A San Francisco supervisor and two of the city’s top political clubs have condemned the police action taken against a crowd of unruly teenage skateboarders at the Dolores Park hill bomb yesterday, which resulted in 117 arrests and dozens of children, zip-tied and confined, waiting hours to be released to their parents.
Supervisor Dean Preston tweeted a rebuke of the operation, writing that he was “at a loss to explain this abuse of power, waste of money, and trauma inflicted on our young people.”
“I’m ashamed of our City leadership for this type of militarization of our streets and attack on our youth,” he wrote. “People deserve answers.”
Reached by phone, Preston said he would “certainly” be seeking more information from the San Francisco Police Department about last night’s events. The department said the action was an attempt to control a “riot.”
The Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, one of San Francisco’s oldest Democratic political clubs and a power center for the Castro, issued a similarly strong condemnation, writing that its leadership was “outraged by the large-scale show of force by police in military gear against teenagers at Dolores Park,” and calling the operation “one of the most violent police actions in recent memory.”
“We demand an immediate and comprehensive independent investigation into the arrests,” the club wrote, adding that it would seek a review of the use of restraints, batons, and less-lethal rifles, as well as the conditions of those arrested.
“The treatment of juveniles left detained until 3 a.m., shivering in the cold and forced to endure degrading circumstances, including urinating on themselves, must be thoroughly examined.”
Mission Local reported one teenager’s account of girls wetting themselves while waiting to be transferred off a bus into a police station. Another teenager arrested recounted being zip-tied so tightly his hands swelled up, and several others mentioned tight restraints.
Jeffrey Kwong, the club’s president, called footage of the action “shocking,” and said his group was working with youth groups across the city to put forward a unified response.
“You have police in riot gear, in military-grade outfits, facing unarmed teenagers on skateboards,” he said, adding that the stand-off was “reminiscent of past police actions in this city, whether it’s cracking down on gay bars or police brutality leading up to Black Lives Matter.”
Later on Sunday, the San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club condemned the police response, saying the mass arrest was “a further escalation of violence” in the Mission following the earlier July 4 action targeting revelers setting off fireworks.
The club called on the Police Commission and Department of Police Accountability to investigate SFPD’s actions.
District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Dolores Park area, tweeted that the hill bomb was “safer than last year … or 2020.”
“The hill bomb has been a problematic event for years,” he added in a message. “In comparison to recent years, the city’s response seems to have reduced damage to people and property this year, but plainly there’s more work to be done.”
A man was stabbed and a fight broke out at the hill bomb last year and, in 2020, a young cyclist was killed when he collided with a skateboarder. The police have shut down the event in the past, too: In 2017, an officer shoved a skateboarder into a squad car, causing him to break his ankle. The skateboarder filed a civil suit against the city that was settled for $275,000.
The skateboarding event is held in the Mission every year, drawing skaters from across the Bay Area who zip down Dolores Street at high, and potentially lethal, speeds, cheered on by crowds of onlookers.
‘Mission District riot‘
The San Francisco Police Department has strongly defended its actions, issuing a lengthy statement Sunday morning outlining the reasons for the operation: Officers were out in force early in the evening to stop skateboarders from cruising down Dolores Street. By 6:15 p.m., the statement said, they had witnessed several fireworks going off in the area.
One sergeant was spat upon by a 16-year-old boy, the statement said. When he attempted an arrest, he was interrupted by a 15-year-old girl. In the scuffle, the officer was wounded with lacerations to the face and sent to the hospital, according to the police department’s statement. The 16-year-old boy who resisted arrest was treated at the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, and was later booked on charges of assault and resisting arrest, police said.
Captain Thomas Harvey, the Mission District’s new police captain, then made the call to declare an unlawful assembly, and officers began charging into the hill bomb crowds, moving corner to corner and chasing skateboarders.
The skaters moved around Dolores Park and adjacent blocks, throwing glass bottles at the officers and lighting off fireworks in their direction, according to the police, witnesses and video from the scene. Muni trams were graffitied, and there were unconfirmed reports of gunshots, the police said.
Shortly after 8 p.m., a large group of some 200 people began dismantling police barricades, the police wrote.. At 8:35 p.m., the police trapped that group and decided to arrest everyone en masse.
