Anger after a deadly police shooting in San Francisco boiled over at a community meeting in the Bayview District on Friday night. Jean Elle reports.
Anger after a deadly police shooting in San Francisco boiled over at a community meeting in the Bayview District on Friday night.
Community members calling for San Francisco Police Department Chief Greg Suhr's resignation were met with cheers at the meeting on City College of San Francisco southeast campus.
Video posted to social media earlier this week shows five police officers firing at stabbing suspect Mario Woods as he refused to drop a knife. Police displayed a picture of the knife they say Woods was holding.
Bayview resident Frank Williams told those gathered the video is hard to watch: "He got shot like he was at a firing squad. Deplorable."
Oscar Grants Uncle tells community meeting to organize to change police actions. @11 @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/na0MGamZDR
— Jean Elle (@nbcjeanelle) December 5, 2015Speaker calls for people of color to unite and fight police brutality. At SFPD meeting @nbcbayarea @11 pic.twitter.com/HQOgrWbd7r
— Jean Elle (@nbcjeanelle) December 5, 2015Community members shouting. Some protesting. Some asking for quiet so Chief can speak. @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/Yu6EJqpiNq
— Jean Elle (@nbcjeanelle) December 5, 2015Williams and dozens of others lined up during the rowdy meeting for a chance to speak to the police chief and police commissioners, telling the panel the department needs reform from the top down.
"I think we need reform," Williams said. "As far as use of excessive force, I'm not saying police are criminals, I'm saying they're doing what they were told."
https://www.instagram.com/p/-z3eBvPopxPolice said they stopped Woods after a man told sheriff's deputies Woods was talking to himself, swinging the knife, and stabbed him in the shoulder.
The incident is stirring up emotions. Cephus Johnson, the uncle of Oscar Grant, said the community should organize and pressure the district attorney to pursue charges.
Chief Suhr said his officers used non-lethal weapons with no success and officers opened fire when Woods looked like he was moving toward a bus full of people. Members of the police commission say they plan to review use of force policy and procedures.
Local
"In order for us to get justice for Mario we need to organize," Johnson said.
In the meantime, police commissioners said they plan to review procedures.
Chief Suhr said he has contacted a police research forum on the East Coast that is looking into bringing de-escalation techniques used in Europe to the United States. Suhr said he wants his department to be part of that process.
Meanwhile, the investigation into Woods' shooting death continues.
