WASHINGTON — The emotions of an Oakland, California, warehouse art space manager were still raw as he gave a contentious live TV interview Tuesday morning, days after 36 people were killed in a fire at his building, but maintained that the structure was “supposedly” up to code when he signed the lease.
Derick Almena stood by the ruins of the Ghost Ship to speak with interviewers from NBC’s Today, and contradicted the premise of the first question as host Matt Lauer bade him good morning.
“Good morning? It’s not a good morning. What am I doing here? Can I just say I’m sorry?”
As Lauer and Savannah Guthrie tried to ask their first question, Almena continued, “The only reason why I’m here is to put my face and my body here in front —” before he stopped, appearing overcome by emotion.
Lauer continued by citing the families of the people who died in the fire, saying, “They want to know who should be accountable” for the deaths. “Are you the man who should be held accountable?”
After a long pause, Almena repeated the question, then said, “I mean, what am I gonna (sic) say to that? Should I be held accountable? I can barely stand here right now.”
It was pointed out to Almena that “conditions in that building that may have led to a dangerous situation” — indeed, building inspectors began to investigate the building last month, and acquaintances and authorities have told The Associated Press that they often challenged Almena about conditions that they saw as unsanitary and unsafe.
Almena replied that he lived there with his partner, Micah Allison, and their three children.
“We put our children to bed there every night. We made music; we created art. We opened our home.”
He described the Ghost Ship as “a dream of a facility” that would host at-risk youth, alternative arts, performance art, music and more.
He added that “I signed a lease, and I got a building that was [up] to city standards, supposedly. I was lured into something that I had to constantly —” stopping himself at that point.
Guthrie quoted Shelly Mack, an artist who lived in the building, as claiming that Almena knew the situation was dangerous, profited from the building and “never spent a dime on anything but partying.”
“I don’t want to talk about me. I don’t want to talk about profit. This is profit? This is not profit; this is loss,” Almena said.
He continued, “I’m only here to say one thing — that I am incredibly sorry, and that everything that I did was to make this a stronger, more beautiful community, and to bring people together. People didn’t walk through those doors because it was a horrible place. People didn’t seek us out to perform and express themselves because it’s a horrible place.”
Almena went on to answer a question that hadn’t been asked, referring to the fact that he, Johnson and the children were in a hotel, not the Ghost Ship, the night of the fire: “Did I know there was gonna (sic) be a fire? Did I remove my children from the space and get a hotel because I wanted to avoid this? Because I wanted to cast blame on other people? No. Because I wanted to get a good night’s sleep with my children [and] let the young people do what they needed to do.”
There’s no evidence Almena heard any of the questions after that, saying, “I’m not gonna (sic) answer these questions the way you’re presenting them. I didn’t do anything, ever, in my life that would lead me up to this moment. I would rather get on the floor and get trampled by the parents. I’d rather let them tear at my flesh than answer these ridiculous questions. I’m so sorry. I’m incredibly sorry — what do you want me to say?”
He spoke of “luring in other artists and other beautiful people who believed with me, and for three years we built something every day —“ when Lauer and Guthrie ended the interview.
Investigators have declined to say whether they believe Almena or the building’s owner bear any responsibility in the deaths.
Noel Gallo, a city councilman who lives a block from the warehouse, said Almena essentially told authorities to “mind their own business.”
Almena is on probation until 2019 after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of receiving stolen property. A former landlord accused him of stealing her Airstream trailer.
WATCH: @MLauer and @TamronHall‘s full interview with Oakland warehouse manager Derick Almena https://t.co/LKvdwfWqvl
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 6, 2016
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
