Community leaders in Union City and Hayward called on Union City Police to protect African American youth in Union City today in the wake of a racially motivated shooting that led to the closure of Hayward’s Southland Mall and Highway 880 on Saturday, January 23, 2010.

The gun men, who remain at large, shot at eight Union City African American teenagers at the crowded shopping mall.

A press conference was held on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. at the NAACP Office located at 1218 B Street in downtown Hayward to describe how affected families will protect themselves and to unveil a class action lawsuit on behalf of African American students in Union City against the police department and school district for failing to protect African American students.

The families are represented by Oakland civil rights attorneys Pamela Y. Price of Price And Associates and John L. Burris, who have sued Union City Police and the New Haven Unified School District in state and federal court under Federal and State civil rights laws.

One of the targeted youths at the Southland Mall was wearing a sweatshirt with a picture of Vernon Eddins, a 14-year old African-American student shot and killed in broad daylight outside Bernard White Middle School in Union City in December 2007. The Union City Police Department has not identified, nor captured Eddins’ killer.

The murder of Vernon Eddins and the brazen shootings at Southland Mall are part of a series of racially motivated attacks against African-American youth by the Decotos, a Latino gang operating in Union City with apparent impunity. The attacks, which began even before the murder of Vernon Eddins, appear to be randomly targeted at African-Americans living in Union City. Numerous African-American youth have been shot, stabbed, beaten and assaulted by gang members in and around Union City schools.

“These children are living under virtual house arrest,” said Price. “They’re afraid to use public transit, so their parents have to drive them everywhere. Several have transferred to other schools and many families have been forced to relocate. The kids who were shot at on Saturday went to Hayward to escape the danger, but even that wasn’t enough. The violence against African American youth in Union City has been going on for years, and it has to stop now.”

The families, their attorneys and community leaders are planning a Town Hall Meeting where concerned Union City residents can organize to protect the City’s youth, and push the police department and school district to take immediate steps to stop the racially-motivated attacks against African-American students.