Police Chief Bill Scott called the behavior by skateboarders “dangerous and unlawful” and said it would “not be tolerated in our city.”
“I thank our officers for taking action to hold those accountable who brazenly engaged in reckless and dangerous behavior and violated the law,” he added.
SFPD tweeted a graphic calling the actions by skateboarders a “Mission District riot,” noting that a police sergeant was hospitalized from cuts to the face. The department, for its part, said its “policies in dealing with juveniles were followed.”
Several parents, waiting for hours in the cold for their children yesterday, pledged to take legal action against the Police Department. They were largely incredulous at the response by the police, saying they wanted to be reunited with their children, and calling the detainment a violation of minors’ rights.
“It’s totally against civil rights to do this to children,” one mother said.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the total number of arrested. There were 117 arrested that day, not 113.
Stonewall San Francisco Democratic Club condemns the entire administration of corrupt Mayor London Breed, DA Brooke Jenkins, and Breed’s Police Chief Scott.
The coverage of Breed’s administration’s charges and convictions in federal court for public corruption have been buried just as the media and Breed prefer
As long ago as the early ’90’s, a young friend and I found ourselves near the top of De Haro Street’s big hill – in the middle of an organized, thrilling skateboard “slalom” event. As I recall, the streets at either end of the course were blocked off with your typical city traffic barricades used for parades, no cars were parked on the involved streets, and bales of hay lined the streets so sidewalks were left open and safe for pedestrians- and the skateboarders.
It was so much fun to watch and exciting for spectators and skateboarders alike. My friend was about 10 years old at the time, and years later we still laugh when we recall that day.
There are so many notable hills in the City, why not work collaboratively (youth organizations, neighborhoods, SFPUD and the skateboard community) to institutionalize such an event that is challenging for the ‘boarders, safe for all, and a positive, welcome experience for the entire community. What a great way to celebrate our youth – and our hilly City.
I don’t like lawless mobs doing dangerous things, though I support skateboarding, BLM and gay pride.
It’s a shame that so many parents abdicated their parenting responsibilities to the SFPD following the Hill Bomb melee, by playing the “good cop” and promising their “kids” ice cream and taking selfies in front of the police station while the SFPD is left to play “bad cop” and hold their young adult children accountable. I teach young adults in the community college system in order to prepare them for meaningful careers and my fellow professors and I have to work really hard and take a lot of valuable time undoing the damage that this You’re-never-wrong-and-you-get-a-trophy-no-matter-what parenting style inflicts on this generation.
How is against their civil rights if they were vandalizing Muni LRVs, causing fires in Dolores park, and shooting off guns? When do we stop this excusing criminal activity. Where are the transit activists when they destroyed Muni trains? If they wanted an event, get permits, work with the neighborhood, arrange for medical staff to be on scene, have safety plans in place. Quit causing chaos in our city and then blaming the city when you’re held accountable for taking over our neighborhoods. Go do this in your own city.
My friends who live on Dolores Park have endured so much for so long and now a bunch of punk anarchists are perceived as just kids doing their thing. About time the police were out in force. Now prosecute them so they get the message!
This is another example of ML reporting which doesn’t take into account the neighbors who live in the area that is effected. Like the reporting on the events of the 4th of July, it promotes a narrative of a police state, without any consideration of the residents of the neighborhoods that are effectively held hostage by hordes of anarchic, disrespectful and selfish youth. It would be great if ML did some more proactive research articles to follow this up, interviewing residences of these parts of the Mission where these events occur. And for that matter, perhaps deeper interviews of these skateboarders – why they lash out the way they do onto neighborhoods which have little to nothing to do with them and their inner pain.
Local supervisor is okay with SFPDs actions last night. Vast vast majority of the residence of the area are okay with it too. At least two MUNI rail trains were destroyed by the “kids”. ML has been dodging that line of the story.
Of course Dean Preston is the one Supervisor who is upset. Thanks, SFPD for properly dealing with these illegal activities.
Parents, please talk to your children so they understand what to do if they are asked to disperse from an unlawful assembly.
Here’s a pic of the kids in question: https://twitter.com/EastEndCruz/status/1678100171954221057
Really happy to see some law and order returned to the city. Must be nice to criticize while living in a mansion like Dean Preston.