Walter Riley, Esq.

Walter Riley is an Oakland lawyer whose practice areas include police
misconduct, civil rights, and criminal defense. Mr. Riley serves as a board
member of the Coalition.

Growing up in Jim Crow South, Walter Riley became an activist at a young
age. He served as President of the Young Adult Chapter of the North
Carolina NAACP and organized voter registration campaigns, lunch counter sit-ins, job campaigns, and campaigns to desegregate public
accommodations, schools, and businesses. After leaving college in 1968, he helped organize a rank and file Black Caucus among San Francisco Muni bus drivers. He supported labor and antiwar movements and worked with the Black Panthers and other community groups to stop urban removal of Black and other working-class communities. Mr. Riley served as lead attorney for the Black Friday 14 and other #BlackLivesMatter protesters.
 

He has received numerous awards including California Black Lawyers
Association Presidents Award, National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Chapter, Champion Of Justice, National Lawyers Guild National, Law for the People Award, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant Award. He has been honored in the U.S. Congressional Record by Hon. Barbara Lee and in the California State Assembly by Hon. Jackie Goldberg. The Oakland City Council proclaimed April 27, 2013 as Walter Riley Day and he received a Black Panther Commemoration Committee Award.
 

As a point of great pride, Mr. Riley raised two Black sons from preschool to
adulthood as a single parent in Oakland. He is the proud father of 5 children.