on behalf of the residents, said. “The important part is to implement it and that it’s followed, and that people are held accountable if they, in fact, do not follow the rules and procedures set forth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burris said his clients reached the $4.6 million settlement agreement with the city earlier this year. He appeared alongside city government officials on Friday morning to sign the agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last few years have been difficult and for many residents deeply unsettling,” Antioch City Manager Bessie Scott said. “Trust was strained, confidence in institutions took a serious hit and many in our community have carried that weight in ways that don’t throw up in the headlines.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062501\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062501\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251030-ATIOCHPITTSBURGFILE_00937_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251030-ATIOCHPITTSBURGFILE_00937_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251030-ATIOCHPITTSBURGFILE_00937_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251030-ATIOCHPITTSBURGFILE_00937_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Antioch Police Department in Antioch, California, on Oct. 30, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some of the changes to police department policy seemed to address specific allegations of misconduct from the suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One plaintiff, Trent Allen, was arrested on murder charges in 2021. Allen alleged that Antioch officers knocked him unconscious and then continued to kick him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During an FBI investigation into alleged criminal activity by Antioch and Pittsburg officers, investigators found a \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23778279/disclosure-report-court-redactions-final.pdf\">trove\u003c/a> of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029300/former-antioch-officers-face-trial-for-alleged-conspiracy-civil-rights-violations\">racist and violent text messages\u003c/a> from the arresting officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That federal investigation ultimately resulted in\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958522/fbi-arrests-antioch-pittsburg-police-officers-following-indictments\"> the arrests of several other officers\u003c/a> from both Antioch and Pittsburg for a range of charges, including illegally obtaining and distributing anabolic steroids, destroying evidence and faking college credits to get pay bumps.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Former officer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030234/ex-antioch-officer-testifies-against-former-partner-in-federal-civil-rights-case\">Eric Rombaugh\u003c/a> sent messages saying he kicked Allen’s head like a field goal while using racist slurs against Black people. Rombaugh, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy, testified that he and former officer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12045925/7-year-sentence-for-former-antioch-cop-stands-out-among-east-bay-officers-cases\">Morteza Amiri \u003c/a>would send each other photos of the injuries they caused and congratulate each other on uses of force. Amiri was later convicted of using excessive force with his police K-9.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department’s new policy states that head strikes with hands, feet or hard objects are now explicitly prohibited unless no reasonable alternative is available and it’s justifiable force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Antioch officers are also required to establish a database for any incidents where force was “used and/or displayed, articulated, or suggested,” including K-9 deployments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Complaints of officer misconduct relating to discriminatory policing, use of force or unbecoming conduct must now be forwarded to the chief of police within three days and the city manager is also required to be kept in the loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The community, when they make a complaint against an officer … they need to know that matter is going to be investigated timely and objectively, fairly. That doesn’t always happen,” Burris said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agreement expires after two years of compliance. If the city has not reached compliance after 5 years, an extension would have to be determined in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Stockton Leaders Urge City to Invest in Youth After November Mass Shooting",
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"content": "\u003cp>Weeks after a shooting at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12065597/after-stockton-mass-shooting-at-childrens-party-officials-warn-against-retaliation\">children’s birthday party in Stockton\u003c/a> killed four young people, community groups are calling for more support and compassion for the victims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonprofit and faith leaders on Thursday urged leaders to invest in the city’s youth and neighborhoods, which they say have faced years of disinvestment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gun violence does not appear out of nowhere,” said Peter Elias, a youth leader with the Reinvent South Stockton Coalition. “It is produced by condition, by decades of policy decisions that stripped resources from neighborhoods, normalized trauma and left young people and left young people surrounded by loss with few pathways forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our response to violence … must be prevention. It must be investment,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 29, four people, ages 8, 9, 14 and 21, were killed after gunfire erupted during a large family gathering celebrating the birthday of a Stockton 2-year-old. At least 13 more people were injured in the incident, which authorities believe involved multiple shooters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Law enforcement officials at the time said they believed the shooting began inside the banquet hall on Lucile Avenue in Stockton, where the party was taking place, and later spilled outside, where more people were gathered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067969\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067969\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/GettyImages-2248688999-scaled-e1766166180857.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi stands at a vigil for the victims of a shooting on Nov. 30, in Stockton, California. \u003ccite>(Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The community leaders gathered on Thursday said that in the weeks since, they have been connecting victims’ families with counseling and social services, as well as material needs they cannot meet, like food, clothing and burial support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of that work has been coordinated by the San Joaquin County Youth Justice Coalition, which gathered the group on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Community organizations, faith leaders, youth advocates and mental health professionals are stepping up because far too often, the systems that are supposed to support families arrive late, or do not come at all,” Elias said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The speakers warned against spreading narratives around what led to the shooting or placing blame. While Sheriff Patrick Withrow has said that the department is confident the shooting was a targeted act, no arrests have been made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The day after the shooting, Mayor Christina Fugazi said it had been gang-related, but the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office did not confirm that allegation. They have not identified a motive.[aside postID=news_12065597 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/StocktonShootingGetty1.jpg']“Our commitment has been and continues to be to show up with compassion,” Pastor Henry B. Phillips of The Open Door House of Prayer said. “False narratives can cause harm and deepen wounds. Our young people deserve care, not condemnation; they deserve understanding, not blame; And healing, not harm.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shooting led to tensions among city leaders this week, after Vice Mayor Jason Lee told the Stockton publication \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_d22e5390-8402-4635-9344-cefac1a31720.amp.html\">\u003cem>The Center Square\u003c/em>\u003c/a> that other officials had delayed a vote to ban face coverings just days before the shooting. In the article, he was quoted as saying that not passing the ban allowed criminals to get away with violent crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fugazi appeared to respond to that claim during a council meeting on Wednesday, saying: “To blame me for the mass shooting, and council for the mass shooting, is reckless and irresponsible. The fact that because there was a ski mask involved, somehow taking that off … would’ve stopped that shooting? Does anybody think that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday’s speakers called on the city leaders to focus instead on providing funding and resources to youth communities and neighborhoods that have faced disinvestment in recent years to prevent violence before it starts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a choice,” said Bobby Bivens, the president of Stockton’s NAACP chapter. “Do we allow leadership and governance not to recognize that our community is hurting? We have elected officials who promised people that they were coming in to improve the quality of life, but that has not happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re calling on leadership in this community … to reach the young people that you see instead of ignoring our past. We’re calling on the Stockton community … to address the violence in our community,” he continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Weeks after a shooting at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12065597/after-stockton-mass-shooting-at-childrens-party-officials-warn-against-retaliation\">children’s birthday party in Stockton\u003c/a> killed four young people, community groups are calling for more support and compassion for the victims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonprofit and faith leaders on Thursday urged leaders to invest in the city’s youth and neighborhoods, which they say have faced years of disinvestment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gun violence does not appear out of nowhere,” said Peter Elias, a youth leader with the Reinvent South Stockton Coalition. “It is produced by condition, by decades of policy decisions that stripped resources from neighborhoods, normalized trauma and left young people and left young people surrounded by loss with few pathways forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our response to violence … must be prevention. It must be investment,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 29, four people, ages 8, 9, 14 and 21, were killed after gunfire erupted during a large family gathering celebrating the birthday of a Stockton 2-year-old. At least 13 more people were injured in the incident, which authorities believe involved multiple shooters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Law enforcement officials at the time said they believed the shooting began inside the banquet hall on Lucile Avenue in Stockton, where the party was taking place, and later spilled outside, where more people were gathered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067969\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067969\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/GettyImages-2248688999-scaled-e1766166180857.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi stands at a vigil for the victims of a shooting on Nov. 30, in Stockton, California. \u003ccite>(Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The community leaders gathered on Thursday said that in the weeks since, they have been connecting victims’ families with counseling and social services, as well as material needs they cannot meet, like food, clothing and burial support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of that work has been coordinated by the San Joaquin County Youth Justice Coalition, which gathered the group on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Community organizations, faith leaders, youth advocates and mental health professionals are stepping up because far too often, the systems that are supposed to support families arrive late, or do not come at all,” Elias said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The speakers warned against spreading narratives around what led to the shooting or placing blame. While Sheriff Patrick Withrow has said that the department is confident the shooting was a targeted act, no arrests have been made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The day after the shooting, Mayor Christina Fugazi said it had been gang-related, but the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office did not confirm that allegation. They have not identified a motive.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Our commitment has been and continues to be to show up with compassion,” Pastor Henry B. Phillips of The Open Door House of Prayer said. “False narratives can cause harm and deepen wounds. Our young people deserve care, not condemnation; they deserve understanding, not blame; And healing, not harm.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shooting led to tensions among city leaders this week, after Vice Mayor Jason Lee told the Stockton publication \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_d22e5390-8402-4635-9344-cefac1a31720.amp.html\">\u003cem>The Center Square\u003c/em>\u003c/a> that other officials had delayed a vote to ban face coverings just days before the shooting. In the article, he was quoted as saying that not passing the ban allowed criminals to get away with violent crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fugazi appeared to respond to that claim during a council meeting on Wednesday, saying: “To blame me for the mass shooting, and council for the mass shooting, is reckless and irresponsible. The fact that because there was a ski mask involved, somehow taking that off … would’ve stopped that shooting? Does anybody think that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday’s speakers called on the city leaders to focus instead on providing funding and resources to youth communities and neighborhoods that have faced disinvestment in recent years to prevent violence before it starts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a choice,” said Bobby Bivens, the president of Stockton’s NAACP chapter. “Do we allow leadership and governance not to recognize that our community is hurting? We have elected officials who promised people that they were coming in to improve the quality of life, but that has not happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re calling on leadership in this community … to reach the young people that you see instead of ignoring our past. We’re calling on the Stockton community … to address the violence in our community,” he continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "stanfords-aradshar-chaddar-dreamed-big-and-left-a-lasting-impact",
