Your Black Muslim Bakery (YBMB) was an American chain of
bakeries opened by
Yusuf Bey
Yusuf Bey (born Joseph Stephens; December 21, 1935 – September 30, 2003), was an American African American Muslims, Black Muslim activist and leader who was a member of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, an offshoot of Louis Farrakhan's Nation of I ...
in 1968 in
Santa Barbara,
California, and relocated to
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
in 1971. A
power broker
In political science, a power broker is a person who influences people to vote towards a particular client (i.e. elected official or referendum) in exchange for political and financial benefits. Power brokers can also negotiate deals with other p ...
at the center of a local community, YBMB was held out as a model of
African American economic self-sufficiency. However, it was later linked to widespread
physical
Physical may refer to:
*Physical examination
In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...
and
sexual abuse,
welfare fraud
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
, and murder.
After Bey's death in 2003, YBMB fell into debt and declared
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
in October 2006. In August 2007, in connection with investigations into the
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
of ''
Oakland Post'' journalist
Chauncey Bailey and a number of other crimes, police conducted a massive raid on the company's
San Pablo Avenue bakery. A concurrent health inspection resulted in its closure. Later that day, a court ordered the pending reorganization converted into a
liquidation
Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...
bankruptcy.
Origins
Yusuf Bey
Yusuf Bey (born Joseph Stephens; December 21, 1935 – September 30, 2003), was an American African American Muslims, Black Muslim activist and leader who was a member of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, an offshoot of Louis Farrakhan's Nation of I ...
, born Joseph Stephens, came to
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
,
California, with his family from
Texas in the early 1950s. He later opened beauty salons in the
San Francisco Bay Area and in
southern California, before going into the bakery business.
After discovering the teachings of
Elijah Muhammad in the 1960s, Bey converted to the
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930.
A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...
(NOI) in 1964 and founded the "Islamic" bakery in
Santa Barbara in 1968. The bakery was not officially affiliated with the NOI and not representative of mainstream Muslim cultures.
[
] NOI minister Keith Muhammad, of
East Oakland
East Oakland is a geographical region of Oakland, California, United States, that stretches between Lake Merritt in the northwest and San Leandro in the southeast. As the southeastern portion of the city, East Oakland takes up the largest portio ...
's Muhammad Mosque #26, stated that the two organizations were distinct and separate.
Bey named the business Your Black Muslim Bakery (YBMB) on the personal recommendation of Elijah Muhammad, who had become his spiritual guide. In 1971, Bey moved the bakery to Oakland.
By 1974 it was the "largest Bay Area bakery specializing exclusively in natural food products", with over 6,000 loaves of bread and over 300 cakes per week sold at 150 stores.
During the mid-1980s, Bey appeared regularly on a local Oakland cable television lecture program,
''True Solutions'', during which he broadcast his hour-long sermons every week. On the program Bey also promoted the bakery, and frequently expounded on the need for the economic self-reliance and "knowledge of self" of
African Americans, whom he lectured the audience as being the "Original Man", a racially-charged idea derived from the NOI's
doctrine of Yakub.
By the 1990s, YBMB and its leaders were a respected part of Oakland society, and had substantial influence in local politics. They used their power to obtain favors from the city, influence local elections, and avoid scrutiny from police. Bey ran unsuccessfully for
mayor in 1994, gaining 5% of the vote.
By 2007, the company was headquartered at 5832 San Pablo Avenue, with five branch locations listed in
Alameda County records, including a store on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland's
Temescal district and another at
Oakland International Airport. The bakery also had a location at the
Oakland Coliseum.
Yusuf Bey era controversies
Akbar Bey
In 1994, Bey's son Akbar was shot four times and killed by a local drug dealer outside the Omni
nightclub near the corner of
Shattuck Avenue
Shattuck Avenue is a major city street running north–south through Berkeley, California, and Oakland, California. At its southern end, the street branches from Telegraph Avenue in Oakland's Temescal district, then ends at Indian Rock Park i ...
and 50th Street in Oakland.
