Steven Taylor Murder: Jason Fletcher Motion to Dismiss Denied

It has been 18 months since Steven Taylor was murdered by former San Leandro Police Officer Jason Fletcher in less than 40 seconds from when he arrived on scene. It has been 18 months since still active SLPD Officer Stefan Overton was an accessory to the crime, tasing Steven even after he had already been shot. It has been 18 months since the ongoing racism and inequity within San Leandro was laid bare in a way that was impossible to ignore or deny.

A judge in the proceedings recently denied Fletcher's motion to dismiss the case. However, Fletcher didn't bother to appear in court, letting his attorney, Michael Rains of the Oakland Riders police corruption scandal, to bloviate on his behalf.

Among the notable remarks were these: 

"Alameda County Superior Court Judge Thomas Reardon asked why Fletcher did not wait for his backup since Taylor allegedly posed no immediate threat to anyone when Fletcher arrived at the Walmart at 15555 Hesperian Blvd. on April 18, 2020."

"Reardon said Fletcher knew he had at least one more officer coming and likely more for the asking. Maybe more police officers would have deterred Taylor, the judge said. “What’s the hurry?” Reardon said. Taylor was not waving a bat at anyone at that point, he said."

"Reardon cited a law that requires police officers to tactically reposition themselves or try to de-escalate the situation before resorting to force."

As a reminder, despite her complicity in election fraud and bribery from law enforcement unions across Alameda County, this will be the first time DA Nancy O'Malley has filed criminal charges against a police officer in a fatal shooting. Coincidentally, O’Malley is not running for reelection.

In the meantime, I encourage everyone to contact our city council at citycouncil@sanleandro.org and demand that they acknowledge this tragedy, take responsibility for the city's failure, repudiate Fletcher's actions, apologize to the Taylor family, and commit themselves to implementing effective police oversight as well as a mental health crisis response team that doesn't require an armed officer.

The next police oversight community forum will be held on Thursday, October 21 from 6:00 to 7:00 PM via Zoom. If you haven't already attended the first session, please try to attend this second session. If you're unable to attend, you can still send in your comments via email.

The city also just completed a presentation on several different models for mental health crisis response that are similar to successful programs in other Bay Area cities, as well as municipalities across the nation. I recommend taking a look at what they shared to see what that could look like in our city.

Lastly, I want to express my appreciation and gratitude to several people. I want to give a big shoutout of praise to Justice for Steven Taylor (J4ST), particularly Addie Kitchen, Steven's grandmother, as well as organizers Jenna Hewitt King and Selina McManus. They have really done so much to lead us as a city, as a community in bending this arc of time towards justice, despite all the challenges of this pandemic, partisanship, and social unrest. I also want to thank Celina Reynes and Bob Bailey for their leadership in developing and advocating a template of police oversight for San Leandro that we will be basing our implementation on.

Additionally, I am so proud of the last 18 months of work from my fellow activists, advocates, organizers, neighbors, local leaders, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders who have stood against seemingly insurmountable odds during a global pandemic, a wave of social unrest sparked by police brutality, as well as treason and sedition by a major political party. Not to mention the unique challenges right here in our own backyard, as we dealt with duplicitous elected officials and police union leaders, as well as a wealthy, vocal, entrenched minority of residents who preferred the nostalgia immersed in our city's bigoted past rather than its diverse present or a vision of a more equitable and inclusive future.

While there is still so much more to do, and the recognition that this milestone is one borne from tragedy, I feel hopeful that we truly are building a better San Leandro for everyone.

Take note and take care.