Former Oakland Police Department Chief LeRonne Armstrong, who criticized “Defund the Police” and was fired by left-wing mayor Sheng Thao after she took office this year, was wrongfully terminated, an outside report found.

As Breitbart News noted earlier this year, Thao fired Armstrong after he became a persistent critic of the failing policies of the Oakland City Council, which has been lenient toward criminals even as crime has skyrocketed.

Breitbart News noted:

Armstrong was a frequent critic of the far-left, opposing efforts to “defund the police” and speaking out against violent crime. Notably, he opposed a decision by the city in 2021 to cut $18 million from the police budget.

Mayor Thao suspended Armstrong over claims that he had mishandled two investigations into police misconduct — claims that he denies — and fired him after he organized rallies to protest his suspension.

Now, a retired judge heading an inquiry into Armstrong’s firing has found that he should not have been terminated.

The San Jose Mercury News reported:

[A] retired judge tasked with reviewing Armstrong’s appeal has concluded there was no basis for the fired ex-chief to face discipline.

“The discipline imposed on Chief Armstrong should be reversed and removed from his personnel record,” states retired Judge Maria Rivera in a new confidential report obtained by this news organization.

The appeal review, first obtained by KQED, is non-binding, meaning it alone could not force Armstrong’s reinstatement as chief of the Oakland Police Department.

The retired judge, Maria Rivera, stopped short of requiring Oakland to re-hire Armstrong, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, and said that the parties should negotiate with each other on that issue rather than suing.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.