I went to the vigil for the four slain Oakland police officers tonight.  Listening to the speakers, walking around the neighborhood and seeing the outpouring of support from people of all ethnicities got me thinking..What circumstances create a violent criminal with no regard for the rule of law or civility?

There have been many conversations about how society, the education system, the penal system, the parole system, etc. have failed and created or allowed criminals such as Lovelle Mixon to exist.  But what if those conversations are missing the point?

A young man, 20 years old commits a car jacking, is jailed for assault with a deadly weapon, allegedly kills someone, serves 6 years in jail.  Within months of being paroled, allegedly rapes 5 women, one who is 12 years old and then shoots two police officers after they make a routine traffic stop and he presents them with a fake drivers license.  All this before dying in the exchange of gunfire in which two additional police officers are killed and he also endangers his 14 year old sister who is safely removed by the police officers from the apartment in which he is hiding. Facts are, that the apartment belongs to another sister and he is shooting from within a closet with an AK 47 which easily penetrates the walls at this distance, not just the wall in the apartment where he is hiding mind you, but continuing to travel into adjoining apartments and possibly out into the streets. He is firing with complete disregard for human life, in fact, he is trying to take as many lives as possible before he loses his.

This leaves a lot of questions still to be answered, but one that is without question is, “Was he a monster.  Not according to his family, who were harboring a known felon with a no bail arrest warrant. Why did they do that?

I have spent a lot of time thinking about what Lovelle Mixon represents to the City of Oakland and the state of our society.  He is an extreme example of the evil that can lurk in the heart and mind of an individual and it’s especially heinous because four police officers had to lose their lives to find this out.  But what about the one individual he allegedly killed or the 5 women he allegedly raped (DNA evidence indicates that he did commit the rapes)? Are their lives or the effects of his crimes on their lives any less tragic?

How does a lack of education or strong family life affect his actions? How does time in jail or parole bear responsibility for his actions after leaving custody? Perhaps he would have committed the rapes (and many more) and even more murders had he not spent 6 years incarcerated.

Who is really responsible for his actions?  Lovelle Mixon is an unusual criminal in that there are many young high school drop outs that commit crimes against society yet do not reach the point where they are shooting at police officers. Even more, there are plenty of high school dropouts that never commit any crimes, get jobs, have families and live a non-eventful life as upstanding citizens.

Perhaps this was the Oakland version of a perfect storm. What if the officers had taken an additional 15 minute break prior to their arriving at 74th and MacArthur Blvd? Lovelle Mixon would have already parked his car and been out of sight, no where near the location where the officers were killed. What if he had found a different location to park his car or hung out a bit longer at his buddies house prior to going to his sister apartment.

Perhaps this is one of those terrible events that are so difficult to comprehend because it is so out of the ordinary, like the Columbine High shooting.  Perhaps it is so difficult to comprehend because it is so rare for all of these circumstances to come together. We seek to understand how someone could have such reckless disregard for the police, but in the mind of Lovelle Mixon, are the police any more worthy of respect than the women he raped or the person he killed or the victim of his car jacking?  Someone like Lovelle is beyond caring what the rules are to such an extreme that his violent death was inevitable, maybe not by the bullets of the police, but a violent death was awaiting him somewhere, somehow.

Looking back on the circumstances, I can only presume that his family raised him poorly, their statement that he “was not a monster” was either delusional or trying to save face for themselves. At least they had the decency to offer their condolences to the officers families and the family that is the Oakland Police Department. If they didn’t realize what a violent criminal he was, they surely know now. But it is still a question of why did they continue to protect him when the safest situation for everyone was Lovelle Mixon in jail.

Someone is an accomplice to Lovelle Mixon and for that they should pay a price. They should pay the price that Lovelle Mixon should be paying right now.

submitted by David Tom

Is it just me that feels like i am being held hostage by the terminator and our legislators?  Is it just me that feels pissed that we can’t get one GOP vote to allow Californians  to access the funds that we as citizens have paid into state coffers, and need to run this great state.  I feel like the ploys of layoffs and mandated days off without pay is fowl to say the least.  Closing a place like DMV and other state offices, that bring in revenue, doesn’t seem economically viable for this state.  You don’t make money by closing the store.  Every small business owner knows this simple rule.

I am miffed at the fact that this is such a difficult task to accomplished.  We as Californian are responsible for to pay our bills , pay our taxes and pay their salaries.  The more I look at the curent situation the more I long for the blandness that was Gray Davis.  I am insulted by the Republican revolt and refusal to honor their oath to represent and due the work of the state for it’s citizens.  They have pigoen hold on the vote and they are not letting go.  This is wrong, and i know that this is not what your constituancies elected you to do.  We are at four and a half months and you got us picking at bones, I think you have made your point.  Now it is time to do your job.  I feel like the GOP has been allowed to run this country into the groun and now we are letting the 8 largets economy in the world down the same path.  I personally have had enough.  This positioning is selfish and detrimental to the state in every way.  It is time for our representatives to get it together.  NOW!!! Be responsible and do what you were elected to do.  The Business of the state, because this current stalemate is bogous and stiffeling to the country.  I do beleive that as Cali goes so does the country.