Bay Area leftist candidate who advocates for homeless apparently has campaign money stolen by brazen homeless woman

The campaign for a left-leaning candidate running for city council in Oakland, California, got off to a bad start after a homeless woman apparently stole a bag full of donations during a campaign kickoff rally over the weekend.

On Sunday, Charlene Wang, 33, hosted an event at a local park to launch her campaign for the open seat on the Oakland City Council. As the event wrapped up, a women described as homeless and "clearly mentally disturbed" by the California Globe suddenly began swiping several bags and purses, reports claimed.

'Tirelessly fighting for disadvantaged communities by launching new social programs at all levels of government for homelessness, education, healthcare, and environmental justice.'

Wang was able to wrestle most of the purses, including her own and her mother's, back. However, the homeless woman apparently kept hold and wouldn't let go of the bag containing a host of donation checks collected at the rally.

According to video, Wang and her team attempted to reason with the woman in hopes of convincing her to give the bag back — to no avail.

"I very much tried to have a de-escalatory conversation with her to convince her to hand over the bag," Wang said, according to KGO. "Offer her a warm meal at the grocery store, even give her money in exchange for the bag, but that did not work out."

Wang also attempted to solicit the help of those involved with the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland Program, which offers "community response ... for non-violent, non-emergency 911 calls" in the city. Unfortunately, the ostensible social workers weren't available during the weekend, KGO indicated.

Finally, fearing that the situation was escalating out of control, Wang resorted to contacting law enforcement. Unfortunately, police weren't available to respond either.

"They said there were 250 calls ahead of us, and they said they would actually come by to take a report afterwards," Wang told KGO.

After allegedly throwing food and, in the words of the California Globe, "flashing her whatevers," the suspected thief reportedly wandered away, donation bag still in hand.

Wang estimated that the bag contained about $1,000 worth of checks. According to the California Globe, Wang has asked donors to stop payment on those checks.

Despite the apparent theft, Wang harbors no ill will against the suspect. "I am not angry at her or anything like that," she insisted.

"I can only imagine the trauma she is going through having to live on the streets."

Wang, who is running on a platform of reducing crime and helping the homeless, was left frustrated and confused by the silence from Oakland police. As of Wednesday, they still had not come to investigate the issue, Wang claimed.

"I think this is yet another example of first responder service. I was left to fend for myself in an essence," she said.

The New York Post reached out to the police department for comment.

Wang's campaign website brags about her work on campaigns for former President Barack Obama and failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as well as her previous work to help the homeless in Massachusetts. The website further notes that Wang identifies as LBGTQ+ and claims that she has dedicated her life "to tirelessly fighting for disadvantaged communities by launching new social programs at all levels of government for homelessness, education, healthcare, and environmental justice."

Even with those leftist bona fides, Wang is still surprised by the association between leftists and anti-cop sentiment. "I’m frustrated by the idea that progressives are automatically anti-police, that we don’t care about public safety," she said, per the California Globe.

"That is the state of the first responders in Oakland, and that’s why I’m running."

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Horrifying video shows shoplifter douse Bay Area store clerk with kerosene then set him ablaze

Surveillance footage has emerged showing a horrific incendiary attack that left a store clerk in California's Bay Area grievously injured.

The victim of the Sept. 22 attack, who identified himself only as Suraj for fear of reprisals, told KPIX-TV that he has seen his share of criminality in the five years he has worked at Appian Food and Liquor in El Sobrante, but nothing quite like this. Now, the mirror will serve as a constant reminder of the lawlessness now affecting much of the Democrat-run state.

Suraj's coworkers warned him ahead of his shift that a serial shoplifter had made multiple trips to the store to steal lighter fluid. Sure enough, the 38-year-old suspect, later identified by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office as Kendall Burton, returned to the store, apparently ready to once again take advantage of California's Proposition 47, which effectively decriminalized thefts under $950 in 2014.

Suraj can be seen in the surveillance footage confronting the homeless shoplifter while his coworker arms himself with a baseball bat. Before his coworker is able to close the distance and start swinging, the shoplifter douses the victim with lighter fluid then sets him ablaze.

