top
San Francisco
San Francisco
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Does "security" justify violence?

by Tenderloin Turtle
In Haight-Ashbury, bystander watches security guard drive a man away from public sidewalk in front of RJ coffeehouse.
SF: "Rockin Java" really rocks.
...............................................................


SAN FRANCISCO, Haight-Ashbury (former "hippie" district), Monday, 5 January 2004, circa 3:45pm to 4pm:
As I walk past Rockin Java Coffee House (1821 Haight, SF 94117), I notice two men standing face-to-face, almost nose-to-nose, confronting. One is a tall young muscular white man, apparently the RJ security guard. The other is shorter and darker, possibly Latino, possibly drunk. The tall guy seems angry, while the short guy seems relatively passive. The guard repeatedly orders the short guy to get away from the "shop". I assume the short guy has previously been expelled from the cofeehouse, yet persists in hanging out on the adjacent sidewalk. Does the coffeehouse think it owns the sidewalk?
The guard repeatedly taunts the intruder, challenging him to fight. The short guy stands there. Eventually the guard, apparently feeling impatient, punches the short guy in the face. Even this blow isn't quite enough to start the desired fight, at least not yet. So the guard continues taunting the guy, calling him a "pussy" because he isn't fighting.
Eventually a real rumble gets going, suitable for cinema, with much rolling around on the sidewalk. Most bystanders seem to view this as free entertainment, like watching two male dogs fighting. One man yells, "I'm putting my money on the tall guy!"
Eventually the fight ends, with no visible damage. Again the men confront each other, with the guard demanding that the short guy leave. The guy's jacket is on the ground, and the angry guard stands between it and him. Eventually the guy agrees to leave, if he can take his jacket. The guard picks it up and throws it at him. The guy walks west on Haight, toward Golden Gate Park.
Does a San Francisco business license include the privilege of beating pedestrians who loiter, without a merchant's permission, upon the adjacent public sidewalk? Does the word "security" grant impunity for illegal violence?
Will the San Francisco police protect the coffeehouse and its professional bully? Will they pretend the whole incident was "mutual combat", from start to finish? Or will they claim the guard felt physically threatened by the short guy standing there, and hence was "forced" to punch him in the face?
I trust that SF's Brown-Newsom police force will do whatever it must, regardless of any inconvenient laws, to ensure that the Haight will be "business-friendly".

-- Tortuga Bi Liberty ("Tenderloin Turtle"),
San Francisco
................
Add Your Comments
Listed below are the latest comments about this post.
These comments are submitted anonymously by website visitors.
TITLE
AUTHOR
DATE
volunteer
Tue, Jan 6, 2004 11:43AM
citizen
Tue, Jan 6, 2004 10:12AM
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$260.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network