I. "MVFree” Saviors Ignore Data Showing Combined Asian Groups Are Targeted by Sausalito Police at Rate Close To Latinos; II. Alameda Dems Double Down On Voter Supression, Appoint JCRC Member To Lead

New Video/Docs Reveal Alameda DCC Doubling Down On Prior Voter Suppression With New Secretive “Election Committee” – Led by JCRC Militant Trish Munro Who Sabotaged February In-Person Delegate Polling

Above Video: Like many registered Democrats denied a ballot at the AD-14 Democratic delegate in-person polling site at Beth Israel last February, it never occurred to me that the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee would double down on their malfeasance. But last week they appointed the convener who torpedoed the in-person process, JCRC/BANJO member Trish Munro, to head a new elections committee. See Part II of this article for the Alameda DCC story.

Part I. Invisible Asians: In Sausalito, White Saviors from “MV Free” Ignore RIPA Data Showing Asians Are Targeted At Rate Approaching that of Latinos; JCRC/BANJO Member Melissa Blaustein Flees Before Hearing Any Public Comment

Last Tuesday, the Sausalito Police Department offered a special presentation regarding their “goals, successes, and budgetary needs” to City Council, into which they squeezed the barest mention of their required Racial and Identity Profiling Act “RIPA” Act data. The RIPA Act requires California law enforcement agencies to report their stop, search, and detention data to the Department of Justice.

The RIPA Act means we ask small law enforcement agencies to report their own bias to a much more powerful law enforcement agency, which will in turn do nothing about it. It’s exactly the sort of thing liberals love.

Sausalito Police Lieutenant Mather prefaced the RIPA data by claiming that “there are no walls around Sausalito” and implied much of the RIPA data could be misinterpreted due to police having to stop “tourists” who are passing through.

But this doesn’t accord with the reality, where many of those “passing through” are Black and Latino County residents who must pass through Sausalito of necessity. Latinos make up the bulk of restaurant labor in the hospitality-heavy economy of Sausalito; Black, Asian, and Latino residents of neighboring Marin City have little choice but to pass through Sausalito to pick their children up from school because – who knew? – there is no longer a school campus in Marin City.

RIPA data had not been shared in any public presentation by the City of Sausalito until former Marin City Community Services District Board President Damian Morgan requested they start including it in police presentations to council. The data for 2024 is stark, and much of it, with regard to targeting of Black and Latino people, fits a pattern that accords with the 32 years of “arrests referred to prosecution” data by Sausalito Police that I retrieved from the Marin County District Attorney’s office through CPRA back in 2020.

MV Free’s “Bias By Proxy” Project

Tammy Edmonson and Frank Shinneman of “MV Free” both spoke during public comment, but mysteriously declined to specify just how disproportionately the data shows Sausalito Police targeting Black and Latino people. Maybe that’s because MV Free’s flimsy “Bias By Proxy” program had been adopted by the Sausalito Police Department last June.

In fact, Sausalito had implemented what was already a weak Mill Valley project into an even weaker Sausalito policy. The MV Free project, in a nutshell, asked white homeowners in Mill Valley to stop calling the police every time someone who isn’t a white homeowner walks through their neighborhood. But the “Bias by Proxy” program leaves the responsibility in the hands of white homeowners, not the armed police who are supposedly paid to discern between what is unlawful and what is lawful. It’s not that it can’t succeed; it’s that in Sausalito, it hasn’t.

And neither the police who presented the program nor anyone from MV Free disclosed that the Bias By Proxy program had only been adopted by Sausalito as part of a settlement agreement in the Portje vs. Sausalito lawsuit. Thus, “Bias By Proxy” could be seen as a bit of “social justice” window-dressing to make the $21 million lawsuit look like it had achieved something more than a money transfer once the smaller settlement was determined.

Notably, the “Bias by Proxy” program isn’t followed by Sausalito Police officers themselves, as is readily confirmed by bodycam and other video of the September 26, 2024 Sausalito Candidate Forum, when yours truly was violently and unlawfully ejected by police merely for speaking civilly about the impact on local budgets from US funding of Israel’s war at the end of the forum.