"He just splashed lighter fluid on my face, and I was so scared that moment," he told KPIX. "I tried to cover his hand, but I don’t know. I don’t remember. He just lit the fire on me, you know."

Despite the flames consuming his flesh, Suraj nevertheless managed to get to the bathroom and splash himself with water.

The footage shows the attacker casually resume his thievery before Suraj's coworker finally tees off on him with the baseball bat.

— (@)

Suraj survived the attack with second- and third-degree burns all over his face, neck, chest, and shoulder and has been hospitalized at San Francisco’s Saint Francis Memorial Hospital ever since.

The pain is "terrible," he told KPIX, noting that "when we clean the wound, it's like over 10."

"I'm still in a trauma right now, me, my family," added Suraj, who reportedly requires multiple surgeries.

His wife, Sabeena, started a GoFundMe campaign to help their family through Suraj's recovery.

Kendall is being held without bail and faces charges including assault with a deadly weapon, battery, arson, and robbery. It's unclear whether he'll ultimately face justice for his alleged crimes, since Contra Costa County's Democrat district attorney is Diana Becton, a radical leftist whose 2022 campaign received roughly $1 million in funding from George Soros, reported the Daily Mail.

Since Becton first assumed office in 2017, crime has been an issue for the area.

While she rushed to charge protesters who defaced a BLM mural in 2020 with a hate crime, Becton issued internal guidelines in June 2020, encouraging prosecutors to consider whether looters "need[ed]" the stolen goods.

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California's first Muslim assemblyman joins Christian lawmakers in protesting Democrats' ceremony honoring gay pornographer from anti-Catholic group

The Los Angeles Dodgers are not the only woke outfit paying homage to an anti-Christian group this month. California Democrats honored a member of the so-called Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence on the floor of the state Senate Monday.

Republican lawmakers, unwilling to be party to the endorsement of the group and/or its ambassador, joined the Catholics, Evangelicals, and real nuns gathered outside the state Capitol in peaceful protest.

Among those who stood up and walked out in solidarity was Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli, the first Muslim elected to the California State Assembly.

Essayli held up a sign that read "Religious bigotry is bigotry," then walked off the Assembly floor in protest of the ceremony honoring the SPI. He later noted on Instagram, "This group engages in outrageous displays of mockery and ridicule against more than one billion Catholics worldwide."

TheBlaze previously reported that the SPI touts itself as a "leading-edge order of queer and trans nuns."

The motto for the San Francisco-based group is "go forth and sin some more," an inversion of Christ's command to "go, and sin no more."

Extra to ridiculing Catholic teaching and doctrine — the church's orthodox views on marriage, sexuality, homosexuality, transgenderism, and abortion in particular — the group has defiled the Eucharist and performed public sex acts involving religious icons.

A viral video recently shared on Twitter by Claremont fellow Megan Basham showed a performance by alleged members of the group wherein one male stripper writhed and gyrated on a second male stripper pretending to be the crucified Christ.

KGO-TV reported that Michael Williams, the Bay Area transvestite who calls himself Sister Roma, was invited to the state Capitol in Sacramento as part of a celebration of LGBT activism.

Williams, a staunch supporter of both COVID-19 masking and bringing kids to drag shows, is a gay pornography director and fetishist who made headlines for his participation in a 2007 BDSM-themed mockery of Leonardo da Vinci's depiction of Christ's last supper.

He said, "I'm completely floored that I'm being recognized with this amazing honor."

State Sen. Scott Wiener, who claimed that "the word groomer is categorically an anti-LGBTQ hate word" then advanced a law that made California a sanctuary state for child sex-change mutilations, was the member of the LGBTQ caucus responsible for inviting Williams to the state Senate.

Wiener, also responsible for a law enabling judges to keep men who prey on grade schoolers 10 years their junior, between the ages of 14 and 17, off sex-offender registries, added, "Catholic organizations that are demonizing the Sisters and saying that they are somehow hateful or anti-Catholic have it completely backwards."

