SEIU union official found dead in Oakland home

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

The political director of SEIU Local 616 was found dead Tuesday in his West Oakland home, the victim of a homicide, police said.

The body of Berresford "Berry" Bingham, 64, was discovered inside his home on the 500 block of Henry Street, off Seventh Street a block from the West Oakland BART Station, at about 11:35 a.m., said Officer Holly Joshi, an Oakland police spokeswoman. He was found after co-workers, concerned that they had not heard from him in several days, asked police to check on his welfare, police said.

... Bingham, known to friends as "Berry B.," served as the political director of Local 616 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents 13,500 public sector professional, clerical and technical employees of Alameda County and Alameda County Medical Center. It also represents county-funded home care workers and child-care providers.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/25/BAT91HEC7D.DTL&tsp=1

[bbgrunt]

1. sorry, accidental unrecc. Would like to know more of the backstory.

[glinda]

2. Hit?

[Recursion]

4. Oakland?

[comtec]

7. perfect cover for a hit

oakland's a hole, but i don't think anyone local would have killed him. *shrugs*

[Recursion]

13. Um... why not?

Sometimes hoofbeats are horses.

[comtec]

19. If you look at this guy's place in the community, it doesn't add up

Maybe it was just a random burglary gone wrong.
But this does't feel like that.
*shrugs*
Oakland is a shithole, but the people who live there take care of their own. and this guy WAS one of their own.

I don't recall offhand what kind of neighborhood W Oakland is tho.
There are some really nice parts or O-town. Piedmont for example.
Oddly Downtown, like dead center (tourist area) is nice.

I admit I haven't been through Oakland in a while, and I know that Jerry Brown did some awesome things for it. Perhaps Oakland is less hole-ee than it used to be....

Point being, I don't think it was a random act of violence.

[slutticus]

25. Yikes, we have a bright one here...

You have no clue what you're even talking about. Why do you try to pretend?

1. If you don't know what kind of neighborhood W. Oakland is, you have no business even discussing this (unless you want to sound like an idiot)
2. Piedmont is not even part of Oakland (see point 1 again...)
3. Downtown is a tourist area? really? Or perhaps you meant Rockridge? And "O-town"? WTF is that?

I would call you a dumbass, but I don't want my post deleted so I won't call you a dumbass.

[wryter2000]

16. Excuse me

I'm from Oakland. I've lived all over the city. It's not a hole.

[keepCAblue]

17. +1

Most people who live outside the bay area are utterly ignorant -- have no idea that Oakland is a vibrant, eclectic city. Oakland encompasses all classes, races, incomes and educational levels.

[comtec]

18. I'm from the bay area, thank you very much and Oakland is a hole!

there are nice parts, downtown is ok. I have never been mugged while i walked from BART to grayhound.
There are some REALLY nice chinese places (my dad used to get us baked pork buns from Oakland's china town when i was a kid)

but that doesn't mean that I don't drive through there in fear for my life.

If I got a job offer in Oakland i WOULD think about it (before accepting it and putting kevlar on my doors).

But that sense of "I'm going to die" SURROUNDS Oakland.
IT
IS
A
HOLE!

But one no-one can do without.
Oakland, NOT SF, is the major port for the bay area.
Without it trans-pacific commerce would nearly stop.
Oakland is one of 3 major ports on the west (the other being LA and seattle?).

See? I am local :p

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. I have several friends who live in Oakland and love it

They've never mentioned fearing for their lives. :eyes:

[AndyTiedye]

31. Oakland Hills is Nice

though the people I know who lives there (a mellow, hippyish couple) suddenly got really into martial arts after moving there.
Both have black belts now. Perhaps there is no connection.

The area around the elevated West Oakland BART station doesn't look very nice at all,
and Amtrak moved their station out of that area some time ago because it was too dangerous.

Nonetheless, given WHO this man was, we should not simply dismiss this as an act of random violence.

[Alameda]

35. From the Bay Area....like maybe Marine...or the Penninsula?

Sorry, but Oakland is very cool...but with your attitude...better you stay away. Oakland isn't the touristic place some other parts of the "Bay Area" are.

[comtec]

38. sorry Oakland is a shit hole

been there, done that.
didn't like it.
S
H
I
T

H
O
L
E

I'm from the east bay (concord, WC, PH) so I am biased.

and yes the Oakland hills are absolutely beautiful. What happened after the fire with the insurance companies is unforgivable.

[Alameda]

45. I see, your taste goes to the suburban areas....

...........that were developed around the automobile. Oakland was not designed for cars, it's a city, not a suburb.

[comtec]

46. That doesnt change the fact that it's a hole unlike SF, SJ, Sac, Amsterdam, NYC

DC, or San Diego (from what I hear).
Vallejo is also a HOLE!
that doesnt keep me from going there when i must, just as I goto Oakland when i must.
as I've said, there are nice parts, and I have never actually been mugged.
I simply don't like Oakland.
I would also remind you that I do NOT think that this man was randomly killed.

but even you have to admit, Oakland's homicide rate is abhorrently high!

[Alameda]

47. Of course it wa a hit, but will it ever be proven? Probably not.

Plausible deniability is the name of the game.

