Oakland's progressive prosecutor Pamela Price is accused of RACISM by ex-spokesman who says DA branded 'the media and the Asians' her enemies

Oakland's controversial progressive district attorney is a racist who made hateful remarks about Asians, a bombshell $1.5 million legal filing claims.  

Alameda County DA Pamela Price - who is facing a recall over soaring crime in the dying Bay Area city - regularly dubbed 'the media and the Asians' her enemies, according to plaintiff Patti Lee. 

Lee, who worked as Price's spokesperson for around six months last year until she fired her, said the DA 'constantly and openly' made derogatory comments about Asian Americans. 

Her legal claim - a precursor to a lawsuit - says that she was fired because of anti-Asian discrimination, and after she complained about breaches of duty in the office. 

She is seeking a $1.5 million settlement for emotional distress stemming from retaliation, discrimination, wrongful termination and failure to pay wages. 

Oakland's progressive DA Pamela Price (pictured) regularly dubbed 'the media and the Asians' her enemies, according to plaintiff Patti Lee

Lee said Price would often make the discriminatory remarks 'under her breath', while also accusing the former spokesman of leaking information to the press. 

The fired spokeswoman 'would frequently hear derogatory comments about her race made by supervisory employees, including District Attorney Pamela Price herself,' the claim said. 

'Indeed, Ms. Price would constantly and openly make derogatory remarks against Asian Americans.' 

The allegations come as Price faces a recall effort barely a year into her tenure as the county's first black woman to hold the DA post. 

Recall campaigners turned in more than 123,000 petition signatures to the county's Registrar of Voters. The organization has 10 days to decide whether the petition includes at least 73,000 valid signatures to put the question to a vote.  

Lee also claims the DA's office violated the First Amendment by barring the Berkeley Scanner founder Emilie Raguso from a press conference in November. 

The office repeatedly banned the reporter from their press list without notice earlier in 2023, according to Lee. 

Per the scanner, the DA's office originally claimed Raguso was turned away for security reasons but later admitted it was an 'oversight'. 

The allegations come as Price faces a recall effort barely a year into her tenure as the county's first black woman to hold the DA post

Lee said Price (pictured) would often make the discriminatory remarks 'under her breath', while also accusing the former spokesman of leaking information to the press

In a February 26 letter to the DA's office from Lee's attorneys, the fired spokeswoman described what happened at the press conference as a 'content-based restriction of reporting' and a 'cartoonish violation of the First Amendment'. 

'Ms. Lee was aware of the preexisting animosity and knew that the reasons for refusing Ms. Raguso access to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office's press conference were pretextual,' the letter says. 

Lee's letter adds that Raguso's exclusion came 'at the specific behest of District Attorney Pamela Price'.

She says that Price's office repeatedly tried to delete, change and hide public records when the Scanner and other Bay Area news outlets began inquiring about the decision to exclude Raguso. 

Crime has continued to spiral on Price's watch, up by almost 20 percent in 2023 compared to 2019. A woman is pictured being dragged by her bag during a mugging in Oakland 

An Apple store in Oakland was raided by a customer who yanked multiple iPhones off their stands earlier this week. The Bay Area city has become synonymous with soaring crime and prosecutors seemingly unable to tackle it 

Oakland's only In-N-Out Burger announced it is closing amid a spate of crimes against its patrons, including break-ins such as this 

Lee also describes Price's communications officer and former TV news reporter, Haaziq Madyun, specifically as 'not being forthcoming with the documents' and accusing him of potentially deleting records. 

Oakland saw crime soar by 21 percent between 2022 and 2023. Robberies rose by 38 percent, while vehicle theft rocketed by 45 percent. 

The dystopian city saw 15,000 cars stolen last year - meaning roughly one in every 30 of its residents had their car stolen.

In-N-Out Burger closed its only restaurant in the city over a spate of break-ins in its parking lot - the only closure in the chain's 70 year history.

A nearby Denny's also closed, with California Governor Gavin Newsom sending in his own prosecutors in a bid to try and clear up the mess.

Oakland's similarly progressive Mayor Sheng Thao is facing her own recall over the chaos after the city's reputation crumbled on her watch.