"title": "Stanford’s Aradshar Chaddar Dreamed Big — and Left a Lasting Impact",
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"content": "\u003cp>Aradshar Chaddar spent his life chasing big dreams — from debate halls and stages in Lahore to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/stanford-university\">Stanford University\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This spring, at 21, the Stanford sophomore was killed in a bike collision on campus, a death that stunned friends and family across two continents and cut short a life defined by ambition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His death — the first bike fatality on Stanford’s campus in nearly six years — rattled those who knew him as more than an accomplished student. To loved ones, Chaddar was someone who lifted up the people around him, carried the hopes of his family in Pakistan, and made others believe in the magnitude of their own dreams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the gravest blow,” his father, Sessions Judge Zafaryab Chaddar, said to KQED from Pakistan. “I would have gone to a grave before Aradshar, but life is very cruel.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was so smart, he was so beautiful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar’s determination showed early. At 7, he was one of the top students in his school’s debate competitions. The topics for first graders were simple, but his peers could tell he was something special. Born in the United States and raised in Pakistan, he quickly stood out among his classmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067143\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067143\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00717_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00717_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00717_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00717_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The intersection of Arboretum Road and Palm Drive, where 21-year-old Stanford sophomore Aradshar Chaddar was hit and killed in a bike collision this past summer at Stanford University in Palo Alto on Dec. 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He was way ahead of everyone else around him,” said Ismail Iftikhar, his classmate and friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 13, Chaddar, known as Arad or Chad to friends and family, began going to Model United Nations conferences, where he came alive during long, winding speeches about world affairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You could tell that beneath the words, there were larger dreams and visions of a world that’s better,” said Mustafa Khan, who attended the same high school as Chaddar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 18, he shot up to 6-foot-3 — a college student with glasses, neat dark hair, a wide smile and a glimmer in his eyes as he would rope his friend Léon Garcia to help him run the Stanford Democrats or into a last-minute trek to San Francisco’s Chinatown.[aside postID=news_12047968 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250630-HUMANITARIANPAROLEDEEPDIVE-13-BL-KQED.jpg']“He would go out of his way to talk to people on the street whom he ran into, who he thought he could learn something interesting from,” Garcia said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 21, Chaddar ran into his high school history teacher, Shaan Tahir, in Lahore, Pakistan. His teacher asked him: “Arad. Ambitious as ever?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sir. Is there any other way?” Chaddar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What are you aiming for?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“President of the USA,” he confidently responded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tahir laughed, then remembered who he was talking to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t doubt it,” he said to his former student.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Months later, at a memorial service at the high school, Tahir recalled the memory as he sat among a crowd wracked with grief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew that he meant it … He is possibly the most ambitious person that I’ve ever met in my life,” Tahir told KQED. “Extremely determined to be someone in life and be something in life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar’s story is “about dreaming,” Khan said. “Not just for yourself, but dreaming for other people. Recognizing other people’s dreams and making them feel like they’re capable of achieving them because they are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Chasing big dreams\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Iftikhar was 7 when he met Chaddar, and the first impression was not positive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought he was full of himself,” Iftikhar said, laughing. “I thought he was incredibly selfish.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even then, he could tell Chaddar was ambitious and smart. They were among the top students at their school in Lahore, a city of over 14 million people and Pakistan’s academic center. Their friendly rivalry persisted until eighth grade, when Chaddar asked Iftikhar to join his Model United Nations team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Iftikhar agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067034\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067034\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-Stanford-Student-Death-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-Stanford-Student-Death-02-KQED.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-Stanford-Student-Death-02-KQED-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-Stanford-Student-Death-02-KQED-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chaddar once described himself as “an avid mountaineer.” In a 2023 Instagram post, he said he hoped to “summit all the eight thousander peaks.” \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Ismail Iftikhar)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I realized that selfish is the last word I would use for him,” Iftikhar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was the type of friendship only two high achievers could have, one that endlessly pushed each other. They were prefects together and ran the Model UN club together. They poured over films together, diving into dialogue, politics and themes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t name a single thing he hadn’t seen,” he said. “There was basically nothing I could beat him in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar’s favorite directors were Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurosawa. He devoured books. While it’s common for Americans to be fans of the 2015 biographical musical \u003cem>Hamilton\u003c/em>, it’s less common for a kid from Pakistan — and Iftikhar said that Chaddar knew the dialogue by heart. He commanded English and Urdu with ease. He had a course load that confounded teachers. He brought home awards and distinctions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vulnerability was hard for Chaddar, who felt deeply for the people around him, as if there was no separation between someone’s sorrow and his own. Their happiness was his.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes the emotions got to him. In high school, Iftikhar and Chaddar’s team lost a Model UN competition. Chaddar was “a really bad loser, because he wasn’t used to losing,” Iftikhar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At home, after the rest of the team left, Iftikhar found Chaddar lying down on the couch. He was clearly distressed, almost on the verge of tears. Iftikhar walked over and hugged him. Chaddar cried.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Later on, he told me that that was like his favorite memory of us,” Iftikhar, now 21 and living in Southern California, said. “It just holds a special place in my heart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It felt natural that they would be the only two of their class to go to California for college — Iftikhar to Claremont McKenna College near Los Angeles, Chaddar to Stanford in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A life cut short\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chaddar arrived at Stanford in fall 2023 on a scholarship, planning to study political science and international relations. He tried to convince Garcia, a fellow freshman, to drop physics and pursue the same path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was a big evangelist for the humanities,” Garcia said. “He believed that it was his job to lift up the people around him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Chaddar’s goal was to be president, spending time with him felt like being on the campaign trail. To Garcia, he was a “Don Quixote-style character.” When he wasn’t studying, Chaddar was pushing Garcia to leave the Stanford bubble and venture into San Francisco, where Chaddar knew people and places as if he lived in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067144\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067144\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00786_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00786_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00786_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00786_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A vigil for 21-year-old Stanford sophomore Aradshar Chaddar, who was hit and killed in a bike collision this past summer, sits under a tree at Terman Fountain at Stanford University in Palo Alto on Dec. 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He kind of lived life in his own world, almost, and he brought everybody around him into that world,” Garcia said. “He was like one of the last true romantics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He would spontaneously pop up at the San Francisco apartment of Khan, who graduated from Stanford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His energy is quite infectious as well. Always having this cheeky grin on his face,” Khan said. “It was hard not to fall in love with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was hard to imagine someone so full of life being gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On May 31, Chaddar was riding an electric bike on the Stanford University campus when, around 3 a.m., he was struck by a car. He was taken to a hospital, where he died at 3:25 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He had been crossing the intersection of Palm Drive and Arboretum Road in the dark, with limited visibility, when an Uber driver entered the intersection and hit him on his left side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a collision on campus results in an injury, CHP responds for an investigation and a report, said Bill Larson, public information officer for Stanford’s Department of Public Safety.[aside postID=news_12067175 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/250418-SFPDFile-46-BL_qed.jpg']Stanford data shows that from December 2018 to November 2025, there were 120 bike collisions on campus that resulted in a CHP investigation. Around 60% of those collisions were between a bike and a vehicle that resulted in an injury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When expanding the dataset beyond collisions resulting in a CHP investigation, there have been almost 240 bike accidents on campus reported from September 2018 to October 2025. According to the Stanford Daily, some \u003ca href=\"https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/11/mapping-bike-accidents-on-campus/\">spots on campus\u003c/a> have a kind of notoriety for being dangerous for cyclists. For example, the roundabout near the school’s Clock Tower is called the “Circle of Death.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of the roads at Stanford are not very well lit,” Khan said. “I am so afraid every time I drive through.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Iftikhar said around the time of the collision, speculation arose about what happened. It made sense that people were searching for more answers, he said, trying to understand the sudden death of someone so loved. But he wasn’t sure there was more to know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Iftikhar learned about Chaddar at 7:20 a.m. on June 2, 2025, after getting a message from Chaddar’s mother. Iftikhar was working on the Claremont McKenna College campus that summer and was the closest of his friends to the Bay Area. He booked a flight the same day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar’s aunt from North Carolina also arrived. What followed was a succession of office visits. They went to the medical examiner’s office. They couldn’t see the body right away because the investigation was still ongoing. So they went to a funeral home and talked to the coroner. They signed documents and packed his dorm room. They attended a hastily organized vigil on campus, joining more than 200 students, staff and faculty as stories were shared and music played. Even more watched online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A courier company predicted it would take at least weeks to bring Chaddar home to Pakistan, citing logistics. Iftikhar worked with Chaddar’s aunt to expedite the process — filling out documents, contacting the U.S. State Department and the Pakistani embassy. In early June, Chaddar was able to be transported back to Pakistan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just was very restless,” he said. “I don’t know. I just ended up doing things, and that’s my way of dealing with things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The boys went to California together. Now they were going home together.