Editor gunned down

last updated 8 January 2015

Oakland, Calif.

A newspaper editor known for his anti-corruption crusades was killed by a masked gunman last week as he walked to work. Chauncey Bailey, a 57-year-old veteran journalist, was editor of The Oakland Post, a local African-American paper. Police quickly arrested a 19-year-old handyman, Devaughndre Broussard, who they said confessed. Bailey had been looking into the finances of a local business, Your Black Muslim Bakery, which police say is the headquarters of a gang linked to several violent crimes. Police say Broussard described himself as a “soldier” dispatched to kill Bailey. Co-workers described Bailey as a tenacious journalist. “He would not let people off the hook,” said one colleague, “whether he was reporting on corruption in city government, the entertainment business, or among rappers.”