Read in spanish / Leer en español
On Monday evening, a small crowd gathered as the air at Capp and 21st streets filled with burning sage and the resonant sounds of Azteca drumming. The local Xiuhcoatl Danza group began a traditional ceremony in the street, honoring the life of Jesus Adolfo Delgado, a Mission teenager killed by police on that block exactly five years ago.
Every year, Delgado’s family, friends and supporters convene at 626 Capp St. to honor the young man’s life, decorating his sidewalk altar with flowers, candles, spray cans and a big portrait of him speaking at graduation.
On March 6, 2018, Delgado, 19, was shot at by multiple officers approximately 99 times following an alleged armed robbery.
Delgado’s family stood on the sidewalk and addressed the crowd. “It’s been a tough five years,” Delgado’s brother, Victor Torres, said softly. “Time has gone by, but the pain is still there.”
What everyone present at the memorial made clear was: Delgado’s death is not just an event in the past.
“We keep his name alive,” said Torres, “so people don’t forget what happened.” This is critical in close communities, where someone’s death alters the life of everyone around them, but the surrounding city may fail to acknowledge the loss.
“It’s important to continue to speak their names, and speak about what happened,” said Susana, a community member close with the Delgado family who has been there in support since day one.
“We must commemorate Delgado’s life, and the life of all of those who have been lost to violence, specifically police violence. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done in order for our communities of color to feel safe.”
One family present at the memorial had driven all the way from Sacramento for the night. They had also experienced a devastating loss of a young man.
“Being a mother of a son being taken, I know what she feels,” said Roxanne Morales, referring to Maria Duarte, Delgado’s mother. Morales’s son, Augustine Morales, was killed by Sacramento police in November, 2020.
“To have the community come out is so important. If the community doesn’t support us, there’s going to be no change. Don’t wait for it to be one of your family members to come out and support us. Support us now, so it’s not one of your family members.”
Accompanying Morales were her great-grandchildren and granddaughter Seselie, Augustine’s daughter. They connected with the Delgados through a Facebook group for parents who have lost children to violence. A wrongful-death settlement hearing against the Sacramento Police Department is scheduled for this Thursday.
After the ceremony, the group moved down the street to the vaccine site at 24th and Capp streets. Champurrado and tamales were served to warm everyone up from the cold as night grew. People gathered in chairs in the big tent, sharing stories and catching up.
“SFPD moves on, politics move on, and we’re left to pick up the fractured pieces of the family. It always falls squarely on the shoulders of community,” said Ivan Corado-Vega, a mentor of Delgado’s, born in El Salvador and raised in the Mission.
As the Mission’s Latino population continues to shrink, said Corado-Vega, “any life that’s lost is not anonymous. We’re all related. It sends a huge ripple effect throughout the community when any life is taken, especially when a life is taken by a system like the police department.”
Corado-Vega worked with Delgado at the Mission Boys & Girls Club since the young man was in fifth grade at Bryant Elementary School. He noted that one of the saddest parts of Delgado’s story was his previous involvement in SFPD’s youth programming.
“Some of the training they provided to cadets; Adolfo joined. They would come to the Boys & Girls Clubs. He was a participant in the police activity league; he would go to events and fishing trips.
“This is a young person who is a victim of the police in many ways, not only of bad tactics in the community but, I dare to say, of some of the false pretenses of how they engage with us in community.”
Speaking on Supervisor Matt Dorsey’s recent proposal to make it easier for the city to deport undocumented people selling drugs, Corado-Vega expressed the danger that continues to pervade Latino communities in San Francisco.
“The recent rhetoric of putting targets on Honduran youth in the Tenderloin is giving permission to overpolice. And we all know what happens when police are given permission: people’s lives are taken.”
Delgado’s father, Jose Delgado, thanked everyone individually at the tent and earlier ceremony. “Thank you for joining us, and thank you for your help. See you next year — hopefully sooner.” He and Corado-Vega clasped hands.
“That’s the interaction,” said Corado-Vega. “The ‘hello’ and the ‘goodbye’ is there, in community. But the person who’s missing is the son. The ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ is always incomplete.”
The language in this article is tough – it makes me question if there was a more neutral way of framing.
“Mission teenager slain by police”
This language evokes thoughts of extreme youthfulness (he was 19, not 14), and of senseless murder by police.
For contrast, the Examiner at the time wrote something like “Robbery suspect killed by police”, which seemingly intentionally leaves out age and introduces a possible cause for his violent death, in order to induce a very opposite perspective for the reader.
Obviously the journalists at ML know a lot more than I do about language and writing styles, but to me when language feels strongly leading (in either direction) I feel a natural reaction to downplay the message.
For those who don’t remember this story I’d direct you to this excellent (and imo balanced) 2019 ML article for the details:
https://missionlocal.org/2019/11/anatomy-of-a-police-shooting-the-chaotic-last-moments-of-jesus-delgado-duarte/
I re-read it again prior to typing this comment and still feel the same as I did in 2019, with the only new info available to me a chance personal encounter with 1 or 2 of the officers involved, for unrelated reasons.
This article covers a memorial, not a crime. The writing respectfully conveys the sense of those honoring the deceased. It would be abrasive to write this piece the style of a hard news, crime article.