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A life remembered\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While he went to school in Lahore, Chaddar’s family was from Mano Chak, a village three hours away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar was buried there, near his younger sister, who died a few years earlier. At the service, Iftikhar said he saw “more people than I’ve ever seen” in the village — all gathered for him. Friends from Stanford, including his girlfriend, also flew from California to see him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He is survived by his father, mother and his 12-year-old sister.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067141\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067141\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hoover Tower at Stanford University in Palo Alto on Dec. 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He was such a friendly baby,” his mother, gynecologist Sadia Chaddar, said. He had a sweet disposition and happily chirped, “Yes, I can do it, Mama!” whenever she needed his help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She laughed when remembering how the kids called him Mr. President.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I used to argue with him,” she said. “Ardi, there are many other options. Why do you want to be the President of the USA?’ But she supported him, no matter what. Whatever he wanted to do, she would be there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t get my baby out of my mind,” his mother said. “I just sleep with his thoughts in my mind. I wake up with his thoughts in my mind.”[aside postID=arts_13893843 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/guillaume-de-germain-Z_br8TOcCpE-unsplash-1020x681.jpg']She thinks of him when she looks at her daughter, Farazeen. She is just like her big brother – sharp, thoughtful, ambitious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s basically my motivation whenever I’m studying,” Farazeen said. “He was a role model for me growing up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar’s room – and library full of books he devoured – is preserved just the way it was when he would visit home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His father pores over his son’s writing, his debates, his speeches, his pictures, the tributes to him. His pride and love radiate as he talks about his eldest child; his grief immense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is not my personal loss. People claim that it is a national loss,” his father said. “Pakistan has lost a brilliant man.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://theazb.com/does-the-american-dream-still-hold-true/#google_vignette\">June column\u003c/a> for an English-language online publication focused on Pakistan, Chaddar wrote that his middle-class background gave him opportunities not afforded to others in his village. When he was home, he said it was common to hear advice like, “There is nothing for you here,” and “Get out of here as soon as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite this, being from Mano Chak and Pakistan meant everything to Chaddar. He missed home fiercely, especially when coming to the United States, Iftikhar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar knew his ambition would always take him away from home and the family he loved. He struggled with that, writing his thoughts out in his journal and sharing them with Iftikhar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The village was a place that offered a lot of peace, a lot of security,” Iftikhar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is also where he drew his strength from. Chaddar wanted to be the best. Even more, his friend said, “He wanted to make his family proud.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Aradshar Chaddar, a 21-year-old Stanford student born in the U.S. and raised in Pakistan, died in a campus bike accident, leaving friends and family mourning his ambition and impact.",
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"title": "Stanford’s Aradshar Chaddar Dreamed Big — and Left a Lasting Impact | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Aradshar Chaddar spent his life chasing big dreams — from debate halls and stages in Lahore to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/stanford-university\">Stanford University\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This spring, at 21, the Stanford sophomore was killed in a bike collision on campus, a death that stunned friends and family across two continents and cut short a life defined by ambition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His death — the first bike fatality on Stanford’s campus in nearly six years — rattled those who knew him as more than an accomplished student. To loved ones, Chaddar was someone who lifted up the people around him, carried the hopes of his family in Pakistan, and made others believe in the magnitude of their own dreams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the gravest blow,” his father, Sessions Judge Zafaryab Chaddar, said to KQED from Pakistan. “I would have gone to a grave before Aradshar, but life is very cruel.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was so smart, he was so beautiful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar’s determination showed early. At 7, he was one of the top students in his school’s debate competitions. The topics for first graders were simple, but his peers could tell he was something special. Born in the United States and raised in Pakistan, he quickly stood out among his classmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067143\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067143\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00717_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00717_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00717_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00717_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The intersection of Arboretum Road and Palm Drive, where 21-year-old Stanford sophomore Aradshar Chaddar was hit and killed in a bike collision this past summer at Stanford University in Palo Alto on Dec. 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He was way ahead of everyone else around him,” said Ismail Iftikhar, his classmate and friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 13, Chaddar, known as Arad or Chad to friends and family, began going to Model United Nations conferences, where he came alive during long, winding speeches about world affairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You could tell that beneath the words, there were larger dreams and visions of a world that’s better,” said Mustafa Khan, who attended the same high school as Chaddar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 18, he shot up to 6-foot-3 — a college student with glasses, neat dark hair, a wide smile and a glimmer in his eyes as he would rope his friend Léon Garcia to help him run the Stanford Democrats or into a last-minute trek to San Francisco’s Chinatown.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“He would go out of his way to talk to people on the street whom he ran into, who he thought he could learn something interesting from,” Garcia said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 21, Chaddar ran into his high school history teacher, Shaan Tahir, in Lahore, Pakistan. His teacher asked him: “Arad. Ambitious as ever?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sir. Is there any other way?” Chaddar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What are you aiming for?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“President of the USA,” he confidently responded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tahir laughed, then remembered who he was talking to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t doubt it,” he said to his former student.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Months later, at a memorial service at the high school, Tahir recalled the memory as he sat among a crowd wracked with grief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew that he meant it … He is possibly the most ambitious person that I’ve ever met in my life,” Tahir told KQED. “Extremely determined to be someone in life and be something in life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar’s story is “about dreaming,” Khan said. “Not just for yourself, but dreaming for other people. Recognizing other people’s dreams and making them feel like they’re capable of achieving them because they are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Chasing big dreams\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Iftikhar was 7 when he met Chaddar, and the first impression was not positive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought he was full of himself,” Iftikhar said, laughing. “I thought he was incredibly selfish.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even then, he could tell Chaddar was ambitious and smart. They were among the top students at their school in Lahore, a city of over 14 million people and Pakistan’s academic center. Their friendly rivalry persisted until eighth grade, when Chaddar asked Iftikhar to join his Model United Nations team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Iftikhar agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067034\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067034\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-Stanford-Student-Death-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-Stanford-Student-Death-02-KQED.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-Stanford-Student-Death-02-KQED-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-Stanford-Student-Death-02-KQED-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chaddar once described himself as “an avid mountaineer.” In a 2023 Instagram post, he said he hoped to “summit all the eight thousander peaks.” \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Ismail Iftikhar)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I realized that selfish is the last word I would use for him,” Iftikhar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was the type of friendship only two high achievers could have, one that endlessly pushed each other. They were prefects together and ran the Model UN club together. They poured over films together, diving into dialogue, politics and themes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t name a single thing he hadn’t seen,” he said. “There was basically nothing I could beat him in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar’s favorite directors were Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurosawa. He devoured books. While it’s common for Americans to be fans of the 2015 biographical musical \u003cem>Hamilton\u003c/em>, it’s less common for a kid from Pakistan — and Iftikhar said that Chaddar knew the dialogue by heart. He commanded English and Urdu with ease. He had a course load that confounded teachers. He brought home awards and distinctions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vulnerability was hard for Chaddar, who felt deeply for the people around him, as if there was no separation between someone’s sorrow and his own. Their happiness was his.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes the emotions got to him. In high school, Iftikhar and Chaddar’s team lost a Model UN competition. Chaddar was “a really bad loser, because he wasn’t used to losing,” Iftikhar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At home, after the rest of the team left, Iftikhar found Chaddar lying down on the couch. He was clearly distressed, almost on the verge of tears. Iftikhar walked over and hugged him. Chaddar cried.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Later on, he told me that that was like his favorite memory of us,” Iftikhar, now 21 and living in Southern California, said. “It just holds a special place in my heart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It felt natural that they would be the only two of their class to go to California for college — Iftikhar to Claremont McKenna College near Los Angeles, Chaddar to Stanford in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A life cut short\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chaddar arrived at Stanford in fall 2023 on a scholarship, planning to study political science and international relations. He tried to convince Garcia, a fellow freshman, to drop physics and pursue the same path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was a big evangelist for the humanities,” Garcia said. “He believed that it was his job to lift up the people around him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Chaddar’s goal was to be president, spending time with him felt like being on the campaign trail. To Garcia, he was a “Don Quixote-style character.” When he wasn’t studying, Chaddar was pushing Garcia to leave the Stanford bubble and venture into San Francisco, where Chaddar knew people and places as if he lived in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067144\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067144\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00786_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00786_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00786_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDSTUDENTDEATH00786_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A vigil for 21-year-old Stanford sophomore Aradshar Chaddar, who was hit and killed in a bike collision this past summer, sits under a tree at Terman Fountain at Stanford University in Palo Alto on Dec. 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He kind of lived life in his own world, almost, and he brought everybody around him into that world,” Garcia said. “He was like one of the last true romantics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He would spontaneously pop up at the San Francisco apartment of Khan, who graduated from Stanford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His energy is quite infectious as well. Always having this cheeky grin on his face,” Khan said. “It was hard not to fall in love with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was hard to imagine someone so full of life being gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On May 31, Chaddar was riding an electric bike on the Stanford University campus when, around 3 a.m., he was struck by a car. He was taken to a hospital, where he died at 3:25 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He had been crossing the intersection of Palm Drive and Arboretum Road in the dark, with limited visibility, when an Uber driver entered the intersection and hit him on his left side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a collision on campus results in an injury, CHP responds for an investigation and a report, said Bill Larson, public information officer for Stanford’s Department of Public Safety.