USA: Muslim bakery linked to journalist murder

August 3, 2007, Alaska Report

Oakland, California - An Oakland bakery called Your Black Muslim Bakery was raided Friday morning and authorities say more than a dozen people were detained as the result of a yearlong police investigation into a number of crimes, including murder, robbery and kidnapping.

It was not immediately known if the raids -- at the bakery and three other Oakland homes -- were related to the sidewalk assassination of Oakland reporter Chauncey Bailey. Sources say he was doing an investigative piece on the troubled splinter group not associated with the Black Muslims ...

The group has had a violent history. The founder -- Yusuf Bey -- fought accusations that he had raped or molested several girls who worked at Your Black Muslim Bakery between 1976 and 1995. When he died in 2003, he was awaiting trial on charges he sexually abused a girl who was 13 when she began working at the bakery.

A violent succession battle ensued. Antar Bey, the son and Yusuf's designated heir, was gunned down as he talked on his cell phone at an Union 76 gas station in Oakland in October 2005. That slaying still remains under investigation.

The group gained further attention in Nov. 2005 when several members were charged and pleaded no contest to trashing liquor cases at local convenience stores.

August 7, 2007, CNN
Teenager charged with murdering newspaper editor

OAKLAND, California (AP) -- A 19-year-old handyman at a Black Muslim organization was charged with murder Tuesday in the shooting death of a journalist who was investigating the group's troubled finances.

DeVaughndre Broussard, who worked at Your Black Muslim Bakery, appeared in Alameda County Superior Court on charges that he gunned down Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey last week ...

Oakland Police Assistant Chief Howard Jordan has said Broussard confessed to the killing, saying he was upset Bailey was investigating the bakery's finances. Police don't believe Broussard acted alone, Jordan said.

He was one of several people arrested Friday in raids on the bakery and related locations. Police said they found the weapon that had been used to kill Bailey only the day before.

August 8, 2007, East Bay
Journalist Chauncey Bailey Gunned Down In Oakland

Journalist Chauncey Bailey was shot to death in downtown Oakland on August 2nd. Bailey was killed around 7:30AM on 14th Street near Alice Street, in what police described as "an assassination". Witnesses said a single gunman wearing dark clothing and a ski mask approached Bailey, shot twice and ran away.

On August 4th, Devaughndre Broussard, 19, was booked at North County Jail in Oakland in connection with the shooting. Broussard was a handyman at Your Black Muslim Bakery and has reportedly "confessed to having shot and killed Bailey with a shotgun because he was upset with the journalist's coverage of the group." In 2002, the East Bay Express wrote a two-part series about the Yusuf Bey "family", which runs the bakery. The articles included past allegations of murder, torture, kidnapping, rape, and other crimes (see The Sinister Side of Yusuf Bey's Empire and How Official Oakland Kept the Bey Empire Going). In November 2005, Yusef Bey IV and several others were recorded smashing alcohol in several Oakland liquor stores (reports 1 | 2).

Chauncey Bailey was an editor for the Oakland Post from June 2007 until his death. Bailey had previously worked as a reporter for The Oakland Tribune, and before that The Detroit News for ten years. Bailey had been known for his assertive style of questioning city officials. Oakland Police spokesman Ronald Holmgren said: "I know him as being a somewhat outspoken type individual, assertive in his journalistic approach when trying to get at matters at hand." ...

More: The Black Muslims of Oakland Part 1, Part 2