But just for kicks, here’s how Lieutenant Mather described the policy that his police officers violated on camera last September 26 and no doubt continue to violate. The policy was adopted in June:

The Emporer’s New RIPA Data And MV Free’s Silence On SPD’s Targeting of Asians

In their comments, MV Free’s Shinneman and Edmonson focused, much like the tailors in “The Emporer’s New Clothes”, on praising the wondrous quality of the new data. Edmonson, who declined to comment for this article, seemed more focused on desperately trying to distribute MV Free business cards to the City Council than on relating what the data actually indicates to those in attendance and listening from home via zoom.

Pointedly, neither Shinneman nor Edmonson made any mention of Asians also being disproportionately targeted, which is immediately evident from the RIPA dataset.

But Sausalito Police RIPA data’s various categories for Asians, once combined, show that Asians are being targeted at a rate that is nearly as disproportionate as Latinos, compared to their presence in Sausalito, both as residents and as members of the workforce. I note that the targeting of Black individuals remains the most extreme of all the non-white groups when compared to their demographic presence in Sausalito, as well as in Marin County.

Shinneman and Edmonson, who have been publicly silent on the issue of Israel’s genocide of West Asians in Gaza, “declined” to acknowledge how Asians are being targeted in their County. This is of a piece with white Marinites generally trying to pretend that Asians simply don’t exist – especially West and South Asian Muslims who have been impacted by decades of post-9/11 foreign and domestic policy.

If this year’s RIPA data on Asian stops, searches and detention is not consistent with prior years, does it indicate a possible uptick in the targeting of Asians in the post-October 7 era? We have seen an increased targeting of Asians (East, South, West) by various institutions, from teaching hospitals to universities – often merely for taking a public stand in support of besieged Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

I am reminded of writer Pankaj Mishra’s observation that the vast majority of Asians, Africans, and Latin Americans, with their own histories of liberation struggles, have demonstrated a nearly immediate empathy for the Palestinian cause – a cause that is continually shunned not only by MV Free but by Marin SURJ (“Marin Standing Up For Racial Justice”) and Lisa Bennett’s “Multicultural Center of Marin”. All three of these entities work far more closely with police than is generally recognized, and are tightly linked with the local Democratic Party.

Notably absent from the Council at that point was Melissa Blaustein, who had stayed for most of the police presentation but disappeared before public comment on either the police presentation or non-agenda items. This is consistent with Blaustein’s pattern of not being able to answer or even hear questions. Unfortunately for her, this is part of the responsibility of being an elected official. Unfortunately for the public, she does not meet that responsibility, and in a manner that may cost the City: per the police report, it was Blaustein who insisted on police presence at the September 26 candidate forum. Blaustein’s demand resulted in plainly unlawful and violent police conduct which is now the subject of a complaint and a claim.

What Else Was In The Sausalito Police Presentation?

During the preliminary part of the presentation, Chief Stacie Gregory claimed that in the 136 arrests made by Sausalito Police in 2024, they used force only twice. But this claim excluded documented, unlawful use of force by Sausalito Police in incidents where there is no arrest. Without a hint of irony, Chief Gregory touted the police department’s skills at “de-escalation”. (This claim by Gregory was later countered by Damian Morgan, former President of the Marin City Community Services District Board, who pointed out that Chief Gregory herself had been involved in “escalating” a situation with him in October simply because he had shown up to attend a Sausalito City Council meeting.)

Chief Gregory also made a $620,357 budget request to renew a 5-year service contract with Axon for tasers, digital evidence storage system, bodyworn cameras (BWC’s), in-car cameras, and interview room cameras. Chief Gregory claimed the contract will help Sausalito Police increase efficiency, transparency and accountability.

But Chief Gregory’s promise of increased transparency and accountability didn’t match reality. She did not share that there is at least one extant complaint and claim against the City of Sausalito for unlawful conduct captured on BWC in 2024. Neither did Chief Gregory disclose that CPRA’d bodycam shows multiple Sausalito Police officers had turned off their BWC’s in situations when the BWC’s should have been in operation, and when the officers were engaged in unlawful conduct.

Sausalito’s Police Department has struggled to recruit officers; on Tuesday, Gregory claimed that part of the problem is that when they find a recruit they are interested in, they often don’t pass the background check. But Gregory did not explain why Sgt. Nick White has been retained despite a documented history of abuses.

Gregory claimed they were doing well with retaining officers, but did not mention that Officer Beck left the department sometime in late 2024 or early 2025. Gregory did not name the “investigator” who is having to work patrol because they do not have enough officers, but it may be the serial offender Sgt. Nick White.

