According to an interview in a local print newspaper, Mayor Ed Lee has gone from terming the video of Mario Woods' shooting by five officers with the San Francisco Police Department as "upsetting" to a much stronger statement, and so far, his office hasn't denied his harsh words seemingly directed at the police department.

Lee, whose inauguration last month was drowned out by "nonstop chants" calling for the firing of SFPD Chief Greg Suhr and justice for Woods, discussed the shooting with a staffer of the Sun-Reporter, a 70-year-old weekly print newspaper that "serves the African-American community of San Francisco" and was founded by civil rights leader Dr. Carlton Goodlett.

In the interview, which was brought to our attention by SF Weekly, Lee tells reporter Gail Berkley that the video of the shooting "was horrifying; it was a firing squad...That's not the way we stop people."

As the Sun-Reporter doesn't appear to have a website, I've uploaded an image of the first page of the interview here. (I'm working to get the post-jump page and will add when I do.)

Both SFist and the Weekly contacted the mayor's press department Monday to confirm that he made these remarks. As of publication time, they have not responded to either of us.

Meanwhile, as the Mayor apparently turns up his rhetoric regarding the shooting, another politician is stepping hers back. According to the Chron's Matier and Ross, Supervisor Katy Tang, who joined her colleagues in their unanimous support of San Francisco's Mario Woods Day, did so only to avoid dissent and media attention.

According to an email sent to constituent Kathy Lewis and presumably then forwarded to M&R, Tang reportedly says that she is “not a fan of these nonbinding resolutions.”

In the Woods day case, she reportedly says that it was proposed "for the media attention...In fact, that’s usually the only reason why supervisors introduce resolutions.”

But, she appears to have told Lewis, if she had opposed the day, the debate she says would have ensued "would have have caused more media attention and more protests and more discord."

So she voted "yes" to get along, because otherwise, Tang wrote, "I would have become the next focus of the Black Lives Matter movement."

Which, sure, wouldn't be much fun for anyone. But given her fiery, profane response to FOX News last year, a showdown between Tang and the as-opposite-as-you-can-get-from-Fox movement might have been popcorn-worthy for us, at least.

Previously: Mayor: Video Of SFPD Officers Shooting Mario Woods 'Raised Questions'
Mayor Ed Lee's Inauguration Drowned Out By 'Nonstop Chants And Protests'
Former Police Officers Association Head Freaks Out Over 'Mario Woods Day'