Court records showed the pathologist's conclusion that Akbar was high on
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
or
morphine at the time of his death. Three months before his killing, Akbar had been charged with
felony counts of
carrying a concealed weapon
Concealed carry, or carrying a concealed weapon (CCW), is the practice of carrying a weapon (usually a sidearm such as a handgun), either in proximity to or on one's person or in public places in a manner that hides or conceals the weapon's pr ...
and evading the police, resulting in a car chase and crash at 44th Street and Market Street.
1994 Nedir and Abaz Bey trial
On March 4, 1994, Nedir Bey was involved in the torture and beating of a
Nigerian home-seller in an apartment on the 500 block of 24th Street in Oakland, involving a
real estate deal. The apartment complex served as a compound for the Bey organization. The extremely violent incident also involved Abaz Bey. Both Abaz and Nedir were standing members of the African-American Advisory Committee on Crime, which also included Oakland's then-mayor
Elihu Harris
Elihu Mason Harris (born August 15, 1947) is a retired American politician and college administrator. A member of the Democratic Party, Harris served as the 46th Mayor of Oakland, California from 1991 to 1999; he previously served for 12 years ...
. The committee had organized a massive conference on crime that same weekend, featuring
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...
as its keynote speaker.
The assault escalated into a massive incident in which ninety Oakland Police officers were engaged in hand-to-hand combat with thirty Black Muslims, some of whom were armed. The two Beys and two other men were charged with felony counts of
assault
An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
,
robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
, and
false imprisonment. A year later, all four men pleaded
no contest to one felony count of false imprisonment. The prosecutors had cut a
plea deal, in part because they were unable take testimony from any tenant witnesses at the apartment complex where the Bey organization stationed its members as security, like a private compound. Nedir Bey served six months of
home detention, and Abaz Bey got eight months' home detention.
1996 City loan
In 1996, the City of Oakland loaned YBMB $1.1 million to start a home health care business. The loan was never repaid, and the home health care business never was established.
Yusuf Bey rape trial
Bey's detractors—notably ''
East Bay Express'' journalist Chris Thompson—accused him of
cult
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
ism,
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
, and
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
. Many accusations of
physical
Physical may refer to:
*Physical examination
In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...
and
sexual abuse, including
rape and
incest, and which were sustained by DNA evidence, were made against Bey, culminating in felony charges which were pending at the time of his death.
On September 19, 2002, Bey turned himself in to Oakland Police when a warrant was issued for his arrest, charged with 27 counts in the alleged rapes of four girls under the age of 14. The cases were pending trial into the following year.
The oldest allegation was that, beginning twenty years earlier, he serially raped through coercion a preteen girl who, as a ten-year-old, came under
foster care of Bey and his wife Nora. Bey died of cancer in October 2003 at age 67 while the first case was awaiting trial.
Second-generation controversies
Waajid Bey
Following the death of Yusuf Bey in 2003, Waajid Aliawaad Bey became
chief executive officer of YBMB. In March 2004, at age 51, Waajid disappeared for several months, until the discovery of his badly decomposed body in a shallow grave off Skyline Blvd. in the
Oakland Hills
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
. He was determined to be the victim of a homicide.
Antar Bey
YBMB was then taken over by Yusuf Bey's son, Antar Bey. At age 23 on October 25, 2005, Antar was in turn shot to death in what police believe to have been a failed
carjacking while he was stopped to get gas on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, near 55th Street.
On December 14, 2007, Alfonza Phillips III was sentenced to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
for his murder.
[
] Another son,
Yusuf Bey IV, took over YBMB in October 2005.
