On August 2, 2007, journalist Chauncey Bailey was gunned down in Oakland, California. Bailey was investigating Your Black Muslim Bakery, a once prominent Oakland African-American organization. The next day, Bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV was arrested during a raid for a separate kidnapping case. Police placed Bey and two associates involved in the case, his brother Joshua Bey and Tamon Halfin, in a San Leandro police department room, where they were secretly videotaped. Bey IV has repeatedly told police he knew nothing about Bailey’s death.
But, on the tape, Bey IV says he hid the gun used in the attack, and brags of playing “hella dumb” when investigators asked him about the killing. Bey IV, 22, hasn’t been arrested or charged in connection with Bailey’s Aug. 2 slaying. Oakland Police have charged only one of his associates, Devaughndre Broussard, now 20, who claimed, at least initially, that he acted alone. The secret video raises fresh questions about Bey IV’s possible role in the crime and why police haven’t brought charges against others in the high-profile slaying, according to experts who viewed the tape at the request of the Chauncey Bailey Project.
>> Read the article in the Oakland Tribune. Similar stories are also appearing on KTVU, KGO, KQED, New America Media, in the SF Bay Guardian, Contra Costa Times, and other Bay Area News Group publications.
>> Listen to CIR Executive Director Robert Rosenthal and reporter Tom Peele discuss The Chauncey Bailey Project on Forum with Michael Krasny.
WEB EXTRAS: >> Van owner: I gave the keys to Bey IV One of the key discrepancies in the case revolves around the white van Broussard said he used to get to the scene of the shooting. Documents obtained by The Chauncey Bailey Project raise questions about circumstances surroundingthe van.
>> Audio: Chauncey Bailey Project reporter Bob Butler reports on the investigation. Visit The Chauncey Bailey Project website for web exclusives and links to more stories.
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