Michael Barba probably wrote the article from the Examiner you mention, and he is the best crime reporter in the city. But to accomplish that, he has to write like a robot.
And, in case you didn’t know, Julian Mark is knocking out articles right and left for the Washington Post now. He’s a badass.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/julian-mark/
RLE – the precursor to the death by Police was an armed robbery of innocent residents. That should have been brought up, as tastefully as possible in the article, to avoid misleading the reader.
We should not re-write history because it does not fit our narratives or make us uncomfortable.
It also doesn’t mention that he shot at the police first? I feel that this should be mentioned, in addition to mentioning the armed robbery that lead to all this.
RLE – English is not my 1st language, but …”shot following an alleged armed robbery…” “…Police shooting victim…” was the dead man the perpetrator or one of the victims of the robbery? See the problem with the writing?
Also, no one here claimed the article’s content was your problem. I just stated my opinion, same as you did. Unless you co-wrote the article?
It’s not my problem if you can’t figure out who the author here was referring to when she wrote Delgado was shot “following an alleged armed robbery.”
It is a tragedy to lose a family member to a violent senseless death, specially one so young. I know from experience.
Condolences to the family. To the brother, with time you will get use to the pain. Mine has never gone away. I just got used to it.
I heard the entire ordeal from my bedroom. From the Police orders to bean bag shots to all gun shots.
I heard a woman giving orders in English & Spanish. Bean bags, one single shot, a extremely short pause, followed by a barrage of gun shots. At that time, it never occurred to me someone lost his life.
Because gun shots & Police activity is a constant near my home, I never even looked out the window that evening. I found out the next day, on the news, about the tragic incident. Senseless loss of a young life.
All that said, why is there no reference in this article about what Jesus & 2 companions + a dog were doing when this horrible event went down?
Jesus tragic death does not make his terrible choices disappear. It is important for other youth to know how Jesus choices that day, put him on the other side of the Police guns. In front of an incompetent Police Department, that did not have an appropriate Commander in charge of that crisis.
Jesus could have left his job & gone home, or gone to hang out with someone else. Instead he chose to go hang out with robbers & to rob someone for kicks/$ and in the process he placed himself at the mercy of that incompetent SFPD’s crew working that day.
Our youth have to learn that choices have consequences. That is a fact of life that might help keep them alive.
Lets teach our kids that we ALL stand on someone else’s shoulder. Let Jesus tragedy help prevent another one. We don’t need more dead people on our streets.
We, Brown people, are targeted by the System because of our looks & accents, but let us try to avoid crime as a way of beating the System down.
Let the fact that we are either immigrants or a new generation of Americans be a way to bring us up & not down. Even when the System is rigged against us.
To ALL parents that read this, give your kids a hug & tell them you love them in memory of Jesus.
Jesus – RIP.
Jesus family – may you find comfort on the memories of your son, brother & friend.
Well expressed and written.
Thanks.
Speaking of an “incompetent SFPD’s crew”:
As someone with an SFPD fired bullet hole in my front door (made of steel) that went on to split a wall stud almost in half – the idea of a unleashing a hail of bullets in a densely populated area is astoundingly reckless.
Those things can and will ricochet for hundreds of feet.
Whatever your feelings about Jesus Adolfo Delgado are – for the safety of the entire block – they coulda just backed off to 50 feet and waited him out.
He wasn’t going nowhere.
Jesus fired at police first, let’s not forget.
Not sure if you watched any of the body cam footage, but Jesus was given every opportunity to surrender, and didn’t.
Is SFPD incompetent? Yes, but that’s what happens when a dwindling department has to lower the standards because no one is applying.
But we need to stop victimizing these criminals who die by the hands of police.
Jesus was not an innocent in this and his compliance was non existent.
He was firing a gun at them after committing an armed robbery. They could have been killed. At some point, rather than ranting about police incompetence, you need to accept that police have the right to use force to defend themselves and the community.
We dont have to exercise all the rights we have. Specially when one of them will take a human life.
If one of the reports on the shooting is true regarding lack of leadership during the incident, I stand by my words RE Police incompetency. I heard the whole event going down. Maybe if the bean bag had been deployed, Jesus would not have shot at the Police???
I also stand by my words about “stop pretending the young dead man was victimized & had no active part in his demise”.
He made a choice to rob people at gun point. If he was afraid of ICE, that was a dam stupid way to act. His stupid act should be spoken about, so other young people can learn about “stupid acts” & try to avoid them.
The article put a lot of blame on the Police & how good Jesus was. What about Jesus’s bad actions?
There is no evidence of police incompetence. That is just rank speculation. The fact is that he shot at police — You can’t expect them to just stand there and take gun fire without responding.
Watch the video again a bean bag was shot first…bounces off the bumper…then he shoots…and then the hail of police bullets….who shot that bean bag??? It is ironic you mention beanbag because that is exactly what caused this mess….watch the video, i remember this
Just the facts. Is this the same young man who helped rob a family at gun point ? Hid in the truck of the getaway car? Still had a gun in the truck ? Aimed and shot his gun at police ?
I think it is Terri. He sounds like a good dude