Yusuf Bey IV
Yusuf Bey IV became the CEO of YBMB at the age of 19 in 2005. As was later stated in court documents, "The Bakery did not thrive under the leadership of Antar or
usuf Bay IV"
Numerous poor financial decisions made by both Antar and Bey IV eventually led the bakery to file for
chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...
in 2006. In 2007, Bey rejected a financing offer made by the family of his sister's husband because this financing proposal was contingent on Bey IV's agreement to reorganize the bakery's board and bring in qualified outside individuals to run the business, and Bey refused to agree to these requirements.
In November 2005, two Muslim-owned liquor stores in Oakland were
vandalized, one of which was captured on a store surveillance tape. Another store was burned, and a store owner was briefly abducted by men wearing the distinctive
bow-tie apparel associated with the NOI. The men had demanded that the stores stop selling alcohol to African Americans based on Islamic prohibitions against alcohol. Yusuf Bey IV was among those arrested in the case, and he was charged with having led the attacks.
He was also later convicted of stealing a shotgun from an employee of one of these stores. This shotgun was later used in the murder of
Chauncey Bailey.
In February 2006, in nearby
Vallejo, Yusuf IV was arrested and later found guilty of a number of crimes related to his scheme to buy a $55,000 luxury
Mercedes-Benz from a used-car lot by using false credit information and identification. He was also charged with trying to open a bank account with the false information. Vallejo police dropped charges concerning a 9mm pistol and ammunition which had been found in the car in a criminal investigation surrounding the disappearance an alleged drug dealer who attempted to sell drugs to high school students.
Yusuf IV was arrested in
San Francisco on assault charges in April 2006, after allegedly trying to run down three security guards outside a strip club in his
BMW, after he had been thrown out. Then he was charged with missing several court dates,
for which he became wanted on a $375,000 warrant.
[
] According to later court documents, he also used a stolen identification with a fake driver's license to fraudulently obtain favorable
credit to buy a house in the 2500 block of 61st Avenue. Yusuf IV signed all the documents with the name Yasir Human. The US$550,000 loan was through
CIT Group/
Consumer Finance
Personal finance is the financial management which an individual or a family unit performs to budget, save, and spend monetary resources over time, taking into account various financial risks and future life events.
When planning personal fi ...
Inc.
Sayyed Yusuf Bey
Sayyed Yusuf "Weedy" Bey was one of the elder Yusuf Bey's older sons. After graduating from the Elijah Education Center in 1994, he joined the ''True Solutions'' production team as a camera operator and worked as a baker at YBMB. Sayyed also had a minor role in the 1998 feature film ''
Drylongso''. That year, he also moved to
Los Angeles to pursue his passion of exotic automobiles and became the owner of Quick N Shine Auto Detail, working with celebrities such as the
Wayans family
The Wayans family () is an American show-business family. Family members include Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Damon Wayans Sr., Kim Wayans, Damon Wayans Jr., Damien Dante Wayans, and Chaunté Wayans. Works created by Wayans fa ...
. On February 24, 2009, Sayyed took his own life on Burnside Ave, Los Angeles. Due to Yusuf IV's pending murder trial, the Bey family didn't publish any
obituary
An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...
notices in Los Angeles.
2006 bankruptcy
On October 24, 2006, YBMB filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
. With $900,000 in debts, owed mostly to the
mortgage holder, the bakery building was about to be
foreclosed upon. The remaining debt, $200,000, was owed to the
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...
(IRS). The day after the
murder of Chauncey Bailey
Chauncey Bailey was an American journalist and the editor-in-chief of '' The Oakland Post''. He was shot dead on a downtown Oakland street on August 2, 2007, the victim of a crime syndicate he was investigating for a story. Bailey's death outrage ...
, on August 3, 2007, Judge Edward Jellen ordered the case to be converted to
Chapter 7 Chapter 7 may refer to:
Albums
* ''Chapter Seven'' (album), a 2013 album by Damien Leith.
*''Chapter VII'', a 1973 album by drummer Buddy Miles
George Allen "Buddy" Miles Jr. (September 5, 1947February 26, 2008) was an American composer, drum ...
liquidation
Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...
effective August 9.
