HAVE YOU SEEN ANYTHING? Secong flyering in the SF Mission, Justice4Big O

"HAVE YOU SEEN ANYTHING" ?
Second Justice4BigO's Family Flyering in SF Mission District
(mesha Monge-Irizarry, Idriss Stelley Foundation)

(for background on Oliver Lefiti, AKA "Big O" shameful killing by SFPD, 6-24-06
please log onto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/justice4BigO/

This is the second PD murder of a Samoan Warrior in SF in the past 18 years
Prior, they shot and killed a severely mentally challenged 13 yr. Samoan boy with Down Syndrome who was playing with a plastic water gun...
(as seen in Poor Magazine, 1988 http://www.poormagazine.com/index.cfm?L1=news&story=193
Disabled men of color who have been under attack! ** 1988 Tony (G.) a 13-year-old Samoan boy with Down syndrome was walking home with a toy gun. SFPD thought the gun was real so they shot and killed him".

Big O has been demonized in the corporate press, portrayed as a "suspected drug dealer", although no weapons or drugs were found at the scene (why so many bullets in the back if Big O was "charging officers with his car"? A witness was seen rushed out of the scene in handcuffs...). No community/PD liaison has been activated for the first 2 weeks to give answers to his family, who courageously stepped up to the plate and demands Justice.
Big O was a reformed man who was active in his community, deterring the Youth from street life.

On Friday, July 21, at 6 PM, family, friends and supporters of Justice4BigO massively gathered on Capp Street between 15th and 16th Street in SF Mission District, distributing flyers in yet another attempt to find witnesses to Gentle Giant Big O's shameful killing by SFPD

Many young Samoan kids courageously approached onlookers and Walgreens shoppers, wearing Big O Tshirts "This is my uncle ! Have you seen what happened to him?" while Wendee Timbreza, Big O's wife exhorted me : "Please take pictures of the kids ! This is about them and what could happen to them !"
Also present were:
John Nauer of the Asian Pacific Islanders Community Policing Board and AIGA1, Francisco Dacosta from Environmental Justice,
Khalil Sullivan, brother of Asa Sullivan killed by SFPD on 6-6-06,
Marlon Crump, PD Victim/survivor (Oct 05) and client of ISF,
and "Big Mike" Lefiti, Big O's brother.

Some Chris Daly Campaign for Supervisor reelection, District 6, who were doing outreach by 16th St. Bart Station briefly approached the Lefiti Family, but not Chris, "because the incident is being investigated in my district" and he could not get directly involved with the flyering.

Small miracle: at the event the family of Big O did run into 2 Chicano brothers who saw what happened, but we did not take pictures or statements to protect their safety. I talked to a Caucasian woman, Jeanie, mother of two Black preteens, 11 and 13, on Capp Street, who heard the shots through her window... and hit the floor: "I protected my children, I worry about them all the time, what if THEY get shot by the police?

Soon the contingent spread all the way to Mission and 24th Street, to let the Mission folks know of Big O's execution and still trying to find additional witnesses. A group of older Latinos on 15th Street, sitting by their front door, fighting the sizzling heat with sodas, were not empathetic and bluntly stated to me in Spanish: " The cops are doing their jobs, a dangerous job. We can get shot anytime just for wearing red clothing around here ! Gangsters got to go!", while others commented: "They (PD) are out to get activists. Especially these who used to be in the life before and who are doing the right thing now. They don't want to violence to stop, the violence justify their presence and their killings!". Brother Jerry, a Black O.G. leaving Capp and 16th Streets corner, stated: "I used to bang myself, they tried to get me so many times. Even more so now that I redeemed myself. Keep up the fight !". Three Young Latinos, blasting KMEL in their low riding red Mustang asked for extra flyers "We knowing ! Its real bad around here ! We'll call you if we find out anything!"

By 7 PM, the contingent slowly dispersed, hugging each other for strength and perseverance. One brother told me: "This way of doing things is unusual for us. Everything usually gets handled within the "Family" (Samoan culture). We don't male noise, we take care of stuff among ourselves".

Samoan Brothers and Sisters, stereotyped as uneducated and brutal, constantly targeted and criminalized because of their size, do not "make noise", seeking solace in the Christian faith, law abiding, respectful of the authorities. To a point, that is shameful killing of an innocent brother, father, worker, friend, loved and respected by the Youth and his community.

Wendee and Big Mike don't play. Neither does the family of Asa Sullivan, killed by SFPD hardly 12 days before Bog O's assassination by "peace Officers". They will get justice!

For more background on ASA's case please log onto
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/justice4ASA/
_____________________________________________________________________
Excerpt from Big O Flyer, CONTACT INFO:

Rest In Paradise, Brother Big O...

Sunrise: August 8, 1969
Sunset : June 25, 2006

Our Loved One, Big O, was shot and killed by SFPD on Capp Street between 15th &16th Street, San Francisco on Saturday 6-24-06

We are asking for the help of our community. If anyone witnessed this terrible tragedy or has any information about this incident, please contact us:

Mike Lefiti (Big O's Brother)
(415) 359-4107

Wendee Timbreza (Big O's Wife)
(650) 271-0018

WE are asking the community to reach out and help us find answers... Losing a Loved One is unspeakable, but not knowing HOW or WHY does not allow us any closure. We need to let Big O rest in Paradise ! We need for Justice to prevail ! If this could happen to your family, then this could happen to yours, PLEASE HELP...
_____________________________________________________________________

REPORT POLICE BRUTALITY !
Idriss Stelley Foundation Bilingual Spa. Hotline:
(415) 595-8251
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeo9ewi/idrissstelleyfoundation/