San Francisco Police Seeking the Public’s Assistance in Identifying Suspects Who Assaulted Officers During Protest March 20-065
On June 28, 2020, San Francisco Police officers from various SFPD Stations and Units were assigned to work several events in the Northern, Tenderloin and Mission Districts. Many of these events involved groups that set out on foot and in motorized vehicles as they moved about the City.
The mission of the SFPD officers assigned to these events was to protect life and property, to manage pedestrian and traffic flow, maintain peace and order and to facilitate the peaceful expression of First Amendment rights of those gathered.
Throughout the day, officers working these various protests had bottles, rocks, and paint thrown at them. Demonstrators also vandalized Mission Police Station by throwing paint on the building.
At approximately 3:10 PM, a group of uniformed officers departed Mission Police Station in a white van. When the officers reached Valencia and 18th Streets, unidentified subjects on motorcycles blocked the southbound traffic lanes. Numerous persons rushed over and stepped in front of the van while others walked behind the van and began kicking and striking the vehicle. Officers exited the van and attempted to clear a path through the hostile crowd so the van could leave the area. Believing they had obtained compliance from the crowd, the officers got back in the van and attempted to drive away.
Members of the crowd again began striking the van and sprayed paint on the vehicle. The officers exited the van a second time and formed a line in order to clear a path through the crowd. As they did so, officers were struck with wooden signs and makeshift wooden shields. One of the van’s tires was punctured by an undetermined edged weapon.
An officer was sprayed in the face with a substance that caused burