liz: good afternoon everyone. you're watching getting answers here on abc7. everyday we talk with experts about issues important to the bay area and get answers for you would real time. today, the aapi community is reeling over the mass shooting over the weekend at a lunar new year celebration in southern california. the death has risen to 11. an advocate for the community will join us to talk about gun violence, aapi hate, the lunar new year and safety for lunar new year celebrations. san francisco's upcoming

festival and parade will discuss the safety plan. first, oakland police chief is demanding his job back. at a news conference, he called for his immediate reinstatement after being placed on administrative leave for "dereliction of duty". >> i should be the chief of police. i should remain in my position. i did nothing wrong. i violated the policy. there is nothing written that mandates a review a report. i can't investigate a crime that happens in another city. i am responsible for the city of oakland. liz: trinity live now in the studio is phil matier. you were at that news conference today and we heard it there, the police chief demanding his job back, saying he did nothing wrong. >> we are going to hear more of that in the days to come as the chief and his supporters, who are vocal, are out there. this is the first time we have

heard a chief do this in oakland, which is remarkable considering have had an chiefs over 10 years. what routinely happens in oakland is that every two years, the chief is ejected. kirkpatrick, liked by rank and file into the city, but was fired by the mayor. oftentimes, these firings are done either at the behest of or encouragement of a federal monitor has been sent to oversee oakland's police department, and has been for 20 years, to get them in compliance for civil rights violations that occurred 20 years ago. this is an ongoing issue. how many chiefs do we go through? in this case, the chief was not fired out of the gate, like in the past, he was put on leave of absence. he is taking advantage of that time to say wait a minute, i should not be going. liz: it is remarkable to see. explosive claims from the chief.

just to bring it back, this report came out saying the chief did not take disciplinary action against a start into left a hit and run accident. that same sergeant later fired a shotgun in an elevator at police headquarters. but, he says he did take action, even as this report says he did not. why is there discrepancy in this report versus with the chief said he did? >> what the chief says he did was discipline this sergeant for the first case. the second case he said was taken over by the federal monitor. and he never saw it again. and then they came back with this. this is an unusual, but typically oakland set up. they made a report on the chief. rather than sit the chief down and say, what is your side? the federal report -- the federal court released it to the mayor. what actually happened?

the chief says this, you say that. in the past, we would not have a discussion. it would just be, you are gone. but now the chief is demanding there be a review of the assets that is ousting him. liz: is he pointing fingers? phil: pointing fingers at robert wash, the federal mediator. the federal oversight person. he is saying -- i ask, are you the first to experience this? he said i am the latest in a long line. what makes this interesting is the politics. crime in oakland is high, as it is in all major american cities. right now and most american cities, the second most important person after the mayor is the chief of police. this is an incredible political situation for the new mayor who has been there a couple of weeks, did not know this was coming and is trying to make her way through this. we have this cast of characters out there and tomorrow the naacp

is going to hold a rally in support of the chief. it is moving from the policy of policing out into the arena of politics and media. this chief is using the media to his advantage, whereas past chiefs have said, i am not commenting. it is all part of ongoing litigation. nope, we are going to have bryan singer, a public relations consultant, roll it out. everybody was there. this is going public in a big way. liz: it makes you think he does believe -- phil: they say there are more documents. the mayor inferred there is more to come. we will see. this guy is putting himself on the line saying, show me the cards. liz: it feels like we are not getting the full story. phil: we are not. liz: what is happening behind the scenes? phil: everybody is looking at each other saying, what did we get ourselves into?

even some of the lawyers, john burris, who brought suit against the department is saying this does not rise to the level of dismissing the chief. this does not rise to the level of putting the work you have done so far at risk. behind the scenes you have politics, people wanting to advance within the department, people getting consulting fees, a lot of different things at play. liz: with a lot of personal interests that play. phil: personal, political, ideological, it is the bay area. liz: we can ignore the fact that police chief armstrong is the first black police chief in oakland, born and raised. phil: born and raised, with ties to the community. all of this it is an advance to see where we are going to go. he is a hometown guy.

he is more hometown than the mayor. liz: the first black police chief born and raised in oakland. i want to talk about the people supporting him. right next to him we saw the councilmember. phil: he said, i am supporting the chief. i have problems in my neighborhood and he has been there for that. all of this other stuff, a car bump in a garage, a parade elevator, we are not talking about beating people up, or people on the take. there was disciplinary things and maybe you are not doing a great job and you need to improve, but that does not a new need to be fired. liz: what is next? where do we go? phil: we have a hearing in front of a federal judge that is going to look at the situation and ask questions. he is overseeing this entire

management. there is going to be possibly more reports. there is no real clear way out of this because oakland police commission, which supports the chief, has a say. the mayor has a say. the federal judge i am not sure how many votes it takes to fire him. they have never done it before. in the past, they would resign. this is a different one. somebody stopped the door and said wait, let's talk about this. liz: what was your take on the police chief? did you find he was upfront? phil: as upfront as he was going to get. people were asking him who set this off, he evaded that. he has got a legal question as well. he had a point to make today. he was going to answer the questions he wanted to answer, just like everybody else. at this time, he decided to turn

the finger around. is that the truth? we will see. unlike past situations -- and that is what makes this interesting. -- resigned. the politics that are usually behind the doors are going to be coming out in front. liz: final question, what questions do you have? what are the outstanding questions? phil: exactly what did the chief do or not do? and does it rise to dismissal? that is what it boils down to. we haven't gotten answers to either. one is going to be an opinion, but the other is fact. liz: hopefully we get answers soon. phil: we will see. liz: thank you for your insight. next, we discussed aapi hate in the vacancy mass shooting during the lunar new year celebrations. a community leader is going to weigh in on how we can change

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liz: investigators are working to determine a motive for the mass shooting that left 11 dead over the weekend. it happened in the predominantly asian-american community of monterey park. joining us live to talk about it now to talk about the gun violence is dr. jennifer tran, executive director of if it. she also serves as president of the oakland vietnamese chamber and is an assistant professor of ethnic studies at cal state university east bay. thank you for joining us. if you will, start by sharing

your reaction and thoughts on the tragic events we saw unfold over the weekend. >> our communities are still processing. the night before lunar new year we prepare ourselves, our family, our households for a new year and to wake up tragic news of the monterey park shooting, shook our world. it is not customary to talk about negative things on the first few days of the lunar new year. it sets the tone for the community. but we knew this would be a lot to unfold for our communities, given we have experienced so much violence. liz: i wanted to start by talking about the lunar new year. it happened at a time that was supposed to be joyous and celebratory. why is this significant that this shooting happened on this holiday in particular? >> people go back and forth in

terms of significance they have for lunar new year. but it is significant. i am calling you from oakland. our community has experienced a tremendous amount of violence throughout the pandemic and even leading up to the new year. people are afraid to go shopping, afraid to leave their homes due to the violence they have experienced. they are hoping that lunar new year would be one of those times where our community, our elders and our women, are able to come together and ray for peace and blessings over their households. but bearing witness to that violence since our community back in trauma as we think about what constitutes a safe space number unity if not for lunar new year. liz: this happened in a community that is 65% asian-american. you got your phd at usc, what

can you tell us about monterey park or communities like it? >> monterey park i top cities with the largest amount of api, particu chinese, japanese and vietnamese americans. monterey park is right next to east l.a. we have a large history of ethnic identities and ethnic enclaves in which communities come together and forge multigenerational relationships. for this event to happen in a place where people often try to look after each other and protect one another is impactful for the api community in monterey park and just miles from there you have orange county, the second largest concentration of the is americans in the u.s. liz: i saw some reporting, and you talk about the eight crimes we have seen over the years, and i have seen reporting of folks

who say i am scared. i do not know if i want to live here anymore. >> you don't have to live in monterey park to feel the effects of that fear. residents across the nation are fearful when they see when they go dancing or eating or shopping that they worry they could be next. or their loved ones could be next. this is a time in which we are reflect, are our neighborhoods safe? are our representatives improving the quality of life? or, does the terror continue? liz: we are learning more about the shooter. he is an older asian man. how much do you see race or gender as a factor? >> the first thing that came to our mind were other incidents of violence. particularly the atlanta spa shooting in which nine

asian-american women were murdered. oftentimes there is a moment where we want to talk about race and we really want of this on violence, gun violence. gun violence is the same form of violence that took away 19 children last year in uvalde, texas. the same form of violence that took away those women in atlanta and the nine african-americans in south carolina in 2015. it is important for us to prioritize gun reform and access to mental health services. and find ways in which violence that affects our communities are connected to violence happening in other communities of color, other communities that are vulnerable. liz: you do a lot of work combating gun violence. what are some solutions you are looking at?