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Stanford data shows that from December 2018 to November 2025, there were 120 bike collisions on campus that resulted in a CHP investigation. Around 60% of those collisions were between a bike and a vehicle that resulted in an injury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When expanding the dataset beyond collisions resulting in a CHP investigation, there have been almost 240 bike accidents on campus reported from September 2018 to October 2025. According to the Stanford Daily, some \u003ca href=\"https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/11/mapping-bike-accidents-on-campus/\">spots on campus\u003c/a> have a kind of notoriety for being dangerous for cyclists. For example, the roundabout near the school’s Clock Tower is called the “Circle of Death.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of the roads at Stanford are not very well lit,” Khan said. “I am so afraid every time I drive through.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Iftikhar said around the time of the collision, speculation arose about what happened. It made sense that people were searching for more answers, he said, trying to understand the sudden death of someone so loved. But he wasn’t sure there was more to know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Iftikhar learned about Chaddar at 7:20 a.m. on June 2, 2025, after getting a message from Chaddar’s mother. Iftikhar was working on the Claremont McKenna College campus that summer and was the closest of his friends to the Bay Area. He booked a flight the same day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar’s aunt from North Carolina also arrived. What followed was a succession of office visits. They went to the medical examiner’s office. They couldn’t see the body right away because the investigation was still ongoing. So they went to a funeral home and talked to the coroner. They signed documents and packed his dorm room. They attended a hastily organized vigil on campus, joining more than 200 students, staff and faculty as stories were shared and music played. Even more watched online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A courier company predicted it would take at least weeks to bring Chaddar home to Pakistan, citing logistics. Iftikhar worked with Chaddar’s aunt to expedite the process — filling out documents, contacting the U.S. State Department and the Pakistani embassy. In early June, Chaddar was able to be transported back to Pakistan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just was very restless,” he said. “I don’t know. I just ended up doing things, and that’s my way of dealing with things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The boys went to California together. Now they were going home together.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A life remembered\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While he went to school in Lahore, Chaddar’s family was from Mano Chak, a village three hours away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar was buried there, near his younger sister, who died a few years earlier. At the service, Iftikhar said he saw “more people than I’ve ever seen” in the village — all gathered for him. Friends from Stanford, including his girlfriend, also flew from California to see him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He is survived by his father, mother and his 12-year-old sister.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067141\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067141\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hoover Tower at Stanford University in Palo Alto on Dec. 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He was such a friendly baby,” his mother, gynecologist Sadia Chaddar, said. He had a sweet disposition and happily chirped, “Yes, I can do it, Mama!” whenever she needed his help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She laughed when remembering how the kids called him Mr. President.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I used to argue with him,” she said. “Ardi, there are many other options. Why do you want to be the President of the USA?’ But she supported him, no matter what. Whatever he wanted to do, she would be there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t get my baby out of my mind,” his mother said. “I just sleep with his thoughts in my mind. I wake up with his thoughts in my mind.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She thinks of him when she looks at her daughter, Farazeen. She is just like her big brother – sharp, thoughtful, ambitious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s basically my motivation whenever I’m studying,” Farazeen said. “He was a role model for me growing up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar’s room – and library full of books he devoured – is preserved just the way it was when he would visit home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His father pores over his son’s writing, his debates, his speeches, his pictures, the tributes to him. His pride and love radiate as he talks about his eldest child; his grief immense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is not my personal loss. People claim that it is a national loss,” his father said. “Pakistan has lost a brilliant man.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://theazb.com/does-the-american-dream-still-hold-true/#google_vignette\">June column\u003c/a> for an English-language online publication focused on Pakistan, Chaddar wrote that his middle-class background gave him opportunities not afforded to others in his village. When he was home, he said it was common to hear advice like, “There is nothing for you here,” and “Get out of here as soon as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite this, being from Mano Chak and Pakistan meant everything to Chaddar. He missed home fiercely, especially when coming to the United States, Iftikhar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chaddar knew his ambition would always take him away from home and the family he loved. He struggled with that, writing his thoughts out in his journal and sharing them with Iftikhar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The village was a place that offered a lot of peace, a lot of security,” Iftikhar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is also where he drew his strength from. Chaddar wanted to be the best. Even more, his friend said, “He wanted to make his family proud.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "sf-filmmaker-kevin-epps-convicted-of-manslaughter-not-murder-in-2016-shooting",
"title": "SF Filmmaker Kevin Epps Convicted of Manslaughter, Not Murder, in 2016 Shooting",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066373/murder-trial-of-sf-filmmaker-kevin-epps-will-swing-on-question-of-self-defense\">San Francisco filmmaker and journalist Kevin Epps\u003c/a> on Monday was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, nine years after he fatally shot his former partner’s ex-brother-in-law during an altercation at his family’s Glen Park home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While prosecutors initially charged him with first-degree murder, the jury concluded that Epps did not act with malice but was still not justified to act in self-defense when he shot Marcus Polk on Oct. 24, 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epps was also found guilty of two counts of possession of a firearm as a felon, since he was barred from possessing the gun due to a nonviolent felony on his record from 15 years prior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the verdict was read, Epps sobbed quietly into his hands. Some supporters also began to cry, and in the hallway outside, others alleged prosecutorial misconduct. They’ve said Epps was targeted for his race and background, and throughout the trial, urged District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to drop charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outside the courtroom, Epps’ spokesperson Julian Davis vowed to appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The prosecutor very deliberately misled this jury into drawing inferences that were not supported by the evidence at trial or facts known independently to him,” Davis said. “On appeal, there’s going to be very strong grounds for an overturning, even of this voluntary manslaughter conviction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067218\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12067218 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00239seqn_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00239seqn_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00239seqn_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00239seqn_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Filmmaker and journalist Kevin Epps (center) embraces children in his family at the Superior Court of San Francisco on Dec. 15, 2025, after a jury found him not guilty of the murder of Marcus Polk. A jury did find Epps guilty of voluntary manslaughter. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Epps shot Polk in the left arm and torso shortly after Polk entered the Glen Park residence of his ex-wife’s sister, Maryam Jhan. She lived in the home with her and Epps’ two children. Polk was unhoused and recently out of jail at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Defense attorneys said Epps, Jhan’s partner, also lived in the home, though prosecutors suggested during the trial that he had moved out months prior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The house was a gathering place for Jhan’s extended family — her sister, Starr Gul, and the three children she had with Polk were often present. Prosecutors said Jhan also allowed Polk to come over to visit his children, take showers and watch television on a fairly regular basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The night before the shooting, Polk showed up at the home late, banging on the door, before Epps turned him away. He returned the next day, high on methamphetamine and cannabis, and was again told to leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, he entered the house.[aside postID=news_12066373 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251120-KEVIN-EPPS-TRIAL-ADE-02-KQED.jpg']Defense attorney Darlene Comstedt said Polk had barged into the home, acting “erratically” and threatening to “air out” Epps. He’d just gotten in a verbal altercation with maintenance workers out front. She argued that Epps was acting in self-defense when he opened fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polk is a registered sex offender and had prior convictions for domestic abuse against Gul, lewd acts with a child, second-degree robbery and drug possession. But his criminal record was not permitted to be revealed to jurors after prosecutors argued that it did not have bearing on whether he was likely to commit homicidal violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During trial, prosecutors said that Polk didn’t pose an immediate threat of danger because he wasn’t armed, and that he was faced away from Epps when he was shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than fear, Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Schmidt argued, Epps had been motivated by a simmering dispute between the men over Polk’s frequent visits to the house. Schmidt described Polk as a part of the family and said he had a friendly relationship with Jhan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epps’ arrest in connection with the shooting in 2016 was a shock for many San Franciscans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He had risen to local fame in the early 2000s for his series of documentaries on the experience of Black San Franciscans, including \u003cem>Straight Outta Hunter’s Point, \u003c/em>about the neighborhood where he grew up. He went on to work on a later film with acclaimed director Spike Lee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days after the shooting, then-District Attorney George Gascón elected not to charge Epps, saying there was insufficient evidence, but in 2019, he was arrested again and charged with murder and illegal possession of a firearm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067217\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067217\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00174seqn_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00174seqn_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00174seqn_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00174seqn_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Filmmaker and journalist Kevin Epps (right) gets emotional while talking to press outside a courtroom at the Superior Court of San Francisco on Dec. 15, 2025, after a jury found him not guilty of the murder of Marcus Polk. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The charges were based on new three-dimensional computer-generated re-creations of the shooting that appeared to show Polk could have been facing away from Epps when he shot, throwing into question his self-defense claim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The images were ultimately withdrawn over objections from the defense, but Gul — the sole witness of the shooting — corroborated the possibility in a preliminary hearing that year. During trial, her testimony was key to the prosecutors’ case, though under cross-examination, Comstedt questioned a number of changes to her recollection of the event over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epps was granted bail in 2020, which is highly unusual in a murder case, after more than 600 people petitioned the court; a dozen others, including Jhan and Supervisor Matt Haney, wrote letters urging his release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He has been out of custody most of the time he was awaiting trial. He currently serves as the executive editor of the \u003cem>San Francisco Bay View\u003c/em>, a publication focused on the Black community. Earlier this year, he won the Northern California Society for Professional Journalists’ Silver Heart Award for his work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How long of a sentence Epps will face depends on the jury’s decision on several aggravating sentencing factors that the district attorney’s office plans to argue later Monday. A prior conviction could also double his sentence if it’s deemed a strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voluntary manslaughter carries a sentence of up to 11 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Dec. 17: This article was updated to clarify the relationship between Kevin Epps and multiple members of his family.