SFPD motorbikes swarm Dolores Park in advance of protest

Mission Local reports:

The police arrived first, at 4:30 p.m. About 20 of them stood at 19th and Dolores. More were at 18th and Dolores and 20th and Dolores. Three or four patrol cars began circling Dolores Park. On hipster hill, the area of the park south of the tennis courts, officers on dirt bikes rode in circles on the grass.

Also there: four television crews. Many, many photographers. At least a dozen journalists, in all. They stood near the entrance of the park, at 19th and Dolores, waiting.

Read on for the full story and the slideshow from whence the above photo came.

35 Responses to “SFPD motorbikes swarm Dolores Park in advance of protest”

  1. bill says:

    who cares? i mean the dude killed someone in seattle,and was pimping a teenager oh and ran from cops and shot at them.Hipsters are protesting why?

    • one time says:

      Yeah, I’m curious about that too. The Civic Center BART thing makes sense but I’m not quite getting Bayview. Something to protest, perhaps?

    • Bordash says:

      too true. people don’t seem to care about the facts behind the situation. the hipsters and project dwellers needed a new distraction, a new cause.

    • Jonboywalton says:

      This is the kind of comment that comes from someone who has never been on the receiving end of bullshit from an arrogant cop. You still believe in the fantasy that there are in the job to serve and protect.

      The police shot a man 6 times in the back as he ran away from them because, as far as they knew at the time, he had no Muni ticket.

      It later transpired that the man they had shot was a SUSPECT in a killing of a pregnant woman in Seattle and this may have been why he ran. He is also guilty of, and has been punished for, pimping a young woman.

      My point is that just because it later turns out that the guy was an asshole does not make it OK to have shot him.

      • He had no MUNI ticket AND he was shooting at them, you intentionally ignorant douche.

        • Jonboywalton says:

          “intentionally ignorant douche”? What are you saying that for? The question I was answering was “who cares?” and “why?”

          And you believe the police when they say he was shooting at them? Witnesses say he was not. No gun was found at the scene (although, conveniently, one was later given up by someone).

          You sure it is me who is the “intentionally ignorant douche”?

          • GrizzledMission says:

            Gunshot residue on hands. What do you say to that? Crime lab-planted evidence?

          • Ben S says:

            Gun residue on hands, gun seen on video, other dude seen removing gun from the scene on video…. yeah.

          • Jonboywalton says:

            “Gun residue on hands”, OK. “Gun seen on video”, it was not at all clear to me that it is a gun. “Other dude seen removing gun from the scene on video”, I have not seen that video, care to provide a link to it?

          • prince says:

            please stop shitting up the comments, jonbro

  2. tofupuppy says:

    Ah, so that’s where they were coming from. I saw them en masse going down Duboce and turning onto Valencia around quarter of 7 last night. They spooked me out!

  3. marcos says:

    There is a change in tenor of the cops, SFPD and BART, as well as the sheriffs over the past few weeks.

    There is anticipation of severe societal economic distress by those in power, and the “law enforcement community” is being turned into a domestic control operation.

    These killings are a signal to anyone thinking of getting uppity that the state will not tolerate resistance, both resistance to the economic project and resistance to violent police control.

  4. Steve says:

    Seriously its common sense right??? If you shoot at cops they will probably shoot back.. If you don’t want to get shot by cops then don’t run away and shoot at them.

    • Jonboywalton says:

      Did he shoot at the cops? The cops say that he did, witnesses say not. While there is something that could be a gun visible in one of the videos on Youtube it is not at all clear that it is a gun, it could easily be a rock or a bit of trash. The police failed to find a gun at the scene but, according to them, later found one…

      • Can you prove he didn’t shoot at the cops? If not. Shut up. Ghetto witnesses ALWAYS stand up for each other when it comes to cops. They don’t care what really happened. They just know they’ve been trained to hate cops all their lives. Dang, man. Are you new to life or something? You’re not aware of this phenomenon?

