In a surprising twist of political influence, California Governor Gavin Newsom reportedly extended a helping hand to his sports superstar friend, Marshawn Lynch, after Lynch raised concerns about a homeless encampment near his family home in Oakland. This revelation, detailed in an investigative report, shines a light on the lengths to which Newsom, at 58, went to assist the former NFL running back.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the issue arose when a collection of vehicles, including a camper, an RV, and an SUV, settled on Dover Street in North Oakland. This impromptu encampment emerged early in 2024, just a stone’s throw from the home of Lynch’s grandmother.
Frustrated neighbors, plagued by the presence of the encampment, repeatedly contacted the city’s antisocial behavior hotline, 311, to report the illegal parking. The Chronicle’s findings reveal that their calls for action persisted for several months before any significant response materialized.
It wasn’t until May 22 that the owners of the vehicles were formally notified of their violation of city parking laws, which had been ongoing for over 72 hours. This notification stipulated that they vacate the area promptly.
Interestingly, just six days later, Leigh Hanson, the chief of staff to Oakland’s former mayor, Sheng Thao, reached out to two city officials via text message concerning the encampment. In her communication, she notably invoked Governor Newsom’s name, underscoring the political weight behind the request for intervention.
Six days later, former Oakland mayor Sheng Thao’s chief of staff Leigh Hanson texted two city officials regarding the encampment and invoking Newsom’s name.
‘I got a call from the Governor’s office regarding a number of RVs that are parked out in front of Marshawn Lynch’s family home,’ Hanson wrote to then-city administrator Jestin Johnson and former assistant city administrator G Harold Duffey per messages obtained by the Chronicle.
‘The Governor’s office is requesting our support to help resolve the issues in a timely manner.’
Gavin Newsom reportedly stepped in to ask Oakland city officials to remove a homeless encampment that had sprouted outside of former NFL player Marshawn Lynch’s family’s home
Newsom’s office was said to have called former Oakland mayor Sheng Thao’s chief of staff with gripes about ‘a number of RVs that [were] parked out in front’ of the property
Lynch, 40, previously revealed that Newsom had vouched for his character after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in 2012
Hanson, Thao’s former chief of staff, also told the Oakland lawmakers that ‘several campers’ were doing ‘questionable things’ after taking over the area.
Newsom is old friends with Lynch and the two began co-hosting a weekly podcast with their friend and agent Doug Hendrickson called Politickin in July 2024.
Lynch is an Oakland native who graduated from high school in the Bay Area city and also later attended Cal Berkeley, about 10 minutes away, for college.
In 2017, he threw a party at the home in question to celebrate signing for his hometown Oakland Raiders.
The text message exchanges from Newsom’s office were released last week as part of a public records request for the FBI’s investigation into Thao, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The former Oakland mayor, who was ousted in November 2024, is accused of bribery and corruption. She has pleaded not guilty and is due to stand trial in October this year.
Messages disclosed as part of the record request show her chief of staff Hanson subsequently followed up by reiterating that Newsom’s office had again been in touch.
She added that she had visited the encampment and seen pit bulls ravaging the area.
Newsom began hosting a podcast, titled Politickin’, with Lynch and the former NFL star’s agent Doug Hendrickson in 2024
Lynch is an Oakland native who played for his hometown Oakland Raiders. It was unclear how his frustration with the homeless encampment had reached Newsom’s office
It was not immediately clear how the issue concerning Lynch’s home reached Newsom’s office.
Johnson ultimately offered to clear the area with encampment clearance teams and animal control.
He also suggested working with the city’s fire department on an emergency closure, so that ‘fire [could] access permanent structures.’
Meanwhile, Duffey quipped that he would head over to the encampment in his ‘Bat mobile’ to take a look.
There was seemingly no more conversation about the encampment after that.
Johnson resigned on Sunday after inappropriate texts to Duffey about female colleagues were revealed as part of the public records request, The Oaklandside reported.
Duffey left his role in Oakland last September and became Brentwood’s city manager two months later, according to a public LinkedIn profile.
A spokesperson for Newsom said that the California governor’s office had to ‘repeatedly step in, across the city, because the former mayor wasn’t moving with any urgency,’ per the San Francisco Chronicle.
A Newsom spokesperson said action was requested across the city that the former Oakland mayor Thao ‘wasn’t moving with any urgency’ (Photo of a separate homeless encampment)
Oakland spokesperson Jean Walsh said the city did not take any steps to remove the encampment in June 2024.
Instead, the homeless individuals relocated to nearby lots controlled by California’s Department of Transportation in August that year.
The Oakland Fire Department said they had not been asked by city leaders to begin any encampment closures, as was implied in one of Johnson’s text messages.
Real estate developers had also been pushing officials to clear the encampment.
This is not the first time that Newsom has intervened on behalf of Lynch, though under different circumstances.
In 2012, Lynch was facing disciplinary actions from the NFL after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
The superstar running back was playing for the Seattle Seahawks at the time, though the alleged incident happened in Oakland, per ESPN.
Newsom, then the lieutenant governor of California, called league commissioner Roger Goodell to vouch for Lynch.
Newsom’s office was said to have reiterated the request regarding the encampment outside of Lynch’s family’s home to Thao’s office at least once
‘For him to take the time out to talk to the commissioner about me is something I will never forget,’ Lynch said at the time, according to Yahoo! Sports.
‘For Gavin to be the second-most powerful person in California and [still] talk to a kid from Oakland and help me learn about business, it tells you what kind of character he has.’
Lynch ultimately pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving and received two years of probation as part of the plea deal.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Newsom’s office and Lynch’s agent Hendrickson for further comment.