Political fallout
It was revealed that three local prominent elected officials wrote letters in July 2007 to Judge Jellen asking him not to dissolve YBMB to pay off creditors.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Oakland Mayor
Ron Dellums
Ronald Vernie Dellums (November 24, 1935 – July 30, 2018) was an American politician who served as Mayor of Oakland from 2007 to 2011. He had previously served thirteen terms as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Californi ...
, and
California Assemblyman
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
The A ...
Sandré Swanson
Sandré Swanson (born November 28, 1948) is an American politician who served as a member of the California State Assembly for the 16th district from 2006 to 2012.
Early life and education
Swanson was born in Oakland, California. He earned an ...
all wrote letters at the request of longtime YBMB associate Ali Saleem Bey. Lee later expressed regret for her support. Dellums' office offered the explanation that Ali said that he hoped to gain control of YBMB, and return it to its historical roots. Swanson's letter was dated July 17, 2007 and his office first admitted to having "made a mistake", and also stated that Swanson was not aware of the bakery leaders' legal problems. However, later Swanson's office stated that the letter was a routine response to a routine request such as they receive from small businesses, and that the earlier statement did not represent the official position of the assemblyman.
Elmhurst-
East Oakland
East Oakland is a geographical region of Oakland, California, United States, that stretches between Lake Merritt in the northwest and San Leandro in the southeast. As the southeastern portion of the city, East Oakland takes up the largest portio ...
City Council member Larry Reid said that he had refused the request by Bey to write a similar letter of support for YBMB in July, because the bakery had failed to repay the 1996 loan and because of the well-publicized criminal charges that had been brought against Bey organization leaders by that time, including the 2005 liquor store incidents. Reid said he respected the old guard of the bakery represented by John and Ali Bey, but that was not enough.
2006 Health Code violations
On December 19, 2006, YBMB's San Pablo Avenue bakery headquarters received four "major" health code violations, with dangerously unsanitary conditions, during a restaurant inspection by the Alameda County Environmental Health Department. The conditions were grave enough to risk immediate closure, if not fixed immediately, according to department policy. However, the bakery remained open, and no follow-up inspection was recorded by the department. The major violations included issues with grease, lack of smooth and cleanable surfaces, lack of adequate stove hood venting, and inadequate lighting. In addition inspectors cited four minor violations involving employee behavior and cleanliness.
May 2007 kidnapping
Oakland Police say that three men associated with YBMB, including Yusuf IV, later confessed to a May 17, 2007
kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...
of two women, a mother and daughter, and tortured the latter. According to court records and a police
affidavit, 20-year-old Joshua Bey and 21-year-old Tamon Oshun Halfin staked out the women at a
bingo parlor at Foothill Square in
East Oakland
East Oakland is a geographical region of Oakland, California, United States, that stretches between Lake Merritt in the northwest and San Leandro in the southeast. As the southeastern portion of the city, East Oakland takes up the largest portio ...
. Halfin and Joshua admitted that Yusuf IV ordered them to keep watch, and to notify him when the two women left. The men believed that both the women and a male friend had a lot of cash, which the Beys and Halfin were trying to get for the bakery.
[
]
Joshua and Halfin were riding in a fake police car, with flashing lights, which was registered to Yusuf IV. The car pulled the women over on
Interstate 580. Wearing dark clothing and masks, the two men took the women at gunpoint into the fake police car. A third man was behind the wheel. The men covered the women's heads and drove off, while the third man followed them, driving the women's car. They ended up at a house in the 6800 block of Avenal Avenue, a couple miles from the bingo parlor. Police said that YBMB owned the house and used it as a rental. The mother was left inside the car while the daughter was taken inside the house, where she was tortured, hit in the head and knee with a hard object, and was threatened with being set on fire. An Oakland Police officer in the area that night looking for a stolen car spotted the fake police car with the mother inside and, when he stopped to investigate, the men fled the house. The daughter broke a window of the house and called for help. The mother was found unharmed. A cell phone found in the house belonged to Joshua.
