Oakland, California's murders have dropped by nearly 50% over the past two years, which is pretty impressive even with the vast majority of U.S. cities seeing declines in their homicide rate. While the year is still young, it seems the city could see a continued drop in murders in 2026 as well, especially with the city's first homicide of the year looking like a case of self-defense.
It was about 1 p.m. on New Year's Day when 30-year-old Tariq Roddy Figueroa was shot and killed, allegedly by 35-year-old Wesley Broach. Broach was taken into custody and initially charged with murder, but as the San Jose Mercury News reports, he's now been released without charges.
The 35-year-old barbershop owner allegedly shot and killed 30-year-old Tariq Roddy Figueroa at around 1 p.m. on Jan. 1, the first homicide of 2026 in Oakland. He was initially arrested on suspicion of murder after a witness identified him as a shooter.
But police later obtained surveillance footage showing Figueroa was armed with a pistol when he approached the barbershop on the 4500 block of Market Street, authorities said.
Figueroa and the barber reportedly knew one another and there was a conflict brewing between them, authorities said. They argued that afternoon and the barber told Figueroa to leave, according to authorities.
Then, upon seeing Figueroa approach with a gun, the barber grabbed a rifle from his shop and shot Figueroa at least once, authorities said.
Generally speaking, the mere presence of a firearm isn't enough to cause someone to reasonably believe that their life is in danger, but here it sounds like there had been an earlier dispute, and when Figueroa returned to the shop he was already brandishing the firearm. Under those circumstances, it does sound reasonable (at least to me) that Broach believed his life was in danger. While the sight of a gun isn't usually enough to justify shooting someone, you also don't have to wait until you've been shot at before you can lawfully act in self-defense.
Admittedly, it wasn't the smartest move for Broach to grab his rifle and take off afterwards. The wise course of action would have been to call 911 to report the shooting, wait on scene, and not say a word to police until he had an attorney by his side. Even he had done that, though, police might still have arrested him and charged him with murder based on the eyewitness's account.
From the time of Broach's arrest, there were individuals who expressed their support for the barber.
A man who declined to give his name said he helps run the barbershop with Broach.
"Someone lost their life," the man said. "That’s what I was told coming in today."
He said he does not believe Broach harmed anyone.
"Wesley didn’t do anything like that" he said. "That’s how I feel. Me and Wes run one hell of an operation over here."
Well, he apparently did harm Figueroa, but according to police it wasn't for any kind of nefarious reason. And believe it or not, California is not a duty to retreat state, so Broach wasn't required to try to run out of his barber shop and flee from the threat to his life.
For decades, California Democrats have waged an all-out campaign to destroy the culture of lawful gun ownership. They've banned commonly owned arms, prohibited gun owners from gathering at gun shows on state-owned property, and even tried to chill Second Amendment-related speech by punishing any individual or entity promoting youth shooting sports.
Despite those efforts, millions of Californians are exercising their right to keep and bear arms. They're applying for, and receiving, concealed carry permits in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland; where just a few years ago a CHP was virtually impossible to come by. And according to California Rifle & Pistol Association legislative director Rick Travis, California's budget woes are so bad at the moment that they're hobbling efforts by anti-gun lawmakers to put more restrictions in place this session.
I'm not sure that's much of a silver lining, at least for those Californians subject to the Democrats' orgy of expenditures and the tax increases they're likely to pay as a result. And while we've seen a number of gun laws struck down by district courts and three-judge panels on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the vast majority of those cases have been granted an en banc review by a larger panel of judges who have or are likely to uphold the laws in question.
California still has a long way to go before the right to bear arms is secure. In most cities it's barely recognized. But as this incident shows, even in one of the most 2A-hostile environments in the country, it's still possible to exercise your right to armed self-defense... and that is a victory in and of itself.
