By Paul Kersey
06/30/2023
“Save the ones you can, Jake. The rest, you’ve got to let go.” — The Guardian (2006)
Shot.
Left-wing activist baker who believes in abolishing police dies after robbers mowed her down at bank in Oakland — victim’s family say killers shouldn’t go to jail as murders soar 50%, Daily Mail, February 14, 2023
The family of an Oakland baker and former publisher who espoused anarchist beliefs believe that the thieves who killed her in a daylight robbery and assault shouldn’t go to jail and her death shouldn’t be used to argue for more police.
Jennifer Angel, 48, founded Angel Cakes bakery in Oakland in 2008. Prior to that, she was a publisher of what she described as ‘radical, progressive’ magazines and a publicist for authors.
On Monday, Angel was leaving her car in front of a bank in uptown Oakland when two robbers smashed her car window and ran off with her belongings, her fiance Ocean Mottley said.
She then went after the robbers’ getaway car, catching up with it but getting trapped in its door and being dragged over 50 feet. Her head was crushed on the sidewalk and the car drove away.
By Thursday, her family had confirmed her death after spending days in a coma at a local hospital.
While local authorities investigate her death as a homicide, the family has requested that her brutal killers not be sent to jail.
In a statement on a GoFundMe that has raised over $130,000 as of Saturday, those close to her said they would pursue ‘alternatives’ to prison for the criminals.
‘As a long-time social movement activist and anarchist, Jen did not believe in state violence, carceral punishment, or incarceration as an effective or just solution to social violence and inequity,’ they wrote.
They added: ‘We know Jen would not want to continue the cycle of harm by bringing state-sanctioned violence to those involved in her death or to other members of Oakland’s rich community.’
In fact, she once bragged on Facebook that she had taught her employees to do what she does and ‘never call the cops.’
Emily Harris, a close friend of Angel and an ‘anti-prison director,’ told the San Francisco Chronicle that the statement fits with her radical liberal principles.
‘I think Jen would affirm that of course that’s what people have been trained to believe is the answer, to lock people up,’ Harris said. ‘But we know that if the people who cause her harm are sent to jail, all we’re doing is perpetuating more harm.’
Before starting her bake shop, Angel was an editor of the left-wing publication Clamor and also worked for the seminal punk rock journal MaximumRocknRoll, as well as a personal zine entitled F**ktooth.
Leftist outlet Democracy Now and radical Canadian punk rockers Propagandhi were among those to celebrate Angel in her wake.
Democracy Now described Angel as ‘actively involved in antiwar and anti-capitalist struggles through the years, including Occupy Wall Street.’
In a remembrance, Crimethincc quoted her stating her anarchist leanings as: ‘The core tenets of anarchism are autonomy, mutual aid, voluntary association, and direct action. These are all positive things.’
Her bake shop’s website even included a statement of political beliefs.
‘[Angel] believes that Black Lives Matter and that every person has the right to choose their own gender identity and gender expression,’ the store’s ‘About Us’ section proclaims.
‘As a shop we strive to reduce waste through limiting use of plastics and choosing products that are gentle on the environment. We do our best to be a good neighbor and community member through donating to and providing desserts for various social justice efforts, particularly in the areas of environmental justice, housing, and criminal justice reform.’
Chaser.
Suspect charged in death of ”anarchist” baker in robbery gone wrong as victim’s family urges no jail time, New York Post, June 25, 2023
A 19-year-old San Francisco man has been charged in the death of a popular baker who was dragged by a getaway car chasing after armed robbers — and the woke activist’s family has urged authorities not to jail her two assailants because it goes against her social justice beliefs.
Ishmael Burch was charged June 5 by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office in Oakland on suspicion of felony murder with robbery enhancements in the slaying of Jen Angel, owner of Angel Cakes, the San Francisco Examiner reported.
The suspect was first taken into custody in San Francisco on June 2 on battery charges.
Police confirmed Saturday that Burch was charged in connection with the Feb. 6 death of Angel, 48, who was robbed by two thieves who smashed her car window on Webster Street in Oakland and made off with her purse.
She chased after their getaway car, but got caught in the vehicle’s door and was dragged more the 50 feet, smashing her head on the sidewalk. She was put in a medically induced coma and later declared dead.
“As a long-time social movement activist and anarchist, Jen did not believe in state violence, carceral punishment or incarceration as an effective or just solution to social violence and inequity,” her loved ones wrote on a GoFundMe page after the brutal crime.
Her family is “committed to pursuing all available alternatives to traditional prosecution, such as restorative justice,” the post said.
“We know Jen would not want to continue the cycle of harm by bringing state-sanctioned violence to those involved in her death or to other members of Oakland’s rich community,” the family added.
In the wake of Burch’s arrest, Angel’s friends and family reiterated her “commitment to restorative and transformative justice.”
“The community that Jen built and surrounded herself with was vast. The group of us working to carry out her wishes reflect a variety of life experiences. Some of us share Jen’s political beliefs and ideals. Some of us are newer to alternatives to the status quo,” the statement reads, the Mercury News reported.
“Others of us may make very different decisions on our own behalf than what Jen believed in. Among all of us, no matter where we stand individually, collectively we are committed to ensuring that harm is not done in Jen’s name. We are committed to working together to uphold the values Jen lived for,” it says.
“Jen lived her full and vibrant life with the understanding that the potential for a healthy and just society depends on replacing racist and violent institutions like policing, jails, and prisons with models of public safety that actually keep everyone safe,” it continues. “This case is an opportunity for Alameda County to not only honor the wishes of Jen and her loved ones, but also to model a framework that seeks to address the root causes of harmful behavior and find meaningful ways to ensure true justice in our communities.”
We can’t save or reform the U.S., but we can survive and endure. Jennifer Angel may have been anti-white & advocated for black criminals, but she didn’t deserve to die at the hands of a black criminal.
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