Some 40 or so protesters gathered this morning at 11 a.m. at Dolores Park near 18th Street to protest the fatal police shooting last week of 45-year-old homeless man Luis Gongora.
Gongora was shot and killed on Thursday after police say he lunged at them with a 13-inch knife. Several witnesses have disputed that account, however, saying Gongora’s knife was at his side when he was shot and that he did not understand officers’ commands because he mostly spoke Spanish.
The shooting sparked a 100-strong march on Thursday night that linked Gongora’s death to those of Mario Woods, Alex Nieto, and Amilcar Perez-Lopez, all of whom were shot and killed by police in the last two years.
On Sunday, Cassandra Belson explained the purpose of the march to the crowd, saying “justice has not been served countless times here in San Francisco” and calling on more solidarity between white people and their “black and brown brothers and sisters.”
“We are calling on our white neighbors. We are saying that white people have a role in this fight and that we are going to disrupt white complacency and white silence on this issue,” she said. “We need to do that immediately.”
The group then marched down 18th Street and interrupted the Sunday Streets festivities, walking down Valencia Street towards 25th Street before dispersing shortly after noon.
Not sure how anyone can interrupt a street fair where folks have booths and tables and whatnot, hawking a lot of political views and expressing desire for change. I saw a few Dem clubs, Bernie and Hillary folks, all had tables.
Based on these pics and reporting, looks to me like the police accountability folks simply participated in Sunday Streets in their chosen fashion. Good for them, but characterizing their activities as interruptions is a stretch.
Was Mr. Gongora wearing 49er gear? The City Attorney’s office says that the police should shoot Latinos if they are wearing 49er gear because they are criminal gang members.