A day after a San Francisco police officer on Mayor Daniel Lurie’s security detail told Mission Local that he was attacked while guarding the mayor, new security footage calls that claim into question.
In a TikTok video posted online Friday, which appears to be a snippet from a surveillance camera over the Lower Nob Hill alley, the bodyguard appears to speak to Tony Phillips, 44, the man later identified by the San Francisco Police Department as having attacked the officer. Lurie is seen standing a few feet behind.
Phillips, holding a blanket, is standing next to another man. He appears to try to walk around the bodyguard, approaching within a foot of his body.
Then, in a matter of seconds, the bodyguard abruptly shoves Phillips backward, knocking him into a pile of debris on the sidewalk.
Philips rises and comes back at the bodyguard. The officer makes contact with him a second time, and the two go into a clinch.
The bodyguard holds Phillips in a headlock before Phillips throws the officer to the ground, where the officer hit his head and sustained an injury.
As the two men hold onto each other, Lurie can be seen backing away and then hurrying out of frame, seeming to signal to someone on Larkin Street.
Moments later, another officer runs towards the two men on the ground, trying to pull Phillips off of the bodyguard, who is pinned to the ground.
Another man, who officials identified as Abraham Simon, stood by as the two men fought. He briefly rushes towards the second bodyguard and shoves him to the ground before backing away.
At the scene on Thursday evening, Mission Local witnessed the bodyguard bleeding out of the back of his head. The officer told his fellow cops that two men had refused to comply with requests to move along, and that Phillips had come at him.
The video calls the officer’s narrative into question.
The San Francisco Chronicle was first to report on Friday’s video.
Lurie, when asked about the incident, also told Mission Local that the men had tried to fight a police officer but did not mention the officer shoving the man to the ground.
This morning, Lurie told press gathered at his City Hall office that the men had been blocking the middle of the street, though the 90-second TikTok video shows both men standing near the sidewalk on Cedar Street with plenty of room for cars to pass by.
The mayor’s spokesperson declined to comment, and said that the police investigation is “ongoing.”
Phillips and Simon were arrested at the scene. Phillips was booked for threatening an executive officer, assault on a peace officer with force likely to cause great bodily injury, battery on an officer, resisting or obstructing an officer, and petty theft and possession of drug paraphernalia. Simon was booked for resisting or obstructing an officer.
In 2019, police accused Phillips of stabbing a man to death a few blocks away, at Van Ness Avenue and Fern Street, though prosecutors declined to charge him.
I am not surprised that this jerk body guard started fighting then lied about it. He quite literally threw the man into a pile of trash then later claimed to be attacked out of the blue. Thank goodness for modern technology setting this story straight. Lurie needs to actually do more about police/security misconduct and excessive force. I question his priorities, and the fact that he previously removed Max Carter-Oberstone is ridiculous.
We need MORE cams, not less.
Cops LIE every single time they are involved in violence with civilians. Every time!
Looks like David Chiu is going to have to green light a civil settlement check that might lift someone out of poverty.
Brooke Jenkins, for her part, would never dream of holding SFPD to account for assault and battery.
marcos, I don’t think you understand the purpose of a security detail.
The idea is not that they sit around waiting for the protectee to be shot or stabbed, and then arrest the perp. Rather their purpose is to prevent the attack in the first place.
So by the very nature of their duties, they must anticipate and neutralize a threat before its execution, rather than merely and passively responding to it afterwards.
Wow. We must be seeing a different video. Guys are blocking the street. Police officers ask them to move. Homeless & or drug dealer mouths off, then tries to move past the cop – toward where the mayor is. I can’t see if he brushed/hit the police, but he may have. Many cities you do this, you get shot,
An aggressive defense push down is the appropriate move. Someone acting as the homeless & or drug dealer did is a threat.
No police trainer or expert is going to criticize the move by the police. If anything the criticism is going to be trying to physically restrain the homeless & or drug dealer rather than just drawing their service revolvers.
But the comments – which suggest that what the homeless & or drug dealers did – blocking the street and then being aggressive to police when asked to move – is a large part of,why we have such a mess on the streets in San Fransisco,
What happen at the start of this video is a BIG problem. If anything the police were too restrained,
Do you really think he is going to invest any money he gets wisely? He’s just going to smoke/inject it.
