#96Hours to Reclaim King's #Radical #Legacy #APTP #Last3Pecent #ReclaimSF #BlackBrownUnity Good Morning, #GregSuhr! pic.twitter.com/B95YfuCqGP
— Smedley Butler (@Smedley_Butler) January 17, 2016
A pair of dramatic protest events occurred in the early morning hours Sunday outside the homes of Mayor Ed Lee and Police Chief Greg Suhr, the latter involving fake dead bodies strewn across the street. The protests were part of the coordinated "96 Hours of Direct Action" reported on over the weekend, and both events called attention to the deaths of civilians at the hands of police.
As the Examiner reports, about 50 people from "Asians for Black Lives and other community activist groups" arrived at Mayor Lee's home on Hamerton Avenue in Glen Park, setting up a "breakfast table" outside at 6 a.m. and inviting the mayor to sit down with them for breakfast. They said they were reclaiming the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, and pushing Lee and Suhr to terminate the five officers involved in the December 2 shooting of Mario Woods, as well as officers involved in the deaths of Alex Nieto and Amilcar Perez-Lopez. Additionally they were asking for city budgets to be reallocated for "affordable housing for black and brown people."
One protester tried to approach Lee's front door to knock on it and invite him out, but was turned away by police. There were reportedly a dozen SFPD officers guarding the home.
For continued updates on today's #WakeUpEdLee action, follow https://t.co/bSbM5KrOnd + @Asians4BlkLives #ReclaimMLK pic.twitter.com/PKU3hsAGyS
— Sammie Ablaza Wills (@FTWSammie) January 17, 2016
At least 12 SFPD officers guarding @mayoredlee's house while @Asians4BlkLives #WakeUpEdLee pic.twitter.com/MzJIHxtZov
— Stacy Suh (@stacysuh) January 17, 2016
Outside Mayor Ed Lee's home, where #ReclaimMLK protesters are chained up to a table pic.twitter.com/cuvSN8RhC6
— Michael Barba (@mdbarba) January 17, 2016
Outside officer Suhr's home in Forest Hill, protesters showed up earlier on Sunday morning with "a small row of effigies" as the Chronicle reports, lining the bagged "bodies" on the street. They also hung what appeared to be bloody clothing around around the entrance gate with a sign that read "SFPD's Dirty Laundry." This all happened at 4:15 a.m.
#96Hours to Reclaim King's #Radical #Legacy #APTP #Last3Pecent #ReclaimSF #BlackBrownUnity Good Morning, #GregSuhr! pic.twitter.com/lWSXdBuAL4
— Smedley Butler (@Smedley_Butler) January 17, 2016
Neither Lee nor Suhr appeared to address protesters.
The actions were followed by a protest at SFO that included a march through the International Terminal, and a recitation of names of individuals killed by police, as KTVU reports.
Previously: Witness In Alex Nieto Civil Rights Trial To Say He Had Hands In His Pockets When Police Shot Him