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066373/murder-trial-of-sf-filmmaker-kevin-epps-will-swing-on-question-of-self-defense\">San Francisco filmmaker and journalist Kevin Epps\u003c/a> on Monday was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, nine years after he fatally shot his former partner’s ex-brother-in-law during an altercation at his family’s Glen Park home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While prosecutors initially charged him with first-degree murder, the jury concluded that Epps did not act with malice but was still not justified to act in self-defense when he shot Marcus Polk on Oct. 24, 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epps was also found guilty of two counts of possession of a firearm as a felon, since he was barred from possessing the gun due to a nonviolent felony on his record from 15 years prior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the verdict was read, Epps sobbed quietly into his hands. Some supporters also began to cry, and in the hallway outside, others alleged prosecutorial misconduct. They’ve said Epps was targeted for his race and background, and throughout the trial, urged District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to drop charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outside the courtroom, Epps’ spokesperson Julian Davis vowed to appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The prosecutor very deliberately misled this jury into drawing inferences that were not supported by the evidence at trial or facts known independently to him,” Davis said. “On appeal, there’s going to be very strong grounds for an overturning, even of this voluntary manslaughter conviction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067218\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12067218 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00239seqn_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00239seqn_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00239seqn_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00239seqn_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Filmmaker and journalist Kevin Epps (center) embraces children in his family at the Superior Court of San Francisco on Dec. 15, 2025, after a jury found him not guilty of the murder of Marcus Polk. A jury did find Epps guilty of voluntary manslaughter. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Epps shot Polk in the left arm and torso shortly after Polk entered the Glen Park residence of his ex-wife’s sister, Maryam Jhan. She lived in the home with her and Epps’ two children. Polk was unhoused and recently out of jail at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Defense attorneys said Epps, Jhan’s partner, also lived in the home, though prosecutors suggested during the trial that he had moved out months prior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The house was a gathering place for Jhan’s extended family — her sister, Starr Gul, and the three children she had with Polk were often present. Prosecutors said Jhan also allowed Polk to come over to visit his children, take showers and watch television on a fairly regular basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The night before the shooting, Polk showed up at the home late, banging on the door, before Epps turned him away. He returned the next day, high on methamphetamine and cannabis, and was again told to leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, he entered the house.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Defense attorney Darlene Comstedt said Polk had barged into the home, acting “erratically” and threatening to “air out” Epps. He’d just gotten in a verbal altercation with maintenance workers out front. She argued that Epps was acting in self-defense when he opened fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polk is a registered sex offender and had prior convictions for domestic abuse against Gul, lewd acts with a child, second-degree robbery and drug possession. But his criminal record was not permitted to be revealed to jurors after prosecutors argued that it did not have bearing on whether he was likely to commit homicidal violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During trial, prosecutors said that Polk didn’t pose an immediate threat of danger because he wasn’t armed, and that he was faced away from Epps when he was shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than fear, Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Schmidt argued, Epps had been motivated by a simmering dispute between the men over Polk’s frequent visits to the house. Schmidt described Polk as a part of the family and said he had a friendly relationship with Jhan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epps’ arrest in connection with the shooting in 2016 was a shock for many San Franciscans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He had risen to local fame in the early 2000s for his series of documentaries on the experience of Black San Franciscans, including \u003cem>Straight Outta Hunter’s Point, \u003c/em>about the neighborhood where he grew up. He went on to work on a later film with acclaimed director Spike Lee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days after the shooting, then-District Attorney George Gascón elected not to charge Epps, saying there was insufficient evidence, but in 2019, he was arrested again and charged with murder and illegal possession of a firearm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067217\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067217\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00174seqn_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00174seqn_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00174seqn_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251215-kevinepps00174seqn_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Filmmaker and journalist Kevin Epps (right) gets emotional while talking to press outside a courtroom at the Superior Court of San Francisco on Dec. 15, 2025, after a jury found him not guilty of the murder of Marcus Polk. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The charges were based on new three-dimensional computer-generated re-creations of the shooting that appeared to show Polk could have been facing away from Epps when he shot, throwing into question his self-defense claim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The images were ultimately withdrawn over objections from the defense, but Gul — the sole witness of the shooting — corroborated the possibility in a preliminary hearing that year. During trial, her testimony was key to the prosecutors’ case, though under cross-examination, Comstedt questioned a number of changes to her recollection of the event over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epps was granted bail in 2020, which is highly unusual in a murder case, after more than 600 people petitioned the court; a dozen others, including Jhan and Supervisor Matt Haney, wrote letters urging his release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He has been out of custody most of the time he was awaiting trial. He currently serves as the executive editor of the \u003cem>San Francisco Bay View\u003c/em>, a publication focused on the Black community. Earlier this year, he won the Northern California Society for Professional Journalists’ Silver Heart Award for his work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How long of a sentence Epps will face depends on the jury’s decision on several aggravating sentencing factors that the district attorney’s office plans to argue later Monday. A prior conviction could also double his sentence if it’s deemed a strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voluntary manslaughter carries a sentence of up to 11 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Dec. 17: This article was updated to clarify the relationship between Kevin Epps and multiple members of his family.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>An Alameda County judge granted the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066680/alameda-county-da-moves-to-drop-charges-against-officer-for-2020-fatal-shooting\">Alameda County District Attorney’s request\u003c/a> to drop charges against a former San Leandro police officer who shot and killed a man in a Walmart store in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deputy District Attorney Darby Williams argued Friday that the office didn’t believe it could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that former Officer Jason Fletcher was not justified in using deadly force in self-defense when he shot Steven Taylor, 33.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have reviewed every single shred of evidence … we simply, factually cannot meet our burden [of proof],” Williams told Superior Court Judge Clifford Blakely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blakely told the courtroom that after weighing the evidence with the community’s interest in seeing Taylor’s case go to trial, “the balance falls in favor of granting [the dismissal] motion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move has sparked outrage from Taylor’s family and their supporters, who say they have been waiting nearly six years for justice in the case slated to go to trial next month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, a different judge denied a motion by Fletcher’s defense to dismiss the case over alleged prosecutorial misconduct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067066\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067066\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-JASONFLETCHERDISMISSED-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-JASONFLETCHERDISMISSED-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-JASONFLETCHERDISMISSED-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-JASONFLETCHERDISMISSED-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Addie Kitchen speaks to the press after the case against Jason Fletcher was dismissed at Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland on Dec. 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson filed the motion to drop the charges, writing that Fletcher “was left with no reasonable alternative.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fletcher, in a confined space, was confronted by Taylor, who was armed, refused to comply with verbal commands, was tased twice without appreciable effect, and had verbally indicated an intention to force Fletcher to use physical force up to and including his firearm,” the motion reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 18, 2020, Fletcher was the first to respond to the scene after Walmart security guards reported Taylor attempting to shoplift. Cell phone and body camera footage from the day shows Taylor carrying a metal baseball bat by the store entrance.[aside postID=news_12066680 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251023-MAYOR-LEE-PRESSER-MD-06_qed.jpg']The officer approached Taylor and attempted to take the metal bat from his hands. Then, Fletcher used a taser twice before shooting Taylor with a gun. The entire altercation spanned just 40 seconds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taylor’s grandmother, Addie Kitchen, asked the judge not to throw out the case on Friday, alleging that Jones Dickson violated her rights as the victim’s representative to timely notice that it would be dropped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said Jones Dickson told her, for the first time just before filing the motion on Tuesday, that the case was old and she didn’t believe it was winnable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let the jury make the decision,” Kitchen said. “If that was their decision that the officer wasn’t guilty, at least the people in Alameda would make that decision. Not the DA.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move is the latest in a series by the DA’s office to rollback progressive reforms made under former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/pamela-price\">District Attorney Pamela Price\u003c/a>, who was recalled last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since taking office, Jones Dickson has also dismissed charges against law enforcement officers in multiple other high-profile cases, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12053158/alameda-da-drops-charges-against-8-involved-in-maurice-monk-case\">the 2021 deaths of Maurice Monk\u003c/a> and Vinetta Martin, who were both found dead in Santa Rita Jail cells in separate incidents. She’s also dropped efforts to resentence some death row inmates \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066093/recalled-alameda-county-district-attorney-pamela-price-says-shes-running-again-in-2026\">after Price revealed that the DA’s office\u003c/a> had covered up efforts to exclude Black and Jewish jurors from their cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>An Alameda County judge granted the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066680/alameda-county-da-moves-to-drop-charges-against-officer-for-2020-fatal-shooting\">Alameda County District Attorney’s request\u003c/a> to drop charges against a former San Leandro police officer who shot and killed a man in a Walmart store in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deputy District Attorney Darby Williams argued Friday that the office didn’t believe it could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that former Officer Jason Fletcher was not justified in using deadly force in self-defense when he shot Steven Taylor, 33.