Protesters Demonstrate Against San Mateo Co. DA Decision to Not Prosecute for Taser Death

Protesters responded immediately to an announcement by the San Mateo County District Attorney that his office would not indict sheriff's deputies involved in an innocent man's murder by taser. They chanted, sang, and spoke out, demanding an investigation into Chinedu Okobi's death by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and the establishment of a permanent civilian oversight committee to review the actions of the San Mateo county sheriff's office.

Most of the several dozen demonstrators carried signs during the one and a half hour event, some displaying them to traffic passing on El Camino Real, stepping into the street to do so. “Recall Wagstaffe” was one sign. “SM DA Condones Murder” read another. Most signs said simply “Justice for Chinedu.”

The protesters gathered on the site where Okobi was murdered, at 1400 El Camino Real in Millbrae. Some of the demonstrators were friends of 36 year old Chinedu Okobi, some were people who lived in the neighborhood where he was killed, while others were from organizations that have been involved since 2018 in the fight for justice, including Justice4Chinedu, the Raging Grannies Action League, San Mateo and San Francisco chapters of Democratic Socialists of America, and the North Peninsula Chapter of the ACLU. Demonstrators agreed with a statement the Northern California arm of the ACLU released on Friday saying that the incident had all the earmarks of racial profiling.