Philips made a move around the bodyguard towards the Mayor, the bodyguard moved to stay between Philips and the Mayor, then maybe Philips said some sh*t ands got pushed to the ground. Had he been shot or punched very hard, that would be a thing. But this seems like reasonable bodyguard behavior.
if the bodyguard felt like the mayor was in any danger, it seems like bad decision making to assault one of the guys while the other guy is open to go after the mayor. wouldn’t it make more sense to secure the client in a secure position or getting out of the area until they have numerical advantage? Seems like they were underestimating the fighting ability of the homeless person and trying to humor the mayor to show how powerful he is as mayor of the city. Position really means nothing if you’re facing people who don’t keep up with politics and are just trying to survive on the streets.
So Laurie saw his officer assault and battery this guy. Then lied to the police and the press about it?
Curious that mission local reports that one of the victims of this assault was “suspected” by SFPD of stabbing someone, but was never charged, tried or convicted. Has no relevance to this story, and is simply a prejudicial attempt to smear the name of someone who SFPD assaulted, then lied about. I expect better of the Mission Local team.
maybe they figured it would come out when the DA tries to discredit the person who they have to charge because their boss is the one involved. I wonder if the defense can request a different location for the trial because the mayor is involved and everyone in the DA’s office, PD’s office and the police are working for him.
So Lurie and his detail are Playing by ICE rules now? Better blow a whistle the next time you see him coming.
The criminal clearly menaced and got in the bodyguard’s face, so he was justified in pushing him away.
“The two men had refused to comply with requests to move along.”
The guy WAS walking away and THAT’S when the cop attacked him. He was obeying them and got attacked. BAD cop, no donut for you!
is it really the mayor’s job to go around with his security, asking the homeless to move along? isn’t there someone else tasked with that job who have more experience handling tricky encounters?
Campers,
This bodyguard should not be a police officer.
He has the wrong kind of attitude toward the profession.
Shaves his head to look as mean as possible and glares at everyone aggressively.
I asked Copilot about it and it replied that most Mayoral Security details are comprised of their very best officers and Lurie’s is not.
SFPOA is all about money first and against permanent Community Police Patrols.
When asked what he wanted to do as the new head of the SFPOA, the winner whose name I forget said his first concern was to get his rank and file more money.
He made 586,000 dollars last year.
As a Patrolman.
This piece is solid gold and reveals the Mayor’s poor judgement regarding cops.
He should create a ballot measure asking the people if they would prefer that they choose our next Police Chief at the polls and give them the absolute power to hire and fire and suspend without Pay which is the only way to change the conduct of this force.
Lawyers should be allowed to run.
A drawn out campaign would reveal the true character of candidates.
You can bet that every single one of them will promise more Foot Patrols
The idea is not mine though I worked with delinquents for 50 years and have a Masters in Special Education and last taught at Potrero Hill Middle School where I developed a Student Security Monitor Force that 300 students volunteered for and put 7 monitors in the halls and around the grounds between every period and before and after school and I did ALL of the Detention Halls every day.
The idea of San Francisco returning to an elected Chief is not mine.
It was Michael Hennessey’s and he was our Sheriff (a lawyer) and the best in the Country for 32 years.
I’m 81 years old and I know what I’m talking about.
go Niners !!
h.
What a twisted take. Looks like homeless lunatic moved towards the mayor and security stopped him.
Cops hitting or kicking or violently shoving or otherwise putting hands or feet aggressively on someone and then claiming that person got their injuries “resisting arrest” is kind of the oldest dirty cop trick in the books.
A judge has ruled on this altercation. Mayor Lurie should have the intelligence and leadership and respect for the courts and sechel that a mayor needs, and put the blame AND THE DISCIPLINE where it belongs — on his copy. With an added penalty for lying about it. And then Lurie should step down for encouraging a culture of police abuse and LYING in his own security staff.
#BadCop #ComplicitMayor
I just the put the mayor in the same category as Trump and Bondi. A lier. I’m sad
The officer asked for it. Normally they just drive by and never stop but with this mayor, I guess he tells them to stop. Jerry Brown always had a very small protection detail and they were just n front of the state building. Some drunk recognizes him and starts to banter him. All the security are in the car, which they shouldn’t have been and as zi walk down the street, he has this look like “help.” I step in between them and the drunk says “that’s Jerry Brown.” I’m thinking he was about to release all the state prisoners to the counties because he didn’t want to pay billions to have these prisoners proper medical treatment.
Look the mayor has done nothing and will do nothing. An 80 year old lady just got away with killing a family of 4 with her car. Something tells me this guy will do more time. But maybe this guy will get lucky and get judge chan too.
I don’t know who is a bigger puke, Sir Robin or Kojak