Former Oakland police Chief LeRonne Armstrong has filed an official appeal of his firing by Mayor Sheng Thao.
Armstrong's attorney sent a letter to the city late Wednesday to initiate the administrative appeal process for disputing his termination.
"This action is the first step towards litigation by Chief Armstrong and his attorneys against the City of Oakland for his retaliatory and wrong termination by Mayor Sheng Thao," Sam Singer, a spokesman for Chief Armstrong, said in a statement.
Armstrong was fired by Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao last week for two alleged infractions from a police sergeant and an investigation by the Police Department internal affairs division that was allegedly done poorly.
The sergeant was involved in a crash into a parked vehicle in 2021 and allegedly left the scene. The following year, the same officer is alleged to have accidentally discharged his gun in the freight elevator of police headquarters and waited a week to report it.
Protests have taken place in the wake of Armstrong's termination and he has described his firing as retaliation for "standing up for the city."
"I did my job and I did it well," he said in a statement on Friday, adding that he nearly brought an end to about 20 years of federal oversight of the department.
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