Jonathan Keller, president of the California Family Council, said of the ceremony, "It’s disheartening to see the Los Angeles Dodgers, and now the California Legislature honor a group characterized by its mockery of Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. This promotion of the blasphemous ‘Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’ shows a clear disregard for the religious sentiments of millions of Californians. Such an act sends a troubling message to our people of faith across the Golden State."

Republican state senators, less than enthused about Wiener's nominee and the hate group he hails from, penned a letter last week to leftist Senate leader Toni Atkins (D), requesting that the invitation to the hate-group member be withdrawn, reported the Los Angeles Times.

"The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, through their public disparagement of the Catholic Faith, have displayed a disregard for the principles of tolerance and understanding that should guide our society. Honoring them in the Senate Chambers would be inappropriate and contrary to the values we hold dear," said the letter.

Atkins denied the request, writing, "The request to remove a philanthropic member of our LGBTQ+ community from the LGBTQ Caucus' Pride Month honorees is a misguided distraction on the first day of Pride month. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I respect my Republican colleagues, but I'm extremely disappointed in them for leaning in to polarization."

\u201cAfter Republicans criticized Sister Roma\u2019s invitation to participate at the Capitol\u2019s pride ceremonies, she gets a standing ovation and loudest applause on the Assembly floor.\u201d
— Ashley Zavala (@Ashley Zavala) 1685999411

While the tranvestic member of the hate group was ultimately honored, Republicans removed themselves so as not to endorse the SPI and its anti-Christian message.

James Gallagher, the Assembly Republican Leader, stated, "I will not be participating in the recognition of a member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. As a Christian, I love all people. I believe Christ made a path to salvation for all who want to follow. I also believe strongly in religious freedom and I have compassion, tolerance and respect for those who believe differently. No one should be discriminated against simply because of who they are or what they believe."

"That is why I will not celebrate those who engage in religious bigotry or attempt to co-opt our faith into something it is not," continued Gallagher. "Their vulgar mockery of our Christian faith is extremely insulting and disrespectful. We cannot condone this."

Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R) told Fox News Digital, "Senate Democrats have shown a blatant disregard for the 10 million Catholic Californians in our state," adding, "were this group to spread hateful messages about Jews, Muslims, Hindus, or any other religion, Senate Democrats would certainly not extend this invitation."

KNVN reported that Gallagher joined Sacramento Catholic Bishop Jaime Soto at the prayer protest outside, who recited the Our Father.

Essayli, an Abrahamic ally, stressed on Instagram, "An attack against one faith is an attack on all faith. Bigotry of any kind cannot be tolerated, or worse yet, formally dignified by the State of California."

LGBTQ Caucus Press Availability with Sister Roma youtu.be

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Bay Area parents revolt after woke high school proposes dropping Minutemen mascot to make everyone 'feel comfortable'

Having apparently run out of professional sports icons to smash, woke iconoclasts have settled on their next target: a Bay Area high school mascot.

Educators and administrators in the Mount Diablo Unified School District determined that Concord High School's Minutemen mascot needs to go.

The Minuteman mascot figures prominently on the school's website, appearing in its logo, its sporting scoreboards, and in its outgoing communications.

The image summons the memory of the militiamen who were among the first to fight in the American Revolution. They received the moniker "minutemen" on account of the requirement that they be ready for action "at a minute's warning."

Their readiness and the minutes, hours, and years they committed to the cause of securing American independence helped guarantee the success of a nation that would enjoy the luxury of debating whether to pay them a modicum of respect some 250 years later.

Concord High School, founded in the late 1960s, first decided to embrace the image and name to honor the men who formed the Minutemen militia in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1775, reported the Pioneer, a local Concord paper.

However, now the school's principal, Julene MacKinnon, wants to "make sure that we have a mascot that represents everyone," reported KNTV-TV.

MacKinnon, like others in the district, is uncomfortable with the male mascot, particularly when he appears armed. She reckons the image is tied to "some of the brutality, them being a militia."

