In a legal complaint filed last week, Elaine Brown, a 72-year-old county worker, accuses Oakland City Councilwoman Desley Brooks of punching her out in a terrifying case of elder abuse at an Oakland restaurant.

Brown comes off as pure victim in the 16-page document, saying she felt “shocked, afraid and humiliated” during the attack. But make no mistake: The former leader of the Black Panther Party is as ruthless as her alleged assailant.

Brown is demanding $6 million from Brooks, 54, for allegedly punching the septuagenarian inside Everett & Jones restaurant on Oct. 30, and knocking her down “head over heels over a stack of folding chairs.” She is demanding an additional $1 million from the city of Oakland.

But since coming forward as a victim of violence, Brown has extolled the virtues of violence and has seemed even to encourage it.

Brown spoke in San Francisco on Dec. 4, at a community meeting to discuss the shooting of Mario Woods, which was captured on a cell-phone camera. San Francisco police appear to shoot Woods at least 15 times as the 26-year-old African American man holds a kitchen knife.

Brown used the meeting to resurrect the spirit of the Panthers. Indirectly, she encouraged young black men to arm themselves and take responsibility for patrolling their own neighborhoods — not to supplement police patrols — but to be on guard against them.

“We (the Panthers) seized the right to bear arms, and we patrolled our communities, and we didn’t take pictures. We patrolled those communities with guns,” Brown said. “We have a lot of tough brothers in here right now. It’s time to stop crying and whining about this stuff and get organized.

“I am not begging for love and understanding from the pig,” Brown said.

But she is asking for the assistance of the Oakland Police Department in securing evidence to help her win her case. Yeah, that is their job, but it makes it harder when you call them names.

So I guess when her personal reputation and cash are on the line, police are a tolerable necessity.

And just as she says Brooks did, Brown has also acted as if the laws that govern civil behavior don’t apply to her.

A little more than a year ago, Brown was permanently barred from Luka’s Taproom, one of downtown Oakland’s most popular hangouts, after throwing water into the face of a customer and menacing the manager when he told her to leave, according to witnesses.

The customer was apparently a fan who simply wanted to meet Brown, the witnesses said. And when the manager showed her the door, she turned and said, “You don’t know who I am.”

Yeah. Well the picture is getting clearer.

As for Brooks, her aggressive antics are the stuff of legend on the Oakland City Council. She recognizes no authority other than her own and goes about her work as if the rules don’t apply — and none of her colleagues or city officials has ever been able to stop her.

She speaks to the press when it suits her and has bet the bank that her strident behavior pleases a majority of her constituents, who have returned her to office for four consecutive terms. Her next campaign will be in 2018 if she decides to run again.

Brown and Brooks are cut from the same cloth and run in the same social cliques. The only difference is that Brooks is a hothouse tomato while Brown is a cool cucumber. Brooks barks. Brown bites.

It’s clear that Brown wants to take a bite out of Brooks professionally and personally — and parlay her trouble into a payday from taxpayers.

Chip Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His columns appear Tuesday and Friday. E-mail: chjohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @chjohnson