[Alameda]

33. What do you know about Oakland? It is not a hole.

[proud patriot]

8. Many people are not violent people in Oakland

[Recursion]

12. The murder rate is 4 times the national average (nt)

[Freddie Stubbs]

20. Perhaps, but it had the 5th highest crime rate in the nation last year:

http://os.cqpress.com/citycrime/2010/City_crime_rate_2010-2011_hightolow.pdf

[KoKo]

3. You didn't read the article..."Victim of a Homicide."

The political director of SEIU Local 616 was found dead Tuesday in his West Oakland home, the victim of a homicide, police said.

The body of Berresford "Berry" Bingham, 64, was discovered inside his home on the 500 block of Henry Street, off Seventh Street a block from the West Oakland BART Station, at about 11:35 a.m., said Officer Holly Joshi, an Oakland police spokeswoman. He was found after co-workers, concerned that they had not heard from him in several days, asked police to check on his welfare, police said.

[Turborama]

36. How do you know Newsjock didn't read the OP they posted? n/t

[Newsjock]

5. Another report; adds and corrects some details

Source: Oakland Tribune

Berresford "Berry" Bingham, the political director of SEIU Local 1021, was found dead in his West Oakland home and investigators are treating the death as a homicide, police said.

Fran Jefferson, field director for the Service Employees International Union Local 1021, said Bingham's son called their office late Tuesday morning because he hadn't been able to reach his father.

Two SEIU employees went to Bingham's townhouse in the 500 block of Henry Street. His car was parked on the street but the door appeared to be ajar, Jefferson said. The two SEIU employees knocked, and when no one answered they called police, who entered the home at 11:35 a.m. Tuesday and found him dead.

... In his job at Local 1021, which was previously Local 616, Bingham was working on a Head Start campaign in Stockton and was often out of town. ... A native of Montego Bay, Jamaica, he moved to the United States with his family when he was 12. After high school and a short stint in college, Bingham enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and served 20 years before retiring in July 1994.

Read more: http://www.insidebayarea.com/top-stories/ci_17197345

[AllyCat]

6. This is scary and sad. My condolences to his family and friends.

I hope they find who did this. I hope this is not another politically motivated killing.

[sabrina 1]

9. Very sad. I read that he was a delegate for the Dem. Party

in 2000. I hope they get whoever did it.

I feel for his family, it is a tragedy.

[FreakinDJ]

10. and SEIU represents a lot of Federal and State employees

whose pensions are under attack - nothing to see here folks

[valerief]

24. +666 trillion. Absolutely. Shady, shady, shady, shady for sure. nt

[gateley]

11. I'm strapping on my chapeau.

Political director of his Local
A Dem
Black

:tinfoilhat:

He sounds like such a wonderful man. Deacon at his church, working with Head Start. Not only is his death a loss to his family, friends and the Union, it's a loss to his community. :(

Rest in peace.

[Crowman1979]

14. Glenn Beck has blood on his hands!

He has been vilifying SEIU for a few years now.

[mstinamotorcity]

30. Beck doesn't care

you and others think the way republicans are talking in these last two years that they are promoting all the violence. Blood on their hands, they are cleaning it off with Hundred dollar bills. The part that is really fucked up with me is not only the speak that Tea party and Republicans use,but also the violence and the money they make to promote such acts. And I am kinda tired of the brainwash idea that none of whats happening is political. Everything that Republicans do is Political. It is always for their benefit and interest to cater to themselves.

[BobbyBoring]

15. Could this Be

Another Isolated Incident??????????????

[heliarc]

28. +1,000,000 nt

[heliarc]

29. +1,000,000 nt

[Taverner]

21. Didn't Glenn Beck say something to the effect of "kill SEIU"?

[Crowman1979]

22. Yes he did! He also had SEIU on his chalkboard on almost every occasion.

[catgirl]

37. I am clueless to this

Wow. I can't stomach Glenn Beck and his ilk, so I haven't watched any of their hate fueled shows. This info., however, changes all
that. These idiots have been inviting lunatics to their club with open arms, and we're now seeing the results. Beck, Limbaugh and
co. need to own up to this, and then go away!

I propose we start a list of sponsors/advertisers who support these hate-filled people.

[defendandprotect]

40. Wow!!

[defendandprotect]

39. Wow!!

[indimuse]

23. KNR !

Is Glenn fired yet???

[ck4829]

27. Tragic. May the killer be caught soon. K&R.

[glinda]

32. May Beck burn in his imaginary hell. Kick this baby.

[Synicus Maximus]

34. Is there any taste of Tea?

[socialist_n_TN]

41. DEFINITELY bears watching............

Unlike the Giffords' shooting, which to my mind was a DEFINITE RW hit even if it was only indirectly aimed, this could be a random criminal event. OTOH, it wouldn't surprise me at ALL to find out this was another RW aimed assassination.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

42. so this is now how they are going to do it

[Ford_Prefect]

43. I suspect it is more so how they have BEEN doing it for some time.

[gateley]

44. As of today, the police still haven't given details, according to SF Gate:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/26/BASR1HEIE8.DTL&tsp=1