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have reviewed every single shred of evidence … we simply, factually cannot meet our burden [of proof],” Williams told Superior Court Judge Clifford Blakely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blakely told the courtroom that after weighing the evidence with the community’s interest in seeing Taylor’s case go to trial, “the balance falls in favor of granting [the dismissal] motion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move has sparked outrage from Taylor’s family and their supporters, who say they have been waiting nearly six years for justice in the case slated to go to trial next month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, a different judge denied a motion by Fletcher’s defense to dismiss the case over alleged prosecutorial misconduct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067066\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067066\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-JASONFLETCHERDISMISSED-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-JASONFLETCHERDISMISSED-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-JASONFLETCHERDISMISSED-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251212-JASONFLETCHERDISMISSED-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Addie Kitchen speaks to the press after the case against Jason Fletcher was dismissed at Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland on Dec. 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson filed the motion to drop the charges, writing that Fletcher “was left with no reasonable alternative.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fletcher, in a confined space, was confronted by Taylor, who was armed, refused to comply with verbal commands, was tased twice without appreciable effect, and had verbally indicated an intention to force Fletcher to use physical force up to and including his firearm,” the motion reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 18, 2020, Fletcher was the first to respond to the scene after Walmart security guards reported Taylor attempting to shoplift. Cell phone and body camera footage from the day shows Taylor carrying a metal baseball bat by the store entrance.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The officer approached Taylor and attempted to take the metal bat from his hands. Then, Fletcher used a taser twice before shooting Taylor with a gun. The entire altercation spanned just 40 seconds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taylor’s grandmother, Addie Kitchen, asked the judge not to throw out the case on Friday, alleging that Jones Dickson violated her rights as the victim’s representative to timely notice that it would be dropped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said Jones Dickson told her, for the first time just before filing the motion on Tuesday, that the case was old and she didn’t believe it was winnable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let the jury make the decision,” Kitchen said. “If that was their decision that the officer wasn’t guilty, at least the people in Alameda would make that decision. Not the DA.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move is the latest in a series by the DA’s office to rollback progressive reforms made under former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/pamela-price\">District Attorney Pamela Price\u003c/a>, who was recalled last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since taking office, Jones Dickson has also dismissed charges against law enforcement officers in multiple other high-profile cases, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12053158/alameda-da-drops-charges-against-8-involved-in-maurice-monk-case\">the 2021 deaths of Maurice Monk\u003c/a> and Vinetta Martin, who were both found dead in Santa Rita Jail cells in separate incidents. She’s also dropped efforts to resentence some death row inmates \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066093/recalled-alameda-county-district-attorney-pamela-price-says-shes-running-again-in-2026\">after Price revealed that the DA’s office\u003c/a> had covered up efforts to exclude Black and Jewish jurors from their cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson has moved to dismiss manslaughter charges against the former San Leandro Police Officer who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11840071/mental-health-and-racial-justice-why-advocates-want-to-get-police-out-of-crisis-responses\">fatally shot a man in a Walmart store\u003c/a> nearly six years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Family members of Steven Taylor, 33, who was shot and killed in 2020, have been waiting years for the trial of former officer Jason Fletcher, whose case has been handed back and forth between county and state prosecutors amid a revolving door of district attorneys in Alameda County in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taylor’s supporters said Jones-Dickson’s motion to drop manslaughter charges against Fletcher, 55, abandons “one of the only police accountability cases in Alameda County history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This decision is a slap in the face to Steven’s family, to the community, and to the fight for justice,” supporters wrote on social media on Wednesday. “We will not be silent while the DA shields killer cops from accountability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 18, 2020, a Walmart security guard alerted police officers that Taylor, who had schizophrenia and bipolar depression, was allegedly attempting to leave without paying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fletcher, who was the first to arrive on the scene, moved toward Taylor, who was carrying an aluminum baseball bat. The officer tried to grab the bat and used a taser before shooting Taylor in the chest with a gun, all within 40 seconds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12055752\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12055752\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Addie Kitchen (center) and Sharon Taylor (center right) chant Steven Taylor’s name at a rally in front of the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland on Sept. 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then-District Attorney Nancy O’Malley brought manslaughter charges against Fletcher, marking the first time her administration elected to prosecute a police officer for a death, according to Cat Brooks, the executive director of the Anti-Police Terror Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After former District Attorney Pamela Price took office in January 2023, Fletcher’s lawyer, Mike Rains, argued that his client didn’t stand to have a fair trial under the former progressive prosecutor’s administration, and a judge turned the case over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036569/alameda-county-da-retakes-police-manslaughter-case-from-state-after-prices-recall\">to California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taylor’s family and supporters, though, have long advocated for his case to be tried in the district where it occurred, and earlier this year, Superior Court Judge Thomas Reardon returned jurisdiction to Alameda County’s district attorney after Price was recalled from office last November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, Fletcher’s defense moved to dismiss the case, citing prosecutorial misconduct. He said prosecutors under Price had shopped opinions from several police use-of-force experts who concluded Fletcher’s actions were not criminal, and failed to disclose those opinions to the defense.[aside postID=news_12064150 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/05/RS49486_005_Oakland_APTPGeorgeFloyd_05252021-qut-1-1020x679.jpg']During the hearing, Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Casey Bates acknowledged misconduct in the office and, in an unusual move, appeared to refuse to oppose the motion, despite continued questioning from Reardon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I agree that there has been outrageous prosecutorial misconduct,” Bates said during the hearing. “I don’t know if it rises to the level of dismissal. I think that’s for the court to decide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reardon \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064150/judge-rejects-bid-to-toss-case-against-former-san-leandro-officer-jason-fletcher\">rejected the bid to drop charges\u003c/a>, but now, a month later, Jones-Dickson has filed a motion to dismiss the case altogether, saying her office cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Fletcher’s actions were criminal and out of line with lawful self-defense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fletcher, in a confined space, was confronted by Taylor, who was armed, refused to comply with verbal commands, was tased twice without appreciable effect, and had verbally indicated an intention to force Fletcher to use physical force up to and including his firearm,” the motion reads. “Fletcher was left with no reasonable alternative.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Addie Kitchen, Taylor’s grandmother, said Jones Dickson told her Tuesday that the case was old and she didn’t believe it was winnable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let the jury make the decision,” Kitchen, who filed a letter asking a judge not to let the charges drop, said. “If that was their decision that the officer wasn’t guilty, at least the people in Alameda would make that decision. Not the DA.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since taking office, Jones Dickson has undone many of Price’s more progressive reforms and dismissed charges against other law enforcement officers in multiple other high-profile cases, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12053158/alameda-da-drops-charges-against-8-involved-in-maurice-monk-case\">2021 deaths of Maurice Monk\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/da-drops-charges-against-2-alameda-county-sheriffs-deputies-over-santa-rita-jail-suicide\">Vinetta Martin\u003c/a>, who were both found dead in Santa Rita Jail cells in separate incidents. The District Attorney’s office dropped charges against eight jail staffers in connection with Monk’s death, and three staffers continue to face charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12055753\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12055753\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cat Brooks speaks at a rally in front of the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland on Sept. 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It is no surprise then to learn that Ursula [Jones] Dickson, who has vowed to undo every single progressive accountability measure around law enforcement … is making a motion to dismiss,” Brooks said during a press conference outside the Oakland courthouse on Wednesday. She accused the DA of filing the motion while Reardon, who she said has “kept [the case] in the court system,” is on vacation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is egregious, it is vile, it is vicious … it is an affront to what the DA’s office is supposed to do, which is represent the people,” Brooks continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her letter opposing the motion Wednesday, Kitchen said her constitutional rights had been violated since she wasn’t given timely notice. She said she’s asking for the judge to deny or strike the motion and allow Reardon to rule on it later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A motion to dismiss a homicide case is the most consequential proceeding possible for a victim’s family,” she wrote. “The Constitution does not allow such a motion to be filed, argued, or granted without first giving the victim a meaningful opportunity to be heard. I was not given that opportunity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kitchen said she and other advocates requested to meet with the DA and reached out to the office multiple times since last month’s hearing, but were left in the dark about the fate of Taylor’s case until Tuesday, just before the motion was filed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, a hearing on the motion to dismiss is set for Friday. Kitchen has requested to be heard as the victim’s advocate before any decision on the matter is made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dailycal.org/users/profile/ayah%20ali-ahmad/\">\u003cem>Ayah Ali-Ahmad\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Family members of the man shot by former San Leandro Police Officer Jason Fletcher said the Alameda County District Attorney’s office has abandoned “one of the only police accountability cases” in county history. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson has moved to dismiss manslaughter charges against the former San Leandro Police Officer who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11840071/mental-health-and-racial-justice-why-advocates-want-to-get-police-out-of-crisis-responses\">fatally shot a man in a Walmart store\u003c/a> nearly six years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Family members of Steven Taylor, 33, who was shot and killed in 2020, have been waiting years for the trial of former officer Jason Fletcher, whose case has been handed back and forth between county and state prosecutors amid a revolving door of district attorneys in Alameda County in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taylor’s supporters said Jones-Dickson’s motion to drop manslaughter charges against Fletcher, 55, abandons “one of the only police accountability cases in Alameda County history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This decision is a slap in the face to Steven’s family, to the community, and to the fight for justice,” supporters wrote on social media on Wednesday. “We will not be silent while the DA shields killer cops from accountability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 18, 2020, a Walmart security guard alerted police officers that Taylor, who had schizophrenia and bipolar depression, was allegedly attempting to leave without paying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fletcher, who was the first to arrive on the scene, moved toward Taylor, who was carrying an aluminum baseball bat. The officer tried to grab the bat and used a taser before shooting Taylor in the chest with a gun, all within 40 seconds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12055752\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12055752\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Addie Kitchen (center) and Sharon Taylor (center right) chant Steven Taylor’s name at a rally in front of the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland on Sept. 