Hayes Valley Murder Victim A Locally Beloved Skater

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Malcolm Armstrong, an Oakland native with a Brooklynite persona, died as the result of a stabbing in Hayes Valley recently. A suspect has been arrested for his murder, and Armstrong’s friends in the Mission organized a massive skateboarding tribute in his memory.

Armstrong arrived in San Francisco without knowing anyone, his friend Israel Ramos said, before he found a place to share his passion for skateboarding at Potrero Del Sol skatepark. There he spent nearly every day and became part of a close-knit community that is still mourning his passing.

“He exemplified how someone who isn’t from here should take in the community, it was just very special how he did it. He didn’t come to this city to just exploit everyone he came to really became a part of the community. That’s why we appreciated him so much,” Ramos said.

Zak Segura got to know Malcolm about five years ago, when he first arrived in San Francisco with no connections, Segura said. A relative explained Armstrong had been in foster care most of his life, as his parents struggled with substance abuse.

“He didn’t really have family out here. He came out here with nothing and kinda created another family for himself,” Segura said.

The kids at the skate park became Armstrong’s surrogate family, naming themselves “SKURT-SQUAD2X,” an identifier Segura said stuck with their group through the years.

Segura remembered Armstrong’s particular enthusiasm for clothing, often frequenting Dirty Pigeon clothing on 24th and Potrero and dreaming of starting his own clothing line. He made ends meet with odd jobs, Segura said, but his real passion was at the skate park.

Ramos wrote the following to Mission Local to call our attention to Armstrong’s connection to the community, and to share the video footage of the skateboarding event in Armstrong’s memory:

Malcolm Armstrong was a talented 20 year old skateboarder who came to San Francisco from New York knowing hardly anyone. He quickly made friends and integrated closely with the massive skateboarding community here in the city, residing mainly at Potrero Del Sol Skatepark.

With his deep raspy voice, thick New York accent, love for Joey Badass and hip hop, Malcolm stood out amongst the crowd of locals. Yet he was accepted like a brother in the short period in which he we were blessed to have known him.

A couple days after news finally let out and the rumors became a sad reality, his friends and peers put together a memorial at his home away from home, Potrero Del Sol. What started as a candle lit vigil ended in a night of the most beautiful celebration of life that I have ever witnessed.

The youth got together for a massive group picture and from there they began skating their hardest in his honor. When the lights shut off, they hit the streets to bomb hills just as Malcolm would’ve wanted to. A crowd of more than 75 youth trekked on bus, car, bikes and foot to the top of O’ Shaugnessy and skated down hills for hours, yelling his name with smiles on their faces.

This video captures this very rare insight into a community many don’t get to experience and the love they shared for someone tragically gone.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that Armstrong was a transplant from Brooklyn. Following a call from a relative, who pointed out that Armstrong was a Bay Area native with an enthusiasm for Brooklyn and New York, the article has been updated to reflect new information.