Organizers of this year's Trans March say that the events that unfolded during and after the march were an example of clear police overreach, and they are seeking policy change from city leaders as well as the dropping of charges against four individuals.
Trans March organizers and supporters rallied at San Francisco City Hall Monday seeking a meeting with city leaders, and protesting what they say was police brutality and an overreaction by police to some acts of vandalism. They are also demanding that charges be dropped against four individuals, who were charged earlier this month with vandalism, resisting or obstructing arrest, possession of graffiti tools — and one individual was charged with battery on a peace officer.
March organizers object to the nature of the police response, which included police in riot gear and live weapons. And they say that police failed to protect them from aggressive drivers who tried to plow into marchers.
The march's police liaison, Renée Coe, tells KTVU, "A friend of mine was hit by a car when a driver tried to race through a gap in the march. Dozens of drivers screamed and honked and some even got out to threaten and intimidate us."
"What happened at Turk and Taylor this year, at the end of Trans March, I don’t ever want to see happen again," said Breonna McCree, co-executive director of the Transgender District, per KRON4. "Trans people were brutalized; they were scared; they were traumatized."
Organizers also said in a statement that police had driven a squad car into the crowd, thrown "peaceful participants" to the ground and pepper-sprayed them, all on a day meant to be full of "trans joy and support."
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, in announcing charges earlier this month, described surveillance evidence of vandalism at eight separate locations along the march route, and one suspect, 23-year-old Daniel Macias-Gomez, is charged with spitting in the face of a police officer. In at least one instance, the historic Misión San Francisco de Asís, aka "the old Mission Dolores" chapel, was vandalized with red spray paint.
Police also said that when officers moved in to arrest the vandalism suspects at the end of the march, "other individuals surrounded and obstructed the officers in an attempt to free the vandalism suspects." And, police said, several individuals climbed atop an SFPD vehicle and tried to pry a door open.
As ABC 7 reports, nothing was settled at Monday's City Hall meeting with organizers and the mayor, but city officials agreed to commit to another meeting.
The organizers are demanding three things: that all charges be dropped against the four suspects, that the city "invest in community safety instead of expanding policing," and that the city replace the police presence at next year's march with civilian traffic management personnel.
One march organizer, Rosa Astra, tells ABC 7 that the community is "rightfully outraged by this display of police brutality." Astra added, "I cannot imagine the mentality of someone who positions themselves as being responsible for public safety deciding that an appropriate response to spray paint is to drive vehicles into a crowd full of people and point guns at them."
The mayor's office issued a vague statement to KRON4 saying, "We invited trans community leaders and city leaders to City Hall today to initiate a series of conversations that will take us towards safety and visibility for our transgender community in San Francisco."
Previously: Charges Filed In Pride Weekend Shooting and Stabbing Incidents, Trans March Vandalism
Top image: Photo by Deja Whitney/Instagram
