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Indybay Feature

The Mission (SF) Marches, Rallies for Justice for Amilcar Perez-Lopez

by Anti Police-Terror Project
On April 24, neighbors for Justice for Amilcar held a vigil and march in honor of Amilcar Perez-Lopez, killed by SFPD on February 26, 2015.
800_amilcar_oreo_banner_to_use.jpg-large
Friday evening, concerned community members organized a vigil, march, and rally calling for justice in the state-killing of Amilcar Perez-Lopez. Shot six times in the back, once in the head by San Francisco Police Department, Amilcar was remembered and honored by all present as an honest, hard-working man. Friends, neighbors, and concerned individuals from throughout the Bay gathered at the site of the state-killing on Folsom street between 24th street and 25th street for a moving vigil. After the vigil, the nearly crowd of nearly 200 marched to the Mission Police District for a rally and die-in. The march was led by powerful, native Aztec dancers in ceremonial costume. Organized by the Justice for Amilcar committee, the march included members of the Mission faith community, Supervisor Dave Campos, Homies Organizing the Mission to Empower Youth (HOMEY), and the San Francisco Organizing Project/Peninsula Interfaith Action (SFOP/PIA).

The action, held in the historic yet gentrifying Mission district, came on the heels of a press-conference in which the results of an independent autopsy were announced to the public. Conducted by the Sonoma County coroners office, the autopsy revealed disturbing conflicts in the story originally given by SFPD and Police Chief Greg Suhr. The police chief stated on March 2nd during a town-hall that Amilcar charged at the police with a knife raised. This story, though always contradicted by witnesses, was reprinted and published as fact by news outlets throughout the bay area. The press conference also announced the lawsuit filed by the parents of Amilcar against SFPD for their use of excessive, deadly force against their son. The lawsuit also charges SFPD with the failure to appropriately train, discipline, and supervise officers Tiffe and Reboldi.

Amilcar Perez-Lopez is a victim of police-terror, but he is also facing eviction – a fate he shares with people of color throughout the Mission and San Francisco. Speakers at the march connected the threat of eviction with the criminalization of black and brown people in San Francisco. Called by many the “bookends of gentrification,” SFPD has a deep history of criminalizing the presence of people of color, effectively pushing them out of the community they call home. While on Mission St, the march passed the dozens of restaurants patronized by the mostly white, young people who are the tenants that replace working class folks like Amilcar.

Please visit http://justice4amilcar.org/ for up-to-date information regarding the case of Amilcar Perez-Lopez.

Hundreds of photos of all the community response to the death of Amilcar can be found on the Justice 4 Amilcar Perez-Lopez facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/353672264838421/

Hashtags for the event:
#Justice4Amilcar
#6shots2theback
#JusticeForAmilcar
#AmilcarPerezLopez
#SFPDCoverUp

To contact author email evanpmatthews [at] gmail.com or leave a comment.

§March led by native Aztec dancers in ceremonial dress.
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_1.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Aztec drummer leads the march through the Mission (SF)
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_drummer.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Frank Lara of SF ANSWER Coalition: "Six shots to the back, we say fight back!"
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_frank_lara.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Being Latino should not be a death sentence.
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_latino_death.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Crowd of nearly 200 marches through the Mission (SF)
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_march.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Crowd gathers in front of Mission Police Station
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_at_mission_police.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Pastor Michael McBride side-by-side with the autopsy results.
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_mcbride_autospy.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§#6shots2theback
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_back_autopsy.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Crowd demands #JusticeForAmilcar
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_crowd_pd.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Names of other victims of police terror in chalk in front of Mission PD.
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_oshaine.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Names of other victims of police terror in chalk in front of Mission PD.
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_lupe.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Names of other victims of police terror in chalk in front of Mission PD.
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_yuvette.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Names of other victims of police terror in chalk in front of Mission PD.
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_phillip.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Names of other victims of police terror in chalk in front of Mission PD.
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_alex.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Racist Police Enforce Gentrification
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_gent.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
§Die-in for 2 minutes; Amilcar laid in street for 2 hours.
by Anti Police-Terror Project
800_amilcar_diein.jpg-large
(photo by Evan P. Matthews)
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Antoinette Gaggero
Sun, Apr 26, 2015 12:45AM
daniela
Sat, Apr 25, 2015 4:06PM
daniela
Sat, Apr 25, 2015 4:04PM
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