      • Really? says:

        no but the shot spotter which is accurate as all fuck picked up 2 shots seconds prior to the 8 shots that were let off by the two officers combined. did they plant that as well?

  5. Dev says:

    Ok, let me get this straight. It’s the powers that be that forced this guy to be a convicted pimp, then become the prime suspect in a murder of a pregnant woman, then decide NOT TO PAY his fare and when approached, he ran and fired at the cops. Now, surprise surprise, when shot at, cops shoot back and they killed him.

    How is it that this is a event for public outrage? Oh yeah, it wasn’t his fault. It was the economic pressures that caused this. I call BS. I have the same economic pressures and I manage to work everyday and not break the laws.

    • Jonboywalton says:

      As I say above: The police shot a man 6 times in the back as he ran away from them because, as far as they knew at the time, he had no Muni ticket. It later transpired that the man they had shot was a SUSPECT in a killing of a pregnant woman in Seattle and this may have been why he ran. He is also guilty of, and has been punished for, pimping a young woman. My point is that just because it later turns out that the guy was an asshole does not make it OK to have shot him.

      • You’re obviously missing the point on purpose.

        The cops didn’t shoot him because of a past they didn’t know about. They shot him because he shot at them in the present.

        They didn’t find the gun right away because one of the bystanders took it. Fortunately, the video points out who took it, and the cops found him.

        The gun matched the gunpowder residue on the criminal’s hands.

        How many times should cops let criminals fire guns at them in public before you think cops should be able to shoot back?

        • Jonboywalton says:

          “They didn’t find the gun right away because one of the bystanders took it. Fortunately, the video points out who took it, and the cops found him. The gun matched the gunpowder residue on the criminal’s hands.”

          Citation please, this is new information to me.

      • hoboking says:

        The fact he was likely shooting at the police makes it “OK” they shot him. His asshole status just provides motive for him to commit that rather suicidal act.

        Seriously, this whole situation looked really dubious on Sunday, but the facts keep getting in the way of the narrative of police murder.

        * Video evidence (not the best, but still)
        * Forensic Evidence ( gunshot residue described in today’s paper and supposedly from shot spotter)
        * Motive to strongly avoid arrest (He was suspected in a shooting murder and had a criminal history)

        Now I don’t think that this means the dead man was automatically at fault, regardless of his past, but sometimes a police shooting is justified and within a week evidence is mounting that this was.

        It could all be a conspiracy, they exist (as with the New Orleans PD’s horrify killings during Katerina) but I doubt they’re that common or easy to pull off.

        Protest something worthwhile: The lack of Financial Industry regulation or accountability, the virtual closure of SF’s civil courts, crony capitalism – anything but suicide by cop.

  6. T-Bone says:

    So, let me see if I have this right. Our “Gestapo” stopped a resistance fighter hero for a supposed offence and he ran so he could fight on? He must have been recruting that 13yo girl for resistance work, huh. Viva la resistance.

  7. MrEricSir says:

    So every time there’s a protest now, SFPD gets to militarize Dolores Park?

    Something doesn’t seem right here.

    • smushmouth says:

      I think the SFPD was looking for an excuse to race their dirtbikes in the temporary sand pit dirt track that is currently Dolores Park.

    • Chris says:

      It doesn’t mention it in this post, but the protest started at the base of the steps in the park at 19th and Dolores. Two cops on dirt bikes rode around the park for no more than five minutes, and seemed to be chatting people up. A handful were lined up across the street. Then they left along with the march once it got underway.

      It really wasn’t anything dramatic.

  8. Emily says:

    And this is where over the top political correctness becomes nonsense.

  9. T-Bone says:

    Many of the black families that came to the bay area during WWII are from the deep south. I’m sure many if not all of them knew of a victim lynching and distrust whites. This distrust has not diminished over the years because of police abuse. But this does not mean there are not dangerous people out there. The Oakland shooting of two cops is proof of that.

  10. Dave says:

    Wait, what??? I missed a “Free Mumia” protest? Damn!