San Francisco Police Commission turns blind eye to police brutality

On February 27 over 100 people gathered at the San Francisco Hall of (in)Justice to protest the beating of Black children by police on Martin Luther King Day (see MIM Notes 254). The attack occurred at Hunters Point, a relatively poor and predominately Black community in San Francisco.

Cops brutalized four youth between 12 and 14 years of age sitting in a car, listening to music. The pigs fondled the young girls; they beat one young boy after he asked why they had a gun to his cousin's head. The cops then refused to give out their names or badge numbers. When asked why they were doing this, one pig said "As long as you people are here, we will act like this." The police have not charged any of the kids with any crime.

The demonstration outside the Hall of (in)Justice building preceded a community speak out at the public Police Commissioners meeting. Protesters filed into the building past metal detectors and pigs, who searched bags and arbitrarily limited the number of signs anyone could carry to two.

In spite of - because of - advance warning of the large turnout planned, the commissioners held their meeting in a room with very little public seating. The commissioners were late; after waiting 15 minutes for a commission that clearly serves the pigs and not the public, the crowd started to chant "Stop police brutality in the Black community." When the commissioners finally showed up they asked everyone to stand for the pledge of allegiance. Most of the audience was already standing, packed into the small isles of the meeting room. At this point most of those in attendance sat down on the floor in protest, refusing to recognize allegiance to a flag that stands for national oppression.

The police then announced that the cops responsible for the brutal beatings and harassment of the youth in Hunters Point had been reassigned to other communities. Until that day, these cops had been seen driving slowly by the houses of the kids they had brutalized, further terrorizing them. The community members were clear that they wouldn't stand for these same pigs harassing and beating kids in some other neighborhood. When it was announced that the cops had been reassigned, the audience broke out chanting "Off the Force." But the commissioners weren't listening. At the end of the meeting they decided that the abusive officers should stay on the streets.

The protest brought out a broad range of supporters from the Bay Area including the president of the San Francisco NOW chapter, who called for the prosecution of the cops.

Clearly concerned about the public outcry, the police announced that the incident was under investigation. But, as the parents of the kids who were attacked pointed out, there should not be a need for more investigation over a month after the incident happened. There is no dispute about what happened. Many people saw the cops attack the kids; parents were kept from helping their children with the threat of being shot. Photos were taken of the kids after they were beaten and of the cops who participated. Doctors reports are readily available for the boy who was hospitalized with a concussion, teeth shoved up into his gums, requiring stitches both inside and outside his mouth.

Parents and community members stressed over and over that if they had beaten their kids they would be in jail, but when the cops do it, it takes community outcry to even start an investigation.

The father of the boy who was badly beaten spoke of his many years living in the community befriending and supporting the police force. He said "my son was maliciously beaten for asking 'why have you pulled guns on my cousin.'" The police had to go around people to get to him, he didn't attack, threaten or even approach them but one of the cops gave the order to take him down. The father continued "I taught my three children to trust the SFPD. I have now rescinded my trust. I told my son that if you have trouble just deal with it because you'll be better off in the long run."

The father of the beaten boy expressed the belief that this was an isolated problem saying that "we have a few bad apples in the barrel." Many members of the Hunters Point community echoed this view. But they were clear that there was no trust in the police force as a whole which does not respond to their problems when called, yet is quick to harass their community.

The mother of a young Black man, Idriss Stelley, who was murdered by the SFPD last year (see MIM Notes 241, September 1, 2001), spoke out as a resident of the Bay View/Hunters Point community. She noted the connection between the police brutality against these kids and the killing of her son and said "I see it happen under my window all the time." As a French citizen she is organizing an international protest against the SFPD.

One community member represented the view that the police are an occupying army in the oppressed nations. "Whips and chains have been replaced with guns and cuffs. The police are running through our neighborhoods like overseers were running through plantations." MIM agrees with this speaker and we know that removing a few bad cops from the police force won't make for a better system. But we unite with the community and activists in calling for the prosecution of these cops who brutalized the Hunters Point kids. We must demand that they be held to their own rules and use the legal system to our advantage whenever possible. Prosecuting these pigs will both punish these criminals and help further expose the criminal injustice system for what it is, educating and mobilizing more people in the ongoing struggle against police brutality serving imperialism.