In a hastily-organized rally, some 70 people gathered at Clarion Alley on Sunday evening, protesting last night’s police operation that arrested 117 skaters and spectators at the annual Dolores Park “hill bomb.”
“To go after teenagers — it is immoral, it is wrong, and there needs to be accountability,” said Kevin Ortiz, the co-president of the San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club
Ortiz said the police action should not be seen in isolation. He pointed to a similar enforcement earlier this week in the Mission on July 4, in which SFPD officers rushed crowds setting off fireworks at 25th and Harrison streets.
“This is one of two incidents in the span of a week,” Ortiz said, adding that he would call on the new Mission Station Captain Thomas Harvey, who took the reins in April, to meet with Latinx leaders at the next meeting of the Latinx Club. Ortiz wants to dissect what happened each evening.
Jeffrey Kwong, the president of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, said that if any group should be on the receiving end of the police force’s de-escalation tactics, it’s teenagers. Earlier on Sunday, the club and Supervisor Dean Preston denounced the police enforcement.
“We want answers for the families of these children,” Kwong said Sunday evening.
The hill bomb is an annual event where skaters from across the Bay Area come into the Mission to “bomb” Dolores Street, skating fast downhill. It has led to serious injury and one death in the past, and police are often present at the event, albeit in much smaller numbers than this year.
Several protesters at Clarion Alley took aim at the District 8 Supervisor, Rafael Mandelman, who defended the action, saying there was room for improvement, but that it prevented the injuries and death of past years.
“Fuck Rafael Mandelman,” chanted the crowd.
The San Francisco Police Department has defended its actions, calling the assembly of skaters and spectators a “riot” that involved violence against officers and destruction of property.
The crowd initially gathered in Clarion Alley, a mid-block passageway filled with political murals, but quickly moved across Valencia Street to Mission Station, where 81 juveniles who were part of the group arrested Saturday night were held before being released to their parents.
That process on Saturday took hours, the teens with their hands zip-tied behind their backs and initially left to sit on the street before being moved by bus into the station. One girl who was arrested at the hill bomb said the police did not allow them to immediately use the bathroom, and that several girls wet themselves on the bus and hyperventilated.
Once outside the police station, the speakers and crowd targeted police conduct in various ways: Criticizing the Police Department’s budget, which is $780 million and increased 9 percent from last year, and leading “Quit your job” chants at cops standing behind the station’s glass doors.
The officers gave exaggerated guffaws or made peace signs.
“Let the kids have fun, you miserable losers!” said one speaker, taking the bullhorn and standing in the middle of Valencia Street, in the road’s center bike lane.
Nearby Residents react
At one point, Denhi Donis, a 66-year-old woman known as San Francisco’s “Flower Lady,” took her walker to the middle of the road and began shouting, “Fuck the police!”
Ortiz quickly put the bullhorn to her lips and let her speak.
“They are using my funds for this? They are using our resources for this? That is fucked up,” she said.
Denhi Donis, “the Flower Lady,” comes out of nowhere and takes up the incomplete Valencia bike lane, leading a change of “fuck the police”
— Joe Rivano Barros (@jrivanob) July 10, 2023
She is quickly given a megaphone and begins speaking
“I was expecting to see 1,000 people here—what the fuck is this?” pic.twitter.com/fJV6QfMS0I
The protest was loosely organized — no group took command, and the bullhorn was handed off the anyone who wished to speak in the crowd.
Speakers chanted the names of various victims of police shootings, like Alex Nieto and Sean Moore. They chanted the name of Banko Brown, the young transgender man shot and killed by a Walgreens security guard in April, and blamed the district attorney for her decision not to charge the guard.
“Fuck the DA. Recall Brooke Jenkins.”
At one point, Chris Arvin, a local transit advocate, led a chant of “Buses are not jails,” a critique of the use of Muni buses to transport the arrested teens to the police station.
The protest petered out by 7:30 p.m., when a few dozen people moved back to Clarion Alley to play music and skate. SFPD officers watched from the station across the street, and the traffic resumed.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the total number of arrested. There were 117 arrested that day, not 113.
A masked protester holding a “Cops don’t keep us safe, housing does” sign at the Dolores hill bombing rally. Photo by Joe Rivano Barros. July 9, 2023. 
