Viewers of local Oakland news station KTVU are expressing outrage after the station used a photo of slain teen Nia Wilson holding what appears to be a gun during a broadcast about her murder. 
 
 On Sunday night, 18-year-old Wilson died after she and her sister, 26-year-old Lahtifa Wilson, were stabbed in the neck by 27-year-old suspect John Lee Cowell while they were attempting to get onto a BART train. Her sister was hospitalized overnight, and after a day-long manhunt, BART police arrested Cowell on Monday evening, according to SFGate. So far, the stabbings have been characterized as “random,” though police haven’t eliminated the idea that the crime was racially motivated. 
 
 Across social media, critics of the news station have shared snapshots of the broadcast’s use of the photo. It seems the photo is from Wilson’s Facebook page, where she has posted tens of other photos that news outlets could have used for stories regarding her death. 
 
 Fuck you @KTVU this is beyond unethical. A Black woman was brutally murdered by a white terrorist and this is the photo you decide to show? Y’all are disgusting. pic.twitter.com/MyQ7p2GVBw — Brotha B (@BlakeDontCrack) July 23, 2018 
 
 Everyone please call @ktvu and demand that they issue an apology for this shameful coverage, two young black women victims of white terrorism and this is how they choose to depict them? Unacceptable, Call them now! (510) 874-0242 #NiaWilson #JusticeforNia #justiceforniawilson pic.twitter.com/gXUrNc8wXP — Kenny Foster (@KentaviousPrime) July 23, 2018 
 
 https://twitter.com/Whendidiaskyou/status/1021493414221754374 
 
 https://twitter.com/dovielove_/status/1021475047926464512 
 
 So @KTVU decided to put this picture up about Nia Wilson We demand an apology ASAP pic.twitter.com/LpNIRimUh1 — NEW ACCOUNT (@TheLakeSh0wKing) July 23, 2018 
 
 Someone needs to be fired at @KTVU for choosing a picture of Nia with a gun in her hand when dozens of innocent and beautiful pictures available. We have to stop criminalizing black victims in 2018!!! — Nia (@notoriouslynia) July 23, 2018 
 
 Dear @KTVU, What was the reasoning behind showing this photo of murdered #NiaWilson? I'm certain you had plenty to choose from of the slain 18-year old Oakland teen? Why this picture of her holding a (fake) gun? We'd like to know. pic.twitter.com/W4SHhERGOK — Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) July 24, 2018 
 
 Many have bashed the station for depicting Wilson, the victim of a murder, in a way that characterizes her as a troublemaker or a criminal, contributing to the narrative that Black people who are victims of violence are “deserving” of violence, or “contributing” to the violence against themselves. 
 
 “Why did they share that image? What were they trying to convey? And, as it turns out, she wasn’t holding a gun in that image, it was a cell phone case with a gun handle. It was a [sic] basically a gag—and the local news showed it like it said something about Nia’s character. She literally posted nearly 1,000 wonderful photos of her life on Instagram and Facebook, and they chose that one,” writer Shaun King, who has boosted Wilson’s story throughout the search for her murderer, wrote on Facebook. “Even in death, local news media finds a way to demean us. It’s why I believe so much in having our own outlets, our own platforms, our own morning shows, where we define our own stories and narratives without that type of ugliness.” 
 
 In previous high-profile murders of Black teenagers, such as Trayvon Martin and the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, the media used photos that portrayed the teens negatively. Some 2012 stories of Martin showed photos of him wearing a hoodie, smoking, wearing a grill, or raising his middle fingers. In 2014, images of Brown showed him holding a peace sign, which some tried to characterize as a gang sign. After garnering criticism, publications later began showing a high school graduation photo of Brown in his cap, gown, and graduation stole. 
 
 At the time, critics used the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown to ask which photo the media would use if they were to be murdered, providing options such as graduation photos or employment headshots, and party photos. People using the hashtag made the point that regardless of how they seem in a “party photo,” they were still the same accomplished person depicted in the other pictures. 
 
 In response to KTVU’s use of the photo, the hashtag has also been revived. 
 
 This is the literal reason that #IfTheyGunnedMeDown was created… as many pictures as there are of #NiaWilson that @KTVU would choose to use this photo of the VICTIM is not only irresponsible- it’s malicious, it’s cold- it’s what we’ve come to expect with black lives & media. https://t.co/OXGq2lAWM2 — C.J. Lawrence (@CJLawrenceEsq) July 24, 2018 
 
 KTVU anchor Frank Somerville shared an apology to his Facebook page on Monday afternoon, about four hours after the broadcast, stating there was “no excuse” for the station to use that photo of Wilson, and that it was a “huge mistake” that the staff is “mortified by.” Somerville included three other photos of Wilson in his post. 
 
