A fellow in a suit got shoved and shouted at by some APEC protesters and then apparently cold-cocked one of them, while a nearby China-related protest has police busy preventing fights among demonstrators.
We knew there would be protests galore surrounding APEC proceedings near the Moscone Center, and the demonstrators have not disappointed. We noted this morning that a big demonstration at Fifth and Market streets forced Muni reroutes, and some APEC attendees needed police escorts to enter the Moscone. And now the Chronicle brings the news that a protester was punched in the face Wednesday morning, and the guy doing the punching reportedly said that he was an APEC volunteer.
(He ended up in handcuffs, so probably no volunteer shift for him today.)
I witnessed APEC protesters block/shove a man with badge from exiting security area. Woman protester yelled at him for supporting "genocide," he punched her in the face and was handcuffed https://t.co/AB0wJYEduj
— Roland Li (@rolandlisf) November 15, 2023
SFPD said they arrested a person for assault at same time/location pic.twitter.com/i6jr2nUyJi
The Chronicle’s Roland Li describes him as “a man with a badge” (a lanyard is visible), and that paper’s coverage notes he described himself as a volunteer when asking police for directions through the closures so he could get to his shift. The above video shows him being shoved by protesters. While he’s asking police for directions, a woman says to him “Get out! Shame!” and “People over profits.”
We don’t actually see the punch, but after a cut in the video we see that same woman lying on the ground, and a whole bunch of officers heading in the suited man’s direction as he walks off. He is eventually handcuffed. The Chronicle’s Li confirms that “SFPD said they arrested a person for assault at (the) same time/location.”
Police are having trouble controlling the massive crowd on Market and Third Streets.
— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) November 15, 2023
Muni is rerouting the inbound 30 and 45 buses.
📹: @aldot29 pic.twitter.com/xv78Sf1zuY
But in terms of violent outbreaks, a nearby China-related protest may be the one to watch. The video above from just before 3 p.m. shows that demonstration has turned into something of a mosh pit, with supporters of China and Tibet clashing with one another. The Chronicle’s latest on that notes that “Already people have been shoved to the ground, with some protesters stomping on Chinese flags. Police are having trouble controlling the massive crowd.”
The inbound 30-Stockton and 45-Union lines were rerouted, but Muni says they’re back to their routes, though those routes are of course still modified because of APEC.
Image: @devahaz via Twitter