Joshua and Halfin were later among those arrested in the raid on the bakery. Police later held Yusuf IV without bail for kidnapping for
ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice.
When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...
in the case.
[
]
July 2007 Roberson Homicide
On July 7, 2007, Odel Roberson, a relative of Alfonza Phillips III, Antar Bey's killer, was murdered in the 1000 block of 60th Street. At the time of his death, Roberson was a homeless drug addict who often sought food handouts from YBMB. He had no involvement in Bey's murder, but after their attempts to kill Alfonza Phillip's father failed, Devaughndre Broussard and Antone Mackey were instructed by Yusuf Bey IV to murder Roberson as "revenge" for the murder of Antar Bey. The men lured Roberson around a corner with the promise of drugs, after which Broussard shot him at least eight times. The court later stated that "Broussard never had problems with Roberson and had no reason to kill him except that Bey told him to do it."
July 2007 Wills Homicide
On July 12, 2007, another victim, Mike Wills Jr., was gunned down in the 6200 block of San Pablo Avenue.
[
] On August 6, the police, without filing charges, stated that the two murders were committed with an
AK-47 found at the bakery during the August raid.
Devaughndre Broussard later said that Antoine Mackey killed Wills because he was white, and Mackey and Bey had been inspired by the racially motivated
Zebra murders, which Yusuf Bey IV allegedly enthusiastically endorsed as "giving White people “a taste of their own medicine”".
July 2007 kidnapping
Another case linked to arrestees in the later YBMB raid involved yet another kidnapping on July 19, 2007, of some women for ransom who ultimately escaped their captors.
Assassination of Chauncey Bailey
Before his shooting death in August 2007, editor
Chauncey Bailey of the ''
Oakland Post'' was working on a story about the finances of YBMB, involving its pending bankruptcy.
Ali Saleem Bey was Bailey's source for the story, which the ''Post'' withheld on the belief that it was not yet ready for publication.
According to Ali, YBMB had been seized from its rightful heirs in a coup, through
fraud
In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
and
forgery
Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...
, by a younger branch of the family, that included Antar Bey and Yusef Bey IV. Ali revealed that in June 2005, John Bey, a former head of the Bey security service who had tried to expose the fraud behind the coup, fled Oakland with his family after an attempt on his life in a shooting outside his home. In 2005, Antar
mortgaged the bakery property, to cover back taxes and other debt, and then defaulted, which led to threat of
foreclosure
Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan.
Formally, a mortg ...
.
On the morning of August 2, 2007, Bailey was murdered in
Downtown Oakland by Devaughndre Broussard, a 19-year-old YBMB handyman who was on
probation for a San Francisco robbery conviction. Broussard was a close associate of Yusuf Bey IV and deeply involved with the activities of YBMB. Prior to the murder, Bey described Bailey to Broussard and Antoine Mackey as “the motherfucker who killed my father," an undeniably false statement, since Bey's father had died of cancer.
Following this, Bey IV also told Broussard and Mackey that Bailey worked for the ''Oakland Post'' and told them to follow him and learn his routine because he wanted to "take him out."
Later, he offered both men "credit hook-ups" in exchange for the
hit on Bailey, telling them that it needed to be done quickly, as he was afraid Bailey's
exposé
Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to:
News sources
* Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism
* '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website
Film and TV Film
* ''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film
* ''Exposed'' (1932 ...
of the bakery's underground activities and sordid past would be published soon.