 “We NEVER should have used that picture. It was a huge mistake on our part. We realized it instantly. And that picture will NEVER appear on our air again. We had a lot of pictures to choose from and unfortunately that was one of the ones we used. Again there was no excuse for that. And my belief is that when you make a mistake you own up to it. And that was our mistake. A big mistake,” Somerville wrote. “Nia was a beautiful young girl. She had her whole life ahead of her. From me, and all of us at KTVU, I can’t say enough how sorry we are.” 
 
 (A KTVU newsroom staff member forwarded along the Daily Dot’s request for comment and referenced Somerville’s post for the time being. Somerville also addressed the photo on KTVU’s evening broadcast.) 
 
 I wanted to take a moment and apologize for a picture that KTVU showed on the air for several seconds today about the… Posted by Frank Somerville KTVU on Monday, July 23, 2018 
 
 Somerville’s post has been shared 2,500 times and has received nearly 5,000 reactions. Many readers rejected his apology, writing that the damage had already been done. Some asserted that the use of imagery depicting Black victims and victims of color is used far too often, showing that the use of Wilson’s photo wasn’t a mistake as much as it was a conscious, oft-made decision. 
 
 “This girl senselessly lost her life to a lunatic and you (the media), turned her into a suspect in her own death by using that picture….and took the focus off of the animal that actually did it. That’s what the media ALWAYS does to victims of color,” commenter Patricia Lyn Butler wrote. 
 
 “This happens all too frequently and it’s difficult to believe that no one in the newsroom took notice that this was not an appropriate photo for this story. If an error like this can be made, then there needs to be some significant and swift changes at KTVU,” another commenter, LaTanya McNeil-Jones, wrote. 
 
 KTVU also came under fire in 2013 when they ran fake, offensive names of pilots involved in the crash of Asiana Flight 214 at the San Francisco International Airport. At least three veteran producers were fired after alleging the pilots names were “Capt. Sum Ting Wong, Wi Tu Lo, Ho Lee Fuk, and Bang Ding Ow,” SFGate reported at the time. 
 
 The evening after her murder, Oakland residents hosted a “Say Her Name” vigil and march at the MacArthur BART Station in Wilson’s honor. Wilson’s family has also set up a GoFundMe page, which has received more than $23,000 in donations over the past day. ||||| As you may know, on late Sunday evening, while riding the train in Oakland, a white man targeted two young Black women on the train, without ever saying a word to them, and killed one – a beautiful young soul named Nia Wilson, an 18 year old high school student, and critically injured her sister – stabbing and slashing them both with a knife – then simply walking away. 
 
 I spent all day yesterday doing everything I could to make this story into national news and was prepared this morning to come on and talk about how we needed to work harder to find Nia’s killer, but I am glad to report that at about 6pm West Coast time, John Lee Cowell, a brutal man with a history of violence across his entire life, was arrested and charged with Nia’s murder. 
 
 I wanna comment on a few things about this case that grieve me. 
 
 Nia Wilson, above all, was a teenage girl. She was a high school senior – the exact same age of my oldest daughter. And yesterday, after just a few hours of sharing her story, I saw something truly sick starting to unfold. First, a local news station in the Bay Area shared an image of Nia holding what looked like a gun. Why did they share that image? What were they trying to convey? And, as it turns out, she wasn’t holding a gun in that image, it was a cell phone case with a gun handle. It was a basically a gag – and the local news showed it like it said something about Nia’s character. She literally posted nearly 1,000 wonderful photos of her life on Instagram and Facebook, and they chose that one. 
 
 Even in death, local news media finds a way to demean us. It’s why I believe so much in having our own outlets, our own platforms, our own morning shows, where we define our own stories and narratives without that type of ugliness. 
 
 Secondly, last night in Oakland thousands of people, including members of Nia’s own family, showed up to her outdoor vigil. Now I don’t need to explain this to our listeners, but this was a moment of pain, and grief, and support. And white supremacists from the group Proud Boys, wearing red Make American Great Again hats, literally showed up to interrupt the vigil. 
 
 Let me pause right here for a moment. 
 
 Never – in the entire history of this country – will you find an example of white people coming together to grieve the brutal murder of their loved one – the day after it happened – only to have their grief physically interrupted by belligerent Black folk telling them that they are worthless. It’s never happened. It never will happen. 
 
 How cruel, how evil, how heartless, how crass, how foul do you have to be, how rotten must you be from the inside out, how dry and dead must your soul be – to have the idea that you want to interrupt grieving people and demean them the day after their loved one was murdered? 
 
