Oakland chef to relocate after downtown shooting, sets up GoFundMe to ‘rebuild’ restaurant

Chef Cleashaun Hill appears in this screenshot from a GoFundMe page he created after last week’s shooting in downtown Oakland, Calif. Hill said he plans to use the money to relocate to a “safer environment.” (GoFundMe.com)

A shooting in a downtown Oakland restaurant has left two people injured and prompted the chef to say he’ll move the establishment from the landmark Tribune Tower to a “safer environment.”

The shooting at Pierre Pierre on Friday night wounded a woman and a man “and shook the foundation of everything we’ve worked to build,” Chef Cleashaun Hill said in a GoFundMe appeal Saturday.

The restaurant, founded in 2023, was created as “a sanctuary for Black excellence,” he said. “In a city where gentrification, violence, and systemic inequities often silence us, Pierre Pierre stood as a voice — bold, elegant, unapologetically Black.”

Hill said he wants to relocate to a safer environment where Pierre Pierre’s guests and staff can feel secure.

The Oakland police union seized on the incident to call for increased support from incoming Mayor Barbara Lee.

“The Oakland Police Officers Association is doing everything in its power to protect the public, but Oakland is outmanned, outgunned and overwhelmed by criminal activity,” union President Huy Nguyen said in a statement.

“We need a commitment from the new mayor and council to provide more police officers now to stem the tide of violence and crime and help turn Oakland around,” Nguyen said.

Hill’s GoFundMe drive has a goal of $16,000, which he said be used to rebuild the restaurant and support the families of those injured by the shooting.

The funds will also help support the restaurant’s staff during its closure, he said.

The post Oakland chef to relocate after downtown shooting, sets up GoFundMe to ‘rebuild’ restaurant appeared first on Local News Matters.

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