[We began by talking about Chief Armstrong’s reaction to the Police Commission including him on its list to be the new Chief—a list Thao wouldn’t even consider.]

[Editor: This is part 1 of my conversation with former Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong. We sat with our coffee as he spoke to a variety of issues that have dominated media coverage lately. This transcript is mostly verbatim; I have lightly edited it for clarity.]

He’s an obvious choice. No one has done a better job of trying to rescue Oakland from the blight of crime than former Chief Armstrong. He is “former” because, of course, Sheng Thao unjustly fired him, which is a main reason why we’re going to recall her.

Pro-homeless types are freaking out that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of Johnson vs. Grants Pass, Oregon. At long last, we’re going to see a resolution of a question municipalities like Oakland have dodged for years: Does a city have the right to manage homeless encampments on public property, or is it helpless in the face of the 8th Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment?

Thao will do anything she can to keep OPD from arresting criminals. She doesn’t believe in prosecuting bad guys; she subscribes to Pamela Price’s Big Lie that our criminal justice system is so saturated with racism that it will never eliminate crime. So she’s out there throwing spaghetti against the wall, to see if anything sticks.