Since Thursday, 4/21/16, hunger strikers, now five in number, have camped out in front of the Police Station on Valencia between 16th and 17th streets in the Mission District of San Francisco, joined by large numbers of supporters who have occasionally blocked the street outside the station in additional protest.
Their demand is that the Mayor, Ed Lee, fire the police Chief, Greg Suhr. this demand is in light of recent police violence, including the executions of Mario Woods, Amilar Perez-Lopez, Alex Nieto and, most recently, a homeless man, Luis Gongora, and continued revelations of SFPD officers texting racist and homophobic messages amongst themselves.
It began when a local rapper with twitter handle @Equippo announced the action, and as the weekend passed he was joined by others.
The 48Hills news organization is providing day to day coverage and updates via their Twitter account.
There were some threats of arrest last evening for “lodging” and disputes about using the Police Station’s bathroom, but as of tonight everything appears to be under control.
The Police Department has no plans to tell them to leave, said Officer Albie Esparza, a police spokesman.
“It’s a First Amendment protest. It’s not illegal lodging,” he said. “The sit-lie (ordinance) doesn’t apply.”
Update: