Community activists outraged by recent killings by San Francisco police officers say they will take a dramatic step in their efforts to force change: a hunger strike.
Starting Thursday, a small group led by Ilyich Sato, who is also known as the rapper Equipto, plan to stand in front of the Police Department’s Mission Station and refuse to eat until either Police Chief Greg Suhr or Mayor Ed Lee resigns.
“We can no longer watch our community be targeted and murdered,” he said in a Facebook post. “We can no longer support a department that is wrought with corruption, criminal behavior, racial profiling and murder.”
Suhr and Lee have said they are committed to seeking reforms that reduce police use of force and build police-community relations, though critics want changes to be mandated.
Members of the so-called Frisco Five, the group that held a 17-day hunger strike, were still in the hospital on Monday getting reaccustomed to food.
About 150 activists circled the sidewalk in front of San Francisco City Hall for hours Monday, once again demanding Police Chief Greg Suhr step down over recent officer-involved shootings and a slew of racist and homophobic text messages exchanged among officers.