Thursday, May 5th was the one-year anniversary of the death of Cammerin Boyd, who was shot and killed by San Francisco police in the Western Addition. Boyd, an African American disabled man, was gunned down by undercover officers while his hands were raised in the air surrendering. Various communities gatherered starting at 5pm, in Jefferson Square Park on Laguna between Eddy and Turk Streets, across from Larch Way, where Cammerin was killed. A brief press conference was held, and later a rally, followed by a march past the parking spot where the police shot Cammerin, and then through the Western Addition, to SF City Hall. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3

During the rally, uniformed and plainclothes officers were examining a van that was parked on Laguna, calling in to check if there was any reason they could cite the van's owner. When the Boyd family was packing up the rally materials in preparation for the march, they received notice that the Office of Citizen Complaints will be charging police officers who are responsible in Cammerin's death. The night before, at the police commission meeting, it had seemed as though the possibility of charging the officers was left to Police Chief Heather Fong. At some time during the rally, the car of Marylon Boyd, Cammerin's mother, was broken into. Report from Mesha Monge-Irizarry

After one year and seven more officer involved shootings in San Francisco, no one has been held accountable in the shootings or in the murder of Cammerin Boyd. Police accountability was required by the voters when they approved Proposition H in 2003. Family, friends, and the community are outraged at the lack of any real independent investigation and the refusal to prosecute the offending officers. The San Francisco district attorney's office in late April cleared police of criminal wrongdoing in the shooting, saying the 29-year-old fired first at officers and appeared to reach for his gun again before he was killed. The Boyd family and supporters feel that a Federal investigation is necessary and imperative. They are upset that although the police admit that Boyd did not have a gun in his hands when they fatally shot him, the police have still told the public that he was shooting at them.

The City and County of San Francisco's medical examiner stated "one cannot exclude that the hands were raised when the abdominal gunshot wound occurred." Cammerin Boyd's family says, "Such a declaration constitutes clear evidence of criminal conduct by the officer who shot Cammerin Boyd." Reports of witness intimidation and harassment by police of the residents who witnessed the murder, particularly targeting young African American men, still continue a year later after the incident.

Flyer | Cammerin Boyd website | More flyers on the Cammerin Boyd MSN group | Past Indybay Coverage: 6-month anniversary protest | May, 2004 story | More photos