The second — or, including his interim term, the third, but who's counting — inauguration of Mayor Ed Lee at City Hall tomorrow may also usher in a new era of protest in San Francisco.
The Justice for Mario Woods Coalition, a group supported by the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 comprised of representatives from 17 local organizations like Black Lives Matter and Occupy SF has designs to "crash" the event, as Hoodline notes. There, the group will call once again for the Mayor to hold his San Francisco Police Department accountable for the killing of Mario Woods, specifically by firing Department Chief Greg Suhr.
Woods, a 26-year old black man, was shot to death by five officers in the Bayview last month. Discrepancy between bystander video and the department's seeming justification for using force has led many, including Lee and Suhr, to call for reform. However, Lee has now spoken further on the subject, as has Suhr, and each has made clear the same position: Suhr will stay put.
As of the end of last year, Suhr sought a US Department of Justice review for his department, and the Chronicle reports that Lee recently issued a memo to the Board of Supervisors with further calls for SFPD changes including an order that the SFPD enroll in President Obama’s Police Data Initiative.
“It is really a key element of our ability to be a successful city, to make sure we speak to our African American community in a way that breeds even more trust,” said Lee “For us to get to a point where we really have a practice and a policy that lethal force is the last resort, we have to get more dialogue, we have to get more African Americans involved in the Police Department, we have to make sure that they can go to other agencies and they know what we’re doing, and I need to be out there making sure beyond all this that everything I’m doing is transparent as well.”
When it comes to firing Suhr, Lee is indeed staunchly opposed. “We’re not there," said Lee. "We’re in disagreement.. “What we’re doing now goes beyond this chief... It goes to how we view public safety, how we operate as a city. This cannot just be a demand about this chief.”
Suhr now tells SF Weekly that though he sees bias within his department he hopes to address it head on. Asked outright, he told the Weekly that "at some point [the Chief of Police] is going to be somebody's else's job. But not now." Of the killing, said Suhr "I don't think there's any arguing — when you see the video of Mario Woods's shooting, you wouldn't be normal if that wasn't upsetting," he said. "Whether you were a police officer or not, whether you were the chief or not."
Regarding Suhr's move to include the Department of Justice, community activist Joe Marshall says, "It's unprecedented... I don't know, in the history of police, a department actually calling in the DOJ to investigate." He's also in agreement with Lee on leaving Suhr in charge. "That's the easy thing to do — fire the coach... Let's say he's a sacrificial lamb. Then what? Hiring a new chief would take four to six months. That would take all of our time — and then we wouldn't be able to vote on reform. And then we might not find anyone better!"
Related: SFPD Chief Seeks Review Of Force By US Department Of Justice
Mayor Ed Lee's Third Inauguration Ceremony Clouded By Allegations Of Corruption, Isolation