The Pioneer reported that late in the pandemic, MDUSD superintendent Adam Clark and the governing board began discussing changing mascots at the Concord and Ygnacio Valley high schools. The latter have already followed through with their replacement.

A teacher at Ygnacio Valley took issue with her school's mascot, which at the time was a proud indigenous warrior wearing a headdress. It is now a wolf.

Similarly, the previous principal at Concord High reportedly complained that "Minutemen" referred only to one gender and that the symbol of a rifle was problematic.

In response to these pet grievances, Clark said, "The mascot conversation is long overdue, and it is time to ensure that all students, staff and community members feel comfortable with images at our schools."

Then-board president Cherise Khaund, now a trustee, concurred, citing the 2015 California Racial Mascots Act, which says, "The use of racially derogatory or discriminatory school or athletic team names, mascots, or nicknames in California public schools is antithetical to the California school mission of providing an equal education to all."

In justifying the change, Khaund also cited the district's policy that states, "District programs and activities shall also be free of any racially derogatory or discriminatory school or athletic team names, mascots, or nicknames."

Some parents, alumni, and students in the community, unclear about how precisely an American minuteman could be misconstrued as derogatory or discriminatory, spoke out at a Mount Diablo Unified School board meeting Wednesday, reported KRON.

"I have relatives that were in the Revolutionary War. They would be appalled at the fact that we are losing our heritage," said community member Wes Anderson.

Mark Lloyd, another supporter of the Minutemen mascot, told the board, "You have whole families that identify as Minutemen. You have families who buy a house to continue their legacy there."

Julie Lyster, a Concord High parent, proposed a supposedly inclusive half-measure: "Remove the musket. Add a woman beside the minuteman. There were women minutemen, and African American minutemen."

According to the Daily Mail, this option — of adding a "minutewoman" or changing the mascot's complexion — is being taken seriously.

Concord is 55% white, 30% Hispanic, 13% Asian, and roughly 4% black.

As for students, they appear to be less than enthused about swapping out their patriot mascot for an animal devoid of greater significance.

Students were surveyed earlier this year on a possible replacement. Keeping the minutemen was not an option. Instead, "the bears" and "crocodiles" have been entertained as possibilities.

500 out of 1,100 students reportedly participated. Although "the bears" received the plurality of votes (190), one parent stressed, "I don't think the students are excited about either" option.

Concord High is not the first educational institution in recent memory to drop its mascot to accommodate woke sensibilities.

Here are just a few:

Valparaiso University in Indiana replaced its Crusader mascot with a golden retriever;
Bountiful High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, replaced its "Braves" native mascot with the "Redhawks";
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi kept its mascot's name "Izzy the Islander," but dehumanized it entirely so that rather than paging homage to Pacific Islanders, it now is meant to look like water;
George Washington University students voted to replace their mascot, George the Colonial, and may settle on "Blue Fog";
North Haven High School in Connecticut opted for "Nighthawks" instead of Indians";
The University of Nebraska Lincoln updated its "Herbie Husker" mascot so that it no longer flashes the "OK" hand gesture, which some conspiracy theorists reasoned was a hate symbol; and
Long Island University dropped its "Blackbirds" nickname after claims it was somehow racist, embracing instead "Sharks."

Debate Over Concord High School Mascot Continues youtu.be

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Longtime California family business folds up tents over recent spike in crime, moves to Alabama where they've found 'hard-working people just living their life'

A longtime California family business grew so tired of the spike in break-ins, thefts, vandalism, and other crimes against their Bay Area laundromats that they folded up their tents recently and moved to Alabama — which is refreshingly full of "hard-working people just living their life," Derek Drake told KGO-TV.

What are the details?

Drake and his family have owned laundromats in the East Bay for decades, KGO said, adding that Drake's father Art Thoms — a former Oakland Raiders football player — told Drake "my teammates laughed at me when I started buying laundromats 45 years ago."

However, the well-documented spike in crime in the Bay Area of late changed the business perspective of Drake's family.