>> pit it is a part of coalitions like api victory alliance in which we prioritize gun reform, as that is one of the top voter issues. we are making emphasizing gun reform at the same time as access to mental health services. how can we support people, regardless of their background, to make sure they get the services they need? so that they do not take it out on community members. at the same time, restricting access to guns to reduce violence in our communities. we are participating in coalitions and we encourage other communities to also reach out to communities they usually don't. as i mentioned earlier, this violence in our communities is not restricted to api communities. this is a moment in which we see violence in api communities are

also connected to gun violence in black communities and latin communities. violence against api's violence against americans. liz: my final question, how can people help? what can people do to try to make a difference? >> at the moment, asian americans advancing justice in southern california has created a gofundme to support victims of the monterey park shooting. and folks who are impacted by the violence can also call and reach out to organizations such as our neighbor asian services. this is an opportunity to share and educate one another. liz: dr. jennifer tran, thank you for joining us. take care. >> thank you very much. liz: bay area safety in the wake

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liz: lunar new year celebrations in the bay area are taking on a different feel. we saw enhanced security with police officers and sheriff's deputies patrolling chinatown. joining a sled to talk about safety is harlan wong, the director of san francisco's chinese new year festival and parade. first and foremost, i want to ask you about the news over the weekend and your reaction to the shooting in monterey park. >> obviously it is a very tragic event. we are saddened by it. our hearts go out the spirit --

our hearts go out to the victims . we hope everybody will recover and have some resilience to overcome this tragic event. liz: it does seem like a very resilient community, from what we have heard so far. what is your message right now to people who may have wanted to go to a festival but are now having second thoughts? >> i would still encourage people to come out because this is a big celebration. we definitely coordinate with the police department to have increased security. the street. we have safety precautions in place. we have garbage trucks in strategic locations to control crowds. next week we are going to have a

meeting with the department of emergency management, with all of the different city departments to coordinate events. liz: that it's great that you guys are taking those precautions. on a lighter note, tell us about the festival. >> the chinese chamber of commerce sponsor events for celebration of chinese new year. last weekend, we already had opening ceremony. it was a huge crowd. a lot of city officials came to join us. of course, among ea have two sports events. two street fairs. [indiscernible] everything culminates with the chinese new year parade.

our parade is a cultural event that draws the community together. we have schools and universities. martial arts schools. rching bds zaons joing let is onderf entear of the rabbit. what does that mean? >> it is the year of the water rabbit. part right. that is a good thing. water symbolizes wealth and as a source of life. liz: we have had a lot of rain. spencer our meteorologist is laughing. it makes a lot of sense. it has been a tough year for the community. how important is this festival

to businesses in chinatown to get chinatown thriving again? >> why i'm glad you brought this up. yesterday we had a celebration at -- square and we draw a huge crowd. i had been hearing from merchants reporting that this is one of the biggest crowds they have seen in a long time. it is wonderful to see so many people out to enjoy the festivities. liz: give us the quick nuts and bolts. the festival and parade. when is it? where is it? >> the parade route you can look it up on our website. the date is february starting at 6:00 515. the -- time is 6:00.

liz: 6:00, saturday, february chinatown san francisco. >> the parade will start at second and market and market an up to gary street, around union square, then down turning toward chinatown. liz: we look forward to that. thank you for joining us and we look forward to that great event. >> thank you. liz: you can get our live newscast, breaking news, weather and more with our streaming gap. --. it is able -- available on apple, google and roku.

liz: thank you for joining us. have a great night. tonight, a special edition of "world news tonight." the horrific mass shooting here in monterey park, california. the death toll rising, and tonight, right here, the interview with the young man, the good samaritan, who confronted the gunman. describing the terror fridaying struggle between the two of them. the massacre at a popularballron n. gman openin lst11 people died, wounded. one of the survivorser died sel her. tonight here, the images emerging of the 72-year-old suspect at a second location, a second ballroom. confronted by that young man, a good samaritan. the urgent manhunt lasting many

hours. the ns