A very anticlimactic ending to that much-ballyhooed February SFPD raid of Jefferson Square Park where 86 people were arrested: Only one suspect actually faced felony drug charges, and he was just acquitted of those charges.
Boy did new Mayor Daniel Lurie and then-SFPD Chief Bill Scott make a big to-do over their February 2025 late-night raid of Jefferson Square Park, which even had the international press covering the raid and referring to that park as “Zombie Park.” At first glance, the raid appeared to be a roaring success for Lurie and the SFPD, with a reported 86 arrests.
“I want everyone to hear this,” Lurie declared on Twitter the next morning. “If you are selling drugs in this city, we are coming after you.” The SFPD also released a slick video congratulating themselves on the operation.
Though about a week later, the SF Standard threw some cold water on that raid’s results, pointing out that only three people were actually detained on drug charges. The majority of the 86 arrested were just given a misdemeanor charge of "loitering to commit a controlled substance offense," and sent on their way. (In fairness, a handful of others did have outstanding warrants.) But that report noted that "When asked if it was prosecuting any suspects for drug dealing, the district attorney’s office provided just one name."
That name was Wyatt Johnson, a 29-year-old who was charged with felony possession of drugs with the intent to sell. And his trial just wrapped up. But the much-hyped bust did not produce any felony drug-dealing charges, as the SF Public Defender’s Office announced Monday that Johnson was found not guilty, even on the one single charge.
“At trial, he testified about his struggles with homelessness and addiction and how he has never engaged in drug sales,” the Public Defender’s Office said in a press release. “An expert on drug dependence also testified at trial that drug tolerances, much like alcohol tolerances, vary by person, and that the amount Johnson possessed could have reasonably been for his personal use."
Johnson was unanimously acquitted on October 22.
Johnson is reportedly now receiving treatment at a Sonoma County facility called Micah’s Hugs.
DRUG MARKET CRACKDOWN: SFPD and @SheriffSF operation led to roughly 40 arrests at MARKET & VAN NESS early this morning. This activity will not be tolerated and we will continue these operations for as long as it takes. pic.twitter.com/nAtQFymyl9
— San Francisco Police (@SFPD) March 20, 2025
Certainly there is no question that there are way too many people dealing fentanyl in San Francisco. But these highly publicized, “made for social media video” busts are proving to be a highly ineffective way of catching them and bringing them to justice. Consider the above “DRUG MARKET CRACKDOWN” that SFPD tooted its horn over just weeks after the Jefferson Square Park raid. That raid resulted in precisely zero criminal charges.
And around that same time of year, another raid produced the Chronicle headline “S.F. police swarm 16th and Mission, vow to shut down drug market and end ‘disorder and chaos.’” Yet that raid also produced only four arrests and a smattering of drugs.
Lurie and the police will often win the day with the headlines produced the morning after these raids. But they are not winning many drug convictions with them. And one wonders if the emphasis is getting actual, higher-level drug dealers off the streets, or if the emphasis is more creating the illusion that they’re getting drug dealers off the streets.
Image: SFPD via Vimeo
