It started a week ago, I reported on it Tuesday, and Meteor Blades posted more on it this morning.
I went across the Bay this evening to see it first hand. There were about fifty people in front of the police station, along with tents, banners and chalk writings. It was cold. Far colder than in the East Bay, cold enough that people were wearing winter gear.
And yet the hunger strikers continue. The mood was quiet and upbeat. There was no police presence.
Here is a message from one of the hunger strikers, Christina.
They demand that Mayor Ed Lee fire the police Chief, who has presided over far too many unjustified police executions, and continuing revelations about just how racist, sexist, homophobic, and a host of other inappropriate nouns an ever growing number of his officers have been revealed to be.
The pressure got severe enough that sometime today Lee felt compelled to issue this statement, calling on SFPD’s finest to rid themselves of, well, their not so finest. Good luck with that.
48Hills.org is issuing long, daily reports on the protest. Here are a few excerpts from today’s article, detailing happenings yesterday.
Jenny Morales, from Good Samaritan Family Resource Center, accompanied a dozen teenagers. “I am very sad, as a Latina woman, to see the state of justice in this city, but at the same time I am really happy to see these people risking their lives to bring systemic change. This isn’t just for this generation but for next generation,” she said…
As the night approached, Lindo [[ one of the hunger strikers]] settled in to a chair, and his partner, Dr. Estell Williams made sure he was warm enough. In an emotional encounter, Tracy, active campaigner for Justice for Alex Nieto, held Lindo’s hand “Please promise me, promise me that you will not let your personal health be effected by this, you have to stop once your body is giving up. Please look into my eyes and promise me. You’ve already done more than enough for the cause and everyone knows that,” she said to Lindo.
“I can’t stop this knowing that they might kill another one of us. This has to stop, I can’t give up,” Lindo remarked.