Oakland police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick has ordered an internal affairs investigation into an altercation involving a former city councilman who was thrown to the ground and arrested at the Planning and Building Department offices last week, city officials said Monday.

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Wilson Riles Jr., who served on the Oakland City Council from 1979 to 1992, had argued with city staff in a dispute over a sweat lodge on his 39th Avenue property for his Native American spiritual practices.

 

Riles said in an interview that as he was leaving the city office on Thursday morning, police officers confronted him, threw him to the ground and handcuffed him without giving any indication that they intended to arrest him.