 I wanna linger here for a moment because I think it gives us a real glimpse into the sick psychology of exactly who we are dealing with and fighting against. They interrupt our grief because they don’t even really see us as fully human. 
 
 Let me close with this final thought. 
 
 This morning I saw the video of the arrest of John Lee Cowell. Police don’t draw their guns. They don’t slam him to the concrete and put their knees into his back while putting on his handcuffs. They don’t Taser him. They don’t choke him. 
 
 You’d think they were arresting a man for writing a bad check or stealing a shirt from a department store. 
 
 And so often after we see a horrible incident of police brutality against Black folk, we talk about how American police need more training and better training. I’ve said that myself, but police show us over and over and over again – with white men who are considered armed and dangerous – who’ve just brutally murdered people – that they are fully willing and able to remain calm, and cool, and collected, and methodical – whenever they feel like it. 
 
 All these years we thought they needed to be trained on how to make a peaceful arrest – and it turns out they’re great at it – even with the most vicious and violent murderers – if they’re white. 
 
 We’re not saying that the police should’ve beaten or choked or shot or maimed or Tasered this man, we’re saying that we want unarmed, non-violent Black folk to get the same treatment American police are so willing able to give dangerous white murderers. ||||| click to enlarge Deceased Oakland Police Officer Brendan O'Brien outside Oracle Arena. 
 
 click to enlarge Facebook. 
 
 Celeste Guap's Tuesday Facebook post. 
 