Denhi Donis, San Francisco’s “Flower Lady,” speaking into a bullhorn held by Kevin Ortiz of the San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club. Photo by Joe Rivano Barros. July 9, 2023. 
Two skateboarders and protesters holding skateboards reading “Fuck SFPD” and “FTP,” and acronym for “Fuck the police.” Photo by Joe Rivano Barros. July 9, 2023.
I support the sfpf rather than a bunch of criminal teens enabled by their immature entitled parents. I live on Dolores Park and we are sick and tired of kids destroying our neighborhood. Residents have rights too and these parents need to be taught a lesson!
“Children” and “teenagers” who commit crimes and threaten law enforcement are not victims they are like adults who commit crimes: criminals. San Francisco has laws, rules and regulations and the should be enforced. Thankfully the SFPD was there to help.
Agreed
>> “To go after teenagers — it is immoral, it is wrong, and there needs to be accountability,” said Kevin Ortiz<< Last time I checked, there’s been multiple violent assaults in various districts targeting women, all of whom were committed by teenager’s.
Hope SFPD is giving the skateboarders a kick back . I can only imagine the amount of Overtime they’re making … probably laughing from the station all the way to the bank
“To go after teenagers — it is immoral, it is wrong, and there needs to be accountability”
What does this person think accountability looks like, exactly?
Well, so much for the Harvey Milk club. Talk about being clueless. Those of us who live queer folk who live in apartments near Dolores Park are grateful there was finally some kind of crackdown on the dangerous, high powered fireworks that threatened to set fire to the neighborhood, not including gunshots that went off on my block. This kind of knee-jerk response, making a riot into a civil rights issue is the reason the far left is losing the support of many of us who fought to build this LGBTQ community years ago.
Those were the loud voices.
I would like to express here, in a quiet voice without any vandalism, that I support the SFPD in this operation. Thank you for breaking up that mob.
Me too.
Did the dozens (wow!) of protesters mention the vandalism the teens are responsible for? What a joke. If it’s what they want, look around SF right now- you can see what no police presence looks like.
Bunch of white kids whining. Don’t worry, Daddy will bail you out and get you out of trouble….again.
Mission Local should write up profiles for all these people who have the time to show up to every protest. Just from the pictures I recognize a certain SRO Collaborative member (who stopped advocated for tenants once they secured their own rent restrictions) and their screaming-in-BoS-meetings partner. How do I get the free time they seem to have?
I happened upon this incident about 10pm Saturday and am still livid.
I watched teenagers, none of whom accused or suspected of anything violent, get treated like violent criminals. I watched parents pleading with officers to know the status of their children, and get ignored. Not even knowing for certain if their child was being arrested or god knows where.
We can all be angry at vandalism. I don’t care here. Teenagers are, timelessly, assholes. Nothing any of them did yesterday justified being treated like a violent criminal.
I can’t imagine a bigger shame to those officers. You can be upset about vandalism and recognize this level of response was disgusting. They’re kids. Detention is what they deserve at worst, not a criminal record.
I grew up in a society where teenagers were quite respectful and kind, the same way we expect adults to behave. Sorry you’ve given up on a better world.
I agree. I also witnessed the Riot Police running towards my car, after the kids. They trapped them. Sown children were trying to walk home, trying to disperse.
What happened to Di-escalation Tactic?
The new Mission Station Police Captain
Thomas Harvey, is moron.
No he’s not. Have you met him? On the contrary, your misspelled and nonsensical comment makes you out to be one.
So you’re ok with them vandalizing the neighborhood, terrorizing Muni passengers, shooting off fireworks which set off fires in the park, shooting off guns, hurling fireworks and bottles at officers, and causing untold damage to the neighborhood and public transit?
Maybe instead we should hold their likely wealthy and affluent parents accountable.
We continue to excuse crime and lawlessness in our city, and it just keeps getting worse. If they wanted to hold this event, perhaps they should have gotten permits, worked with the neighborhood, had a safety plan for potential injuries, and done it right instead of invading a neighborhood they don’t live in and causing mayhem. They had plenty of warning to leave and made the decision to stay. If their parents knew where they were this probably wouldn’t have happened in the first place.
Charges will be dismissed en masse. It’s all for show.