During the presentation, Chief Gregory shared that a “wish list” item for the Sausalito Police is a patrol boat. They are currently being assisted for policing on the water by the Richardson Bay Regional Authority and the Marin Sheriff. But given the litigation costs to the City of Sausalito due to unnecessary clashes with the now almost entirely removed anchorouts, why do they even need a boat? If they are so understaffed, how are they going to be able to extend staff onto the water? If Sausalito Police can’t be trusted to turn on their bodycam, can they be trusted not to tumble off a costly boat and drown in their costly protective gear?

Part II. New Video and Documents Reveal Alameda DCC Doubling Down On Prior Voter Suppression With New Secretive “Election Committee” Headed by JCRC Militant Trish Munro

Back in February, I reported that JCRC/BANJO militant Trish Munro was allowed to hijack in-person Democratic delegate voting in AD14, in which only 250 ballots were provided for in-person polling that had previously drawn 1,800 in-person voters.

In a direct rebuke to the most pro-ceasefire district in the State of California, the only in-person voting for AD14 was held in pro-Israel Temple Beth Israel, which likely explains why the voters who did show up were almost entirely white and elderly. AD14 includes not only the pro-ceasefire City of Richmond, but the University of California Berkeley, where pro-Palestinian protesters were targeted both by law enforcement and the local Israel lobby, and where, we have recently learned, twelve international students just received notice of visa revocations.

You might have thought after all that, that the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee (Alameda DCC) would have been slightly more wary of Munro. But you’d be wrong.

An Unusual Call From A Former Prosecutor:

Earlier on the same day as the April meeting of the Alameda DCC, I was asked to join a conference call with two DCC members who had taken issue with a recent article I had published and were ”requesting” edits. One of them had worked as a “progressive prosecutor” in the office of Brooke Jenkins, the San Francisco District Attorney.

This was admittedly a new experience for me; most people who object to an article send an email. But prosecutors are a special breed of people accustomed to an even higher level of immunity than even police possess – prosecutors have absolute immunity. Why should they commit their request into writing if they could just bully you on the phone?

Neither the prosecutor nor their ally were able to make any case for edits during the 14-minute conference call. I suggested to both that the conference call idea was a bad look for them, and that they should simply write me an email. (I eventually received the email, and it also failed to make the case for any edits.)

And neither mentioned that there was an Alameda DCC meeting that evening, nor that there was a pro-Palestinian resolution on the agenda. I found that out later that day, and was able to ride over in time to the Teamsters building in Oakland where the meeting was held.

A Meeting At The Teamsters Joint Council 7

Predictably, the pro-Palestinian resolution was first moved to the back of the agenda and later removed due to time constraints by Party Chair Igor Tregub. The resolution had been in support of Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian student organizer who had been kidnapped by ICE. Alameda DCC member Trish Munro had predictably attempted to water down the resolution to remove any mention of Khalil, Palestinians, or Palestine. With the largely meaningless resolution dispatched, Alameda DCC Party Chair Igor Tregub announced shortly before the end of the meeting that a new elections committee had been established to try to address the issues it had this past year, with (surprise!) JCRC militant Trish Munro as its head. From the back of the room, you could hear the murmur of dissent when this was disclosed.

You might remember Munro as the JCRC/BANJO member who torpedoed in-person delegate polling last February, and who wrote the infamous screed with the title “It. Is. Not. A. Genocide.” in July 2024, months after the ICJ case against Israel had been filed. As the attorney Craig Mokhiber has explained, the promotion of genocide can itself be prosecuted. Instead of being censured for her actions, Munro is now promoted by the Alameda County DCC to lead an election committee. Why are Alameda County Dems not protesting this? Why are any attorneys working with Munro (actually, under Munro) on this committee?

Munro described the need for secrecy on the committee in the following manner as captured on video:

Tregub’s announcement of the new committee raised immediate concerns from the audience, as it was revealed that the committee meetings would not be open, not even to other members of the Alameda DCC. In other words, the meetings would be entirely secret for all but the committee members. But even Alameda DCC members had little idea who was on the committee beyond three named members.

Tregub insisted that DCC members had received two whole emails about the committee, and it had been their responsibility to sign up for the committee on time. But Alameda DCC members left out of the process indicated that only one email had been sent a mere week before the meeting; in that email, the notice was buried at the bottom of the email and included no deadline.

