I don’t mean to pick on Carroll Fife. For more than a year I’ve had an open invitation to her to join me for tea so we could get to know each other. I’m sure she’s a delightful companion. But what she stands for is repugnant. Although I think she’s profoundly wrong on everything, nonetheless I recognize that she is a powerful, elected official whose opinions are trusted by many people. Therefore, I take her seriously enough to deconstruct her tweets and rebut them. So here we go.

Do you know why radicals like Carroll Fife and Cat Brooks hate Chief Armstrong? Because he’s a strong, decent Black man who was bringing together the Black community and the police. Fife-Brooks hated that. They prefer to drive wedges between the Black community and the police. The Chief is a uniter. Fife-Brooks are dividers of the worst type. They can sustain their careers only continue by stirring up anger, hatred and resentment.

At 10 a.m. today the rally for Chief Armstrong begins at City Hall. We’re hoping for a very large turnout. It’s important that we show up in force to get the message across to Thao, to the other police bashers, and to the media: We the people are tired of the cop hatred that’s been on sickening display in Oakland in recent years, of which Chief Armstrong’s firing is the latest and most visible symbol. We’re not going to take it anymore.

I’m sending out this rare Saturday column because of its importance. There was talk of recalling Thao even before her Wednesday firing of Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong. After she committed that heinous act, the recall chatter has turned into real action. With the firing, Oakland communities have had it with Thao, and whether she knows it or not, she’s facing an existential crisis barely one month into her mayoralty.

Yesterday’s rally on behalf of Chief LeRonne Armstrong was a great success. Called at very short notice, it attracted a good crowd at City Hall. Organization was by the NAACP and Seneca Scott; Loren Taylor also was there. The media showed up in force, and this morning, it’s a lead story in all the local news.