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then-District Attorney Nancy O’Malley brought manslaughter charges against Fletcher, marking the first time her administration elected to prosecute a police officer for a death, according to Cat Brooks, the executive director of the Anti-Police Terror Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After former District Attorney Pamela Price took office in January 2023, Fletcher’s lawyer, Mike Rains, argued that his client didn’t stand to have a fair trial under the former progressive prosecutor’s administration, and a judge turned the case over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036569/alameda-county-da-retakes-police-manslaughter-case-from-state-after-prices-recall\">to California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taylor’s family and supporters, though, have long advocated for his case to be tried in the district where it occurred, and earlier this year, Superior Court Judge Thomas Reardon returned jurisdiction to Alameda County’s district attorney after Price was recalled from office last November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, Fletcher’s defense moved to dismiss the case, citing prosecutorial misconduct. He said prosecutors under Price had shopped opinions from several police use-of-force experts who concluded Fletcher’s actions were not criminal, and failed to disclose those opinions to the defense.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>During the hearing, Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Casey Bates acknowledged misconduct in the office and, in an unusual move, appeared to refuse to oppose the motion, despite continued questioning from Reardon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I agree that there has been outrageous prosecutorial misconduct,” Bates said during the hearing. “I don’t know if it rises to the level of dismissal. I think that’s for the court to decide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reardon \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064150/judge-rejects-bid-to-toss-case-against-former-san-leandro-officer-jason-fletcher\">rejected the bid to drop charges\u003c/a>, but now, a month later, Jones-Dickson has filed a motion to dismiss the case altogether, saying her office cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Fletcher’s actions were criminal and out of line with lawful self-defense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fletcher, in a confined space, was confronted by Taylor, who was armed, refused to comply with verbal commands, was tased twice without appreciable effect, and had verbally indicated an intention to force Fletcher to use physical force up to and including his firearm,” the motion reads. “Fletcher was left with no reasonable alternative.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Addie Kitchen, Taylor’s grandmother, said Jones Dickson told her Tuesday that the case was old and she didn’t believe it was winnable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let the jury make the decision,” Kitchen, who filed a letter asking a judge not to let the charges drop, said. “If that was their decision that the officer wasn’t guilty, at least the people in Alameda would make that decision. Not the DA.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since taking office, Jones Dickson has undone many of Price’s more progressive reforms and dismissed charges against other law enforcement officers in multiple other high-profile cases, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12053158/alameda-da-drops-charges-against-8-involved-in-maurice-monk-case\">2021 deaths of Maurice Monk\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/da-drops-charges-against-2-alameda-county-sheriffs-deputies-over-santa-rita-jail-suicide\">Vinetta Martin\u003c/a>, who were both found dead in Santa Rita Jail cells in separate incidents. The District Attorney’s office dropped charges against eight jail staffers in connection with Monk’s death, and three staffers continue to face charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12055753\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12055753\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cat Brooks speaks at a rally in front of the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland on Sept. 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It is no surprise then to learn that Ursula [Jones] Dickson, who has vowed to undo every single progressive accountability measure around law enforcement … is making a motion to dismiss,” Brooks said during a press conference outside the Oakland courthouse on Wednesday. She accused the DA of filing the motion while Reardon, who she said has “kept [the case] in the court system,” is on vacation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is egregious, it is vile, it is vicious … it is an affront to what the DA’s office is supposed to do, which is represent the people,” Brooks continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her letter opposing the motion Wednesday, Kitchen said her constitutional rights had been violated since she wasn’t given timely notice. She said she’s asking for the judge to deny or strike the motion and allow Reardon to rule on it later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A motion to dismiss a homicide case is the most consequential proceeding possible for a victim’s family,” she wrote. “The Constitution does not allow such a motion to be filed, argued, or granted without first giving the victim a meaningful opportunity to be heard. I was not given that opportunity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kitchen said she and other advocates requested to meet with the DA and reached out to the office multiple times since last month’s hearing, but were left in the dark about the fate of Taylor’s case until Tuesday, just before the motion was filed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, a hearing on the motion to dismiss is set for Friday. Kitchen has requested to be heard as the victim’s advocate before any decision on the matter is made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dailycal.org/users/profile/ayah%20ali-ahmad/\">\u003cem>Ayah Ali-Ahmad\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Arguments Over Genocide Dominate Stanford Protester Trial Hearing",
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"headTitle": "Arguments Over Genocide Dominate Stanford Protester Trial Hearing | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>A hearing in the case of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested for breaking into and vandalizing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/stanford-university\">Stanford University\u003c/a> president’s office was marked Tuesday by heated discussions over the word genocide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the court session focused on pretrial motions — which attorneys and the judge use to lay out the ground rules for a trial — a debate over whether the term genocide should be allowed during the proceedings elicited the most impassioned arguments from defense attorneys and a deputy district attorney alike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, defense attorneys and the county prosecutor verbally sparred over whether Israel’s actions in Gaza being characterized as a genocide is a settled fact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Using the word genocide is the same as saying the sky is blue. It is what it is,” Leah Gillis, a defense attorney in the case, said in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Robert Baker, the prosecutor heading up the case for the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, said Gillis’ comment was offensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s absolutely absurd. And I think there’s people who were murdered in World War II that would probably think that the word genocide is a lot different than just the word blue,” Baker said, raising his voice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flashpoint between attorneys in court stemmed from discussions on Tuesday about one of the central fights in the case thus far: the motivations of the protesters during their action on June 5, 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066600\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12066600\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251209-STANFORDTRIAL-JG-4_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251209-STANFORDTRIAL-JG-4_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251209-STANFORDTRIAL-JG-4_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251209-STANFORDTRIAL-JG-4_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Robert Baker listens during a Dec. 9, 2025, pretrial hearing in San José in the case of a group of pro-Palestinian protesters charged with vandalism and conspiracy for breaking into the Stanford University president’s office last year. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gillis and other defense attorneys representing the five former and current Stanford students in the trial have emphasized in court filings and in court on Tuesday that their clients’ actions were motivated by what they believe is a genocide in Gaza, and their protest was aimed at saving Palestinian lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prosecution has questioned the validity of those arguments and has tried to limit the scope of what the jury could be influenced by during the trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very clear the whole point of this argument is to prevent the defense from blaming a country that is currently litigating that very point,” Baker said of Israel’s dispute over its actions being labeled as genocide. “It is currently the subject of litigation in the United Nations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Hanley Chew ultimately agreed to allow the use of the word genocide, he asked defense attorneys to be “very judicious” about it, and warned that if he felt they overused it, he would change his mind.[aside postID=news_12064351 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-STANFORDTRIAL-JG-7_qed.jpg']“I’m not going to exclude the use of the word genocide, but I don’t want the word genocide paraded throughout this trial. And if it is, I will exclude it,” Chew said. “As all of you have pointed out, the word genocide is very powerful and is very politically charged. And if I feel that the parties are exploiting that word with their own use … I will exclude its further use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The courtroom at the Hall of Justice in San José was packed with several dozen people on Tuesday, nearly all of whom appeared to be supporting the protesters and donning keffiyehs, patterned black and white scarves that have become a visible signifier of Palestinian solidarity and resistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group of what was 12 protesters said on social media at the time they entered the university offices that they wanted Stanford leaders to “address their role in enabling and profiting from the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The action came amid a series of larger campus demonstrations aimed at pressuring the school to divest from companies that support Israel’s military bombardment in Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Defense attorneys emphasized that international bodies and experts, such as the International Association of Genocide Scholars and an independent United Nations commission, have labeled Israel’s actions genocide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using a word like genocide is “setting the stage” for what was in the minds of their clients when they took their actions, Gillis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062229\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062229\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-6-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-6-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-6-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-6-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Hoover Tower on the Stanford University campus in Stanford on Oct. 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The prosecution asked the court to bar all use of the word genocide, arguing it is “inflammatory” and could prejudice the case, and also sought to exclude explanations of the motives of the protesters during testimony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baker said the motives of the protesters are irrelevant to a jury trying to decide whether they are guilty of felony vandalism and conspiracy charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they were protesting the Gaza War, if they were protesting the 2020 election, if they were protesting President Biden, if they were protesting President Trump, it makes no difference,” Baker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re going to transform this trial into a political forum rather than a search for the truth and determinative facts,” Baker said. “I think there needs to be significant limitations to sanitize what is presented to a jury.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge Chew took a middle stance in his ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062228\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062228\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-3-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-3-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-3-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-3-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students walk and bike past the fountain outside Memorial Auditorium at Stanford University in Stanford on Oct. 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m not going to do a blanket prohibition on defendants speaking about their motivation. However, I will severely limit that ability to speak about motivation,” Chew said, noting he would ban any hearsay evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chew also decided to exclude, for now, testimony from a professor of human rights whom Gillis argued the defense should be able to use during the trial as an expert witness, to help establish facts around “Palestine and the genocide and the motivations of these young people in their request to Stanford to divest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point during the hearing, some people in the audience of the courtroom chuckled, sighed or let out brief comments in response to arguments from Baker, prompting Chew to later issue a warning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the court, and you should act in accordance with the fact that you are in a courtroom. If there are any additional outbursts, I will clear this courtroom. You understand that?” Chew said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hunter Taylor-Black, one of the defendants, said the trial amounts to “political persecution.”