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| Vandalized Oakland Liquor Store Damaged By Fire | ||||
| 2005-11-28 | ||||
| OAKLAND -- A 'suspicious' early Monday morning fire heavily damaged an Oakland corner liquor store that was targeted last week by a group of well-dressed vandals who destroyed the beverage coolers with iron bars, terrorized the clerk and sent shelves of liquor bottles crashing to the floor. An Oakland Fire Department dispatcher said the fire at the New York Market at 3446 Market Street was reported at 1:19 a.m. "It was contained fairly quickly, the crews put a quick hit on it but there was a lot of fire," said Battalion Chief Lorenzo Frediani. "It appears to be arson. It's under investigation." Arson investigators with the Oakland Police department and Oakland Fire Department were investigating the blaze, which destroyed all of the store's merchandise, Frediani said. On Saturday, Leaders of the Nation Of Islam denied any role in last week's violent late night attacks on the New York Market on 34th and Market and the San Pablo Liquor Market on 23rd and San Pablo Ave. and condemned Oakland police for 'religious profiling' for inferring that they did. At a Saturday press conference, Minister Tony Muhammad -- the Nation of Islam's West Coast leader -- said after reviewing videotapes of the attacks that were played on local media outlets, his group had determined that their members were not responsible. "In the recent incident of two liquor stores here in the Oakland being vandalized, I'm here to make the official statement 
after careful review of the recent news footage of the individuals involved in the actions against the liquor stores and merchants in Oakland -- we have concluded these individuals are not -- nor ever have been -- members of the Nation of Islam
or of any affiliated mosque or study groups in this area." "These individuals we do not know."
"We would like to send out to the Oakland Police Department of whom we know that one of their spokesman sort of -- we feel -- painted a brush of racial as well as religious profiling against the Nation of Islam." "In this climate of anti-Moslem sentiment, we are saying that all citizens and those in law enforcement should be careful how you paint the brush over any religious group. Just because men dressed in suit and ties (in the attacks)
It doesn't mean that all black men in suit and ties are gang members, thugs or nor do we vandalize store merchants."
On Wednesday night, a gang of vandals strolled into two Oakland corner liquor stores and unleashed a violent attack, terrorizing the clerks, smashing displays and coolers with iron pipes. The brazen attacks were captured on videotape and thieves seemed not to care that their pictures were being recorded as they looked right into the cameras.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #16 Guys wearing neckties? Hey, it could have some renegade Mormons. Yeah, the Mormons have a temple just up the hill. Coulda been them. There are alot of men who are not FOI yet go around in groups dressing in 1963 style black suits threatening folks and getting their violent rage thing on. When I drive down MacArthur Boulevard there are so many MIB, I some times think they're having Malcolm X look-a-like contests. |
| Posted by: Lionel Wilson 2005-11-28 19:09 |
| #15 open drug markets You mean that long line I saw downtown wasn't for a soup kitchen? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2005-11-28 18:36 |
| #14 First of all, it's Oakland. DOn't wxpect it to be solved. Crime usually isn't solved there. Even murders. It could be anything from a Berkeley fraternity hazing to the start of the NOI Chapter of Al Qaeda. Also, they aren't just Arabs, they are Yemeni Arabs. 80% of the liquor stores in Oakland are Yemeni Arab. Possibly these guys are friends of someone killed off the USS Cole. If they are just after vice, there is low hanging fruit all over Oakland. Street prostitution, open drug markets, etc. |
| Posted by: Jerry Brown 2005-11-28 17:58 |
| #13 In fact its so old, and so common, its a joke. "Seymour, i heard about the fire at your liquor store, Im so sorry for you" "Shh, its not till next week" Yep, :> It's called a Pre-Fire Sale. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-11-28 17:11 |
| #12 It's the BLUES BROTHERS gang! |
| Posted by: The Happy Fliegerabwehrkanonen 2005-11-28 15:14 |
| #11 The "hurley stick" it is, followed by 5 rounds with Russell Crowe! Lifting my mug, a toast - "to our wives and sweethearts, may they never meet!" |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2005-11-28 15:01 |
| #10 For each pint of the lovely stout wasted I'd inflict 15 blows from the hurley stick right on the perp's face. bright red and mushy pink go very good with black and white clothes. The texture contrasts are striking. |
| Posted by: Rory Thugeen 2005-11-28 14:52 |
| #9 "Could be the store owner torching his own place. It's happened before, and now would be a perfect opportunity." In fact its so old, and so common, its a joke. "Seymour, i heard about the fire at your liquor store, Im so sorry for you" "Shh, its not till next week" |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-11-28 14:48 |
| #8 If one pint of Guinness was lost *#^#&#&@#&@! To the tower with all of them! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2005-11-28 14:46 |
| #7 Guys wearing neckties? Hey, it could have some renegade Mormons. Those blokes hate alcohol too. Perfect suspects, right? Right? [crickets] |
| Posted by: Zenster 2005-11-28 13:20 |
| #6 Two words: Zebra Murders. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-11-28 13:17 |
| #5 .com, just in time for the February sweeps, a very special episode of CSI: Oakland. The investigation centers around a mystery string of vandalism and arson in Oakland's red light district, when the evidence gleaned from surveillance video and eyewitness interviews unfailingly points to the real perpetrators...the Lions Club. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-11-28 13:03 |
| #4 Not everyone's as devious as you, mojo, lol. I'm sure CSI:Oakland will find the firebug. From my observations, I reckon they can solve almost anything in an hour. Two max. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-11-28 12:36 |
| #3 Could be the store owner torching his own place. It's happened before, and now would be a perfect opportunity. |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-11-28 12:30 |
| #2 As for the Oakland police, the Black Muslim leader had some harsh words. Say it isn't so. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2005-11-28 12:29 |
| #1 There are alot of men who are not FOI yet go around in groups dressing in 1963 style black suits threatening folks and getting their violent rage thing on. "These individuals we do not know." |
| Posted by: MunkarKat 2005-11-28 12:19 |