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OAKLAND — An investigation has been opened after vandals targeted the home of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, police said Tuesday.
Police did not immediately say how the home was vandalized, but Schaaf’s spokesman Justin Berton confirmed in a statement that vandals shot projectiles at the home, lit fireworks and painted graffiti on her property.
Bay Area News Group media partner ABC7News reported that “Defund OPD” and “Cancel Rent” were among messages painted on the mayor’s property.
“An attack at the home of a publicly elected official does not advance democracy,” Berton said in the statement. “This attack, designed to intimidate the mayor and strike fear into her family, will not stop her from advocating for the policies she believes are in the best long-term interests of her beloved hometown.
“Like all Oaklanders, she supports passionate protest but does not support tactics meant to harm and terrorize others.”
Early Tuesday afternoon, an item posted on the San Francisco Independent Media Center’s website, indybay.org, carried the headline, “Wake up Libby” and claimed responsibility for the vandalism. The writer of the post took the name “some yay area comrades.”
“Last night we sent a call to Libby and a call for action to the whole Bay Area,” the post stated, showing a picture of paint on a garage door, and a painted message on a walkway that says, “Take Responsibility.”
“Last night at 1 a.m., we paid a visit to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s house,” the post states. “A little wake-up call. We left a note on her garage and treated her to a nice fireworks display and the musical notes of pots and pans and assorted noisemakers.”
The group responsible for the post said it wants Schaaf “and other elected officials” to defund and dismantle the Oakland Police Department, cancel rent, create homes for everyone, and drop all charges against anyone arrested in the George Floyd protests.
The group also promised more pressure.
“Our politicians have addresses and homes and jobs and day-to-day lives that can be disrupted,” the post said. “This is just the beginning.”
Police said they are aware of the post.
On Monday, Schaaf responded forcefully to President Donald Trump, who called Oakland “a mess” and suggested he might send federal agents to the city. Schaaf called his threat a campaign stunt and a “racist dog whistle.”
Check back for updates.