[aside postID=news_12065375 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/240508-Berkeley-High-File-MD-03_qed.jpg']Taylor-Black said the case from prosecutors feels “meant to discourage future student activists from acting on the things they believe in in the ways that student activists have acted in the past.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While students at campuses across the country were arrested last spring for Gaza-related demonstrations, few of those arrests resulted in felony charges or trials, making the Stanford case unusual. And defense attorneys argued earlier this year that the District Attorney’s office was overcharging the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The five defendants chose to go to trial last month, after six other protesters who were charged in the case entered into mental health diversion programs, or indicated they would take a court-offered deal that would include pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges, with a pathway to potential dismissal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One other protester, Jack Richardson, served as a witness for prosecutors in a grand jury indictment and is now enrolled in a youth deferred entry of judgment program. Such programs allow young people to eventually have a charge dismissed if they do not commit crimes while free, and often include rehabilitative requirements like counseling and community service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Germán González, also a defendant in the trial, said after the court hearing that it was disheartening to hear “genocide denialism” in the courtroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Throughout this sort of fear and anxiety that I do feel in the courtroom, I am just reminding myself that it is a privilege,” González said. “Nothing that happens in a courtroom or what happened to me is as severe as what’s happening to the Palestinians, who are facing genocide right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More pretrial conferences are scheduled this week, including a hearing over whether or not the provost of Stanford, Jenny Martinez, will be called to testify as a witness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jury selection in the trial is set to begin in early January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A hearing in the case of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested for breaking into and vandalizing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/stanford-university\">Stanford University\u003c/a> president’s office was marked Tuesday by heated discussions over the word genocide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the court session focused on pretrial motions — which attorneys and the judge use to lay out the ground rules for a trial — a debate over whether the term genocide should be allowed during the proceedings elicited the most impassioned arguments from defense attorneys and a deputy district attorney alike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, defense attorneys and the county prosecutor verbally sparred over whether Israel’s actions in Gaza being characterized as a genocide is a settled fact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Using the word genocide is the same as saying the sky is blue. It is what it is,” Leah Gillis, a defense attorney in the case, said in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Robert Baker, the prosecutor heading up the case for the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, said Gillis’ comment was offensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s absolutely absurd. And I think there’s people who were murdered in World War II that would probably think that the word genocide is a lot different than just the word blue,” Baker said, raising his voice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flashpoint between attorneys in court stemmed from discussions on Tuesday about one of the central fights in the case thus far: the motivations of the protesters during their action on June 5, 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066600\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12066600\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251209-STANFORDTRIAL-JG-4_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251209-STANFORDTRIAL-JG-4_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251209-STANFORDTRIAL-JG-4_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251209-STANFORDTRIAL-JG-4_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Robert Baker listens during a Dec. 9, 2025, pretrial hearing in San José in the case of a group of pro-Palestinian protesters charged with vandalism and conspiracy for breaking into the Stanford University president’s office last year. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gillis and other defense attorneys representing the five former and current Stanford students in the trial have emphasized in court filings and in court on Tuesday that their clients’ actions were motivated by what they believe is a genocide in Gaza, and their protest was aimed at saving Palestinian lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prosecution has questioned the validity of those arguments and has tried to limit the scope of what the jury could be influenced by during the trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very clear the whole point of this argument is to prevent the defense from blaming a country that is currently litigating that very point,” Baker said of Israel’s dispute over its actions being labeled as genocide. “It is currently the subject of litigation in the United Nations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Hanley Chew ultimately agreed to allow the use of the word genocide, he asked defense attorneys to be “very judicious” about it, and warned that if he felt they overused it, he would change his mind.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I’m not going to exclude the use of the word genocide, but I don’t want the word genocide paraded throughout this trial. And if it is, I will exclude it,” Chew said. “As all of you have pointed out, the word genocide is very powerful and is very politically charged. And if I feel that the parties are exploiting that word with their own use … I will exclude its further use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The courtroom at the Hall of Justice in San José was packed with several dozen people on Tuesday, nearly all of whom appeared to be supporting the protesters and donning keffiyehs, patterned black and white scarves that have become a visible signifier of Palestinian solidarity and resistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group of what was 12 protesters said on social media at the time they entered the university offices that they wanted Stanford leaders to “address their role in enabling and profiting from the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The action came amid a series of larger campus demonstrations aimed at pressuring the school to divest from companies that support Israel’s military bombardment in Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Defense attorneys emphasized that international bodies and experts, such as the International Association of Genocide Scholars and an independent United Nations commission, have labeled Israel’s actions genocide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using a word like genocide is “setting the stage” for what was in the minds of their clients when they took their actions, Gillis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062229\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062229\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-6-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-6-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-6-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-6-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Hoover Tower on the Stanford University campus in Stanford on Oct. 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The prosecution asked the court to bar all use of the word genocide, arguing it is “inflammatory” and could prejudice the case, and also sought to exclude explanations of the motives of the protesters during testimony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baker said the motives of the protesters are irrelevant to a jury trying to decide whether they are guilty of felony vandalism and conspiracy charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they were protesting the Gaza War, if they were protesting the 2020 election, if they were protesting President Biden, if they were protesting President Trump, it makes no difference,” Baker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re going to transform this trial into a political forum rather than a search for the truth and determinative facts,” Baker said. “I think there needs to be significant limitations to sanitize what is presented to a jury.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge Chew took a middle stance in his ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062228\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062228\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-3-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-3-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-3-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-3-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students walk and bike past the fountain outside Memorial Auditorium at Stanford University in Stanford on Oct. 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m not going to do a blanket prohibition on defendants speaking about their motivation. However, I will severely limit that ability to speak about motivation,” Chew said, noting he would ban any hearsay evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chew also decided to exclude, for now, testimony from a professor of human rights whom Gillis argued the defense should be able to use during the trial as an expert witness, to help establish facts around “Palestine and the genocide and the motivations of these young people in their request to Stanford to divest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point during the hearing, some people in the audience of the courtroom chuckled, sighed or let out brief comments in response to arguments from Baker, prompting Chew to later issue a warning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the court, and you should act in accordance with the fact that you are in a courtroom. If there are any additional outbursts, I will clear this courtroom. You understand that?” Chew said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hunter Taylor-Black, one of the defendants, said the trial amounts to “political persecution.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Taylor-Black said the case from prosecutors feels “meant to discourage future student activists from acting on the things they believe in in the ways that student activists have acted in the past.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While students at campuses across the country were arrested last spring for Gaza-related demonstrations, few of those arrests resulted in felony charges or trials, making the Stanford case unusual. And defense attorneys argued earlier this year that the District Attorney’s office was overcharging the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The five defendants chose to go to trial last month, after six other protesters who were charged in the case entered into mental health diversion programs, or indicated they would take a court-offered deal that would include pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges, with a pathway to potential dismissal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One other protester, Jack Richardson, served as a witness for prosecutors in a grand jury indictment and is now enrolled in a youth deferred entry of judgment program. Such programs allow young people to eventually have a charge dismissed if they do not commit crimes while free, and often include rehabilitative requirements like counseling and community service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Germán González, also a defendant in the trial, said after the court hearing that it was disheartening to hear “genocide denialism” in the courtroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Throughout this sort of fear and anxiety that I do feel in the courtroom, I am just reminding myself that it is a privilege,” González said. “Nothing that happens in a courtroom or what happened to me is as severe as what’s happening to the Palestinians, who are facing genocide right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More pretrial conferences are scheduled this week, including a hearing over whether or not the provost of Stanford, Jenny Martinez, will be called to testify as a witness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jury selection in the trial is set to begin in early January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
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},
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"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
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},
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"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
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},
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"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
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"order": 8
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1MDAyODE4NTgz",
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},
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"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
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"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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},
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"order": 1
},
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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},
"commonwealth-club": {
"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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},
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"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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},
"freakonomics-radio": {
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"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
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"meta": {
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},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
},
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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