The
California Court of Appeal later described the event in ''People v. Mackey'' (233 Cal. App. 4th 32 (Cal. Ct. App. 2015), paragraph 15) as follows:
""Mackey and Broussard drove along the bus route until they saw Bailey walking. Mackey said that location was “too hot,” so they drove ahead, parked near 14th and Alice Streets, and waited for Bailey to arrive. When Broussard saw Bailey approach that intersection, he jumped out of the van, ran across the street to where Bailey was, and shot him twice in the torso at close range and started to run back across the street. Then he remembered that Bey had made it clear they should be sure Bailey was dead, so he returned to Bailey lying on the ground, fired a third shot into Bailey’s face, and ran back to the van. After the shooting Mackey drove them back to the Bakery, where they went upstairs and told Bey, “It’s done.”"
Witnesses described the killer, later identified as Broussard, as wearing a
ski mask
A balaclava, also known as a balaclava helmet or ski mask, is a form of cloth headgear designed to expose only part of the face, usually the eyes and mouth. Depending on style and how it is worn, only the eyes, mouth and nose, or just the front ...
and all black clothing, arriving in a white
Ford Aerostar without license plates, and approaching Bailey with a
Mossberg shotgun
A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...
. The shotgun was later discovered to have been stolen in 2005 by Yusuf Bey IV.
[
] After the shooting, Broussard escaped in the van.
Broussard initially denied repeatedly that he had killed Bailey, including during an interview with
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
. But eventually, Broussard admitted to police that he did in fact ambush and murder Bailey on Bey's orders and implicated Antoine Mackey as the driver of the van during the murder.
Closure of bakery and conviction
The Alameda County Health Department closed YBMB after rat droppings were found inside the bakery and dead rats were found on the rooftop, along with other waste which was leaking into drainage lines. As a result, police officers called in Oakland's
Vector Control during the raid, along with the State of California Department of Fish and Game and the Alameda Country District Attorney's Office environmental crimes unit. Pending fines could have reached up to $5,000 per day.
On August 4, 2007, Broussard was booked on suspicion of murder for the killing of Bailey, having told police detectives that he considered himself "a good soldier". Yusuf IV was also arrested that day on the outstanding San Francisco warrant, and held without bail in the May kidnapping-for-ransom case. His brother Joshua, Halfin, and one of the other arrestees from the morning prior were being held in connection with the earlier kidnappings, including the assault of a woman in May.
On August 7, Broussard was arraigned in
Alameda County Superior Court
The Alameda County Superior Court, officially the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Alameda County as established by Article VI of the Constitution of California. It functions ...
for Bailey's murder, and also charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and with having a prior felony conviction from San Francisco.
In August 2011, he was sentenced to 25 years in state prison.
On June 11, 2011, Yusuf IV was convicted on three counts of
first-degree murder and sentenced to
life in prison.
In 2015, a state appeals court upheld the convictions of Yusuf Bey IV and Antoine Mackey.
See also
*
Yusuf Bey
Yusuf Bey (born Joseph Stephens; December 21, 1935 – September 30, 2003), was an American African American Muslims, Black Muslim activist and leader who was a member of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, an offshoot of Louis Farrakhan's Nation of I ...
*
Chauncey Bailey
*
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930.
A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...
References
External links
Your Black Muslim Bakery last version of home page available at archive.org
Yusuf Bey Obituaryin the ''
San Francisco Chronicle'', October 2, 2003
*
Blood & Money: Endgame'—commentary in the ''East Bay Express'', October 8, 2003
*
Two men arrested in liquor store vandalism case' -- ''San Francisco Chronicle'', November 29, 2005
*
' -- ''New York Times'', August 4, 2007
{{Oakland, California
African-American history in Oakland, California
African-American restaurants
Black-owned companies of the United States
Companies based in Oakland, California
Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area
Nation of Islam
Defunct companies based in California
Defunct retail companies of the United States
Food and drink companies established in 1968
Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2006
Companies that filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2007
Privately held companies based in California
Politics of Oakland, California
20th century in Oakland, California
2000s in Oakland, California
Bakeries of California
1968 establishments in California
1997 disestablishments in California
Food and drink companies disestablished in 1997
Crime-related lists
Crimes in Oakland, California