A Korean American member wished to raise legitimate concerns about how the committee was put together. Tregub pushed back before letting her speak. As she expressed her concerns, Trish Munro came and stood before her. Munro stood legs apart, arms crossed. Munro’s body language was blunt.

Video:

I myself asked questions about the formation of the committee (see video at very top of article), and Trish Munro’s response is sadly typical of how JCRC and BANJO members respond to questions - either with rage, or in JCRC/BANJO member Blaustein’s case on September 26, by sicc’ing the police on the person raising the question.

During the entirety of the meeting, it was revealed that the prosecutor who had insisted that I join the conference call earlier that day, Yoana Tchoukleva, had also been chosen by Munro to serve on the committee. I followed up with Tchoukleva in the following days and received only evasive answers. Neither Tregub nor Tchoukleva nor Democratic Party Regional Director Rocky Fernandez would release the committee roster or any relevant documents, despite repeated requests. The only other person on the committee whose name was disclosed is Seema Badar; I reached out to her but she too has declined to respond.

Tchoukleva’s sparse response included the claim that the committee is “diverse” yet she offered no evidence for this. She claimed she is not permitted by the other members on the roster to reveal their names. But why were these members being so secretive?

And what is the value of “diversity” on a committee that insists on meeting outside of view of even the insiders in the Alameda DCC?

My criticism isn’t so much about any individual involved in this, but of ourselves as the larger group that will necessarily partake in whatever election “reforms” the committee concocts behind closed doors. Isn’t it our responsibility not just to ask but to demand that the process be open and transparent?

Perhaps the reason I was the only person asking obvious question about Trish Munro’s heading the committee at the Alameda DCC meeting wasn’t because I am so insistent on getting the party to address the failed in-person delegate polling, or the influence of the local Israel lobby. Mostly it was because I was the only non-insider who found out about the meeting in time to get to the meeting, which was held far from public transit, past the Oakland Coliseum. That difficult location can only be by design: if the Alameda DCC wanted regular workingclass Democrats to attend, the kind of people who don’t have to stand on ceremony like DCC members have to, they would hold the meeting in downtown Oakland.

I mentioned that logistics problem after the meeting to California Democratic Party Regional Director Rocky Fernandez, who replied that it was hard to find meeting space in downtown Oakland. That didn’t seem credible; I had just come through there and downtown Oakland felt like a near ghost town as so many places do given “work from home” policies and downsizing.

To his credit, Fernandez told me he didn’t disagree that Harris had lost the election over the Gaza issue. But if that was what he thought, why hadn’t he said that publicly in any of his comments during the meeting? Why hadn’t anyone? Except for some wonderful dissent from the back of the room (at one point, a member called out that the meeting was more Trumpian than democratic), the whole meeting had the stale odor of Versailles to it.

What Does the Democratic Party Owe Its Voters?

Distinct from all the bland truisms uttered at last Saturday’s corporate-organized anti-Trump protests, Pankaj Mishra’s observation about the significance of the global south’s support for the Palestinian cause holds true. The corresponding reality is that a party that relies on the votes of Black, Latino, Asian, and young voters has no future if it continues to support Israel’s genocide.

If local Democrats had stood up in the immediate aftermath of the Trish Munro-led in-person polling fiasco at Beth Israel – if they had demanded censure or at least pursued legal action – then Party Chair Tregub would not have been able to appoint Munro to head the elections committee. You cannot say you want change and fasten yourself to the worst political traditions. Choose wisely, please.

Part III. Taxpayers Against Genocide Keeps Plugging Away

There is some good news from Taxpayers Against Genocide: Marin County’s Jane Jewell sent this note earlier today:

“I am really honored and proud to share that TAG’s Report to the United Nations, for the universal periodic review of the United States (for complicity and participation in genocide) has been filed this morning.”

Jewell also sent me this link to a radio interview with two of TAG’s lawyers, Huwaida Arraf and Margaret DeMatteo. That same link includes an interview with award-winning investigative reporter Peter Byrne on the militarization of AI and the profiteers behind it.

Former San Francisco reporter Yasha Levine has a new book, Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet, and if you don’t have time to read it, his interview with Chris Hedges is incredible. If you’re a Pynchon fan, some of Levine’s book limns with content in Pynchon’s novel Inherent Vice.

Thanks as always to patient readers.

©️2025 Eva Chrysanthe