Around 20 people gathered at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza outside Oakland City Hall Sunday evening for a rally and a press conference calling on Mayor Sheng Thao to resign.
They criticized the mayor for not making a public comment following the FBI search at her home on Thursday or following the incident Wednesday where 15 people were shot at an unsanctioned Juneteenth event near Lake Merritt. Several of those involved in the rally are also organizers in the effort to recall Thao. That group announced last week that they gathered enough signatures to put the recall on the November ballot.
The demonstrators Sunday started off the protest holding signs and chanting "Where's Sheng Thao? Where's Sheng Thao?"
Tuan Ngo, one of the organizers and the founder of a group called AsiansUnite said "[Thao] was supposed to be the spokesperson for the city, yet, she is gone, she is absent, she’s in hiding.“
On Friday, Thao's attorney Tony Brass said they have no information that she is or will be the target of any investigation.
"She's the mayor of Oakland. She's an elected official. She's hiding from nothing," Brass said.
On Thursday, several agencies including the FBI, IRS, and Postal Service sent agents to the residence where the mayor lives, as well as several properties linked to the Duong family.
The Duong family owns California Waste Solutions, the company that holds the city's recycling contract.
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The FBI says no arrests have been made.
However, the demonstrators said they remain distrustful of Thao.
"The FBI doesn’t show up at anyone’s house," said Edward Escobar, an organizer of the rally.
Escobar is with a volunteer group called Coalition for Community Engagement and he is also an organizer in the effort to recall Thao. He said he is a San Leandro resident who grew up in Oakland.
Escobar and others at the rally repeatedly called on Thao to "save Oaklanders the heartache and the time" and to resign.
Demonstrators also suggested they want Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas and Council Member Carroll Fife out as well.
Bas didn't respond to NBC Bay Area's request for comment Sunday.
Fife showed up to City Hall to speak with NBC Bay Area and was confronted by demonstrators. At one point, the demonstrators began chanting "Recall Fife" at her.
"Individuals calling for a recall of the city council during active elections, it shows they don’t understand city processes," Fife said.
Fife, who represents Oakland's District 3 said she believes those at the Sunday's demonstration are spreading misinformation as part of a broader political attack.
"The people that were out here today were saying that somehow the Council President and myself are involved in some tangential way to what’s happening with the FBI investigations, which is patently false," Fife said.
As for what is going on with the mayor, Fife said, "I’m not going to speculate on what the mayor is or is not doing."
Fife did say the mayor "is still working, still very engaged with the city administrator."
In Oakland, the city administrator is tasked with overseeing the operations of all city departments.
Fife also noted that the packet for the proposed city budget will be released on Monday, and city leaders have work ahead of them in deciding what needs to change.
The recall effort for Thao also plans to hold a press conference outside City Hall on Monday calling on Thao to return to City Hall or resign.
Mayor Thao is expected to hold a news conference sometime this week.