 On Monday, the Oakland Police Department placed three of its officers on leave while investigating them for alleged sexual relations with an underage girl, the daughter of an Oakland Police Department dispatcher.But the Express has learned that the investigation also involves a potential homicide, one committed by a Oakland cop, according to interviews and records.Sources inside the department say that the allegations of sexual misconduct stem from the suicide of Oakland Police Officer Brendan O’Brien in September of last year.O’Brien’s wife, Irma Huerta Lopez, died June 16, 2014. Her death was ruled a suicide, but was briefly classified by homicide detectives as a potential criminal investigation.Her family believes that O’Brien shot her. “He killed her," Paulina Huerta, Irma’s sister, said in an interview today. Huerta said the police ignored her family. "Nobody’s listening."Huerta Lopez’s coroner’s report — which was released for the first time earlier today after the Express requested it — called her death suspicious. The coroner’s report on O’Brien’s suicide also noted that his wife’s death the year before was suspicious. And Alameda County sheriff’s department investigator Solomon Unubun wrote that “O’Brien’s wife committed suicide in the same apartment on 6/16/14 and her family thought her death was suspicious.”Police sources say various OPD officers failed to report the allegations of sexual misconduct, and OPD internal-affairs investigators may have failed to thoroughly look into both the sex crime allegations and also the suspicious death of Huerta Lopez. An investigation of sexual misconduct was opened only after O’Brien’s death.According to several sources inside the police department, the sexual misconduct was ongoing in 2014, involving several police officers and a possibly underage girl named Celeste Guap. O’Brien reportedly had a relationship with Guap. Guap was previously identified in television news reports that aired Thursday.It’s unclear when OPD officers and supervisors first learned of the sexual misconduct, but an internal affairs investigation was not opened into the sex crime allegations until after September 25, 2015, the date that O’Brien shot and killed himself in his apartment.Police sources say O’Brien, a 30-year-old who joined OPD in 2013, left a suicide note that included information about the alleged sex crimes. On Tuesday, Guap wrote on her Facebook profile timeline that “the only officer I messed with underage is sadly gone now, so I don’t know why this is still being brought up.”O’Brien was previously investigated by homicide detectives after his wife was found dead of a gunshot wound in his apartment. At the time, O’Brien was living in a four-unit building on Greenridge Drive in the Oakland hills, a property owned by Oakland police veteran Eric Karsseboom. Other cops lived in the building.According to a coroner’s report, Huerta Lopez died of a gunshot wound to the head. Two bullets had been fired from the gun, and one lodged in the wall in the apartment. The gun — O’Brien’s off-duty Glock 45 caliber pistol — and two casings were found near her feet. An Oakland police detective told a sheriff’s department investigator that an upstairs neighbor heard a loud thud around the time she was shot.“Why were there two shots if she killed herself?” asked her sister Huerta, who did not know O’Brien was dead until informed by Express reporters today.A sheriff’s department detective covered Huerta Lopez’s hands with paper bags and ordered an OPD crime scene technician to gather evidence to test for gunshot residue, which would indicate she fired the pistol that killed her. It’s unclear if OPD conducted the gunshot residue test.Huerta Lopez’s coroner’s report, however, noted that there was no visible gunshot residue on her hands. There is no mention of whether O’Brien’s hands were ever swabbed or tested for traces of gunshot residue in the report.According to Huerta Lopez’s coroner’s report, O’Brien and his wife had been shopping earlier in the evening. They returned home, but got into an argument. O’Brien told responding officers that he had last seen his wife alive fifteen minutes prior to going to a local gas station near the residence, and that, when he returned to his apartment at 10:52 p.m., he “found his wife unresponsive on the bed” with a gunshot wound to the head.Oakland police officers who arrived at O’Brien’s apartment initially treated Huerta Lopez’s death as suspicious. They took him to a police station, where he was interviewed for a potential criminal investigation.Huerta Lopez’s autopsy report stated that the gunshot wound that killed her was in the right side of her head, and that “the basic direction [of the shot] is towards the left of the body, down towards the feet at a 5-degree angle and toward the back of the body at a 10-degree angle.”Huerta Lopez’s sister told the Express she believes that O’Brien killed her sister, and that members of the Oakland police department did not conduct a thorough investigation into her sister’s death.According to Huerta, O’Brien and her sister met online and dated very briefly. They broke up, got back together in January 2014, and then married. But the marriage was rocky, with frequent arguments, Huerta said.The sister explained that OPD never released Huerta Lopez’s property, including her cell phone that she was carrying the night she died at O’Brien’s apartment.She also said the Sheriff-Coroner never provided her family with a copy of her sister’s autopsy report, despite requests. According to Huerta, OPD officers showed her family a surveillance photograph of O’Brien at a gas station on the night of Huerta Lopez's death, which the officers said proved O’Brien was not present when she allegedly shot herself. Huerta said the police officers’ appeared to be downplaying the possibility of a homicide.Although Huerta Lopez’s death was investigated by Sergeants Caesar Basa and Randy Brandwood, O’Brien was cleared of suspicion after her death was ruled a suicide. He was allowed to return to his duties patrolling a high-crime beat in deep East Oakland. On December 2, 2014, a sheriff’s detective reviewed OPD’s case file and determined that Huerta Lopez’s death was a suicide.According to sources who viewed his suicide note, O’Brien claimed he had been struggling with post-traumatic-stress disorder from his time as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Reserve Corps, as well as the strain of being under suspicion from OPD, Huerta Lopez’s family and his own relatives. He wrote that he had been drinking heavily, both off-duty and while in uniform and on patrol.These sex allegations, and the possibly botched internal-affairs and criminal investigations, only became public after US District Judge Thelton Henderson issued an unprecedented order on March 23. The judge cited “irregularities” and “violations” of procedures by Oakland police detectives in charge of the sexual-misconduct inquiry, and he called into question the department’s commitment to accountability and reform.Henderson directed court-appointed independent monitor Robert Warshaw to take over the sexual-misconduct case from OPD to ensure it was properly conducted.Henderson’s order did not detail the alleged sexual misconduct. A KRON 4 story that aired on Monday unearthed those allegations.“There is no question that there are credibility issues with the internal-affairs investigations here,” said Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris about Henderson’s court order. “To the extent these allegations are true this could impact the length of the NSA.”Following a string of officer suicides three years ago, there was pressure for OPD to increase mental health services, including counseling and mental health therapy, for officers. It is unclear what sort of assistance or outreach was made to O’Brien after the death of his wife.The Oakland Police Department did not respond to a request for comment for this report.
– Sisters Nia and Lahtifa Wilson were headed home from a family gathering Sunday night when the unthinkable happened: Police say 27-year-old paroled felon John Lee Cowell fatally stabbed 18-year-old Nia in a "prison-style attack" on an Oakland train station platform; her 26-year-old sister was injured. Police have framed the attack as random, though many have speculated over whether there was racial motivation involved. And in the aftermath of Nia's death, a national conversation has emerged around race that has reeled in some big-name celebs and brought a thoughtful post from Anne Hathaway that's generating headlines. The timeline: Outrage erupted and F-bombs got lobbed over Oakland news station KTVU's coverage of Wilson's death. Its report featured a photo of Wilson from her Facebook page; in it, she appears to be holding a gun. The Daily Dot notes Wilson's page featured "tens of other photos" that could have been used in place of that image. Many said the choice fueled a larger trend involving the criminalization of black victims. And it wasn't even a gun. As Shaun King explains in a lengthy Facebook post, it was just a cell-phone case with a gun handle, "basically a gag– and the local news showed it like it said something about Nia’s character. ... Even in death, local news media finds a way to demean us."