I walked down to the Oakland Estuary on Saturday, behind the Jack London Aquatic Center, where for most of 2023 I had made friends, or at least acquaintances, with some of the people who were illegally living there in their boats. They were the same people that the media identified as the “Estuary Pirates,” a term I believe the Coast Guard invented.

I bet you think the Wood Street homeless slum went away. Physically it did, but the people who used to squat there are still around. They’re now actively lobbying the City Council to provide them with free everything. Carroll Fife is their de facto leader. They have their own website, under the moniker Wood Street Commons, where they list their demands as:

I was watching a meeting of the Oakland City Council on KTOP-TV when several Black women spoke, during open forum, of their resentment of illegal immigrants in Oakland. I found that interesting, and did a little research online.

I know there will always be people who believe the homeless have a right to live anywhere they want. I am not one of those people. The homeless have no such right, as the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 28 ruling in Grants Pass makes clear.

I was so pleased yesterday to see Huy Nguyen, the president of the Oakland Police Officers Association (OPOA), call on Sheng Thao to resign “immediately.” Sgt. Nguyen correctly cited the crime wave that Thao has shown no inclination or ability to fight because she fundamentally does not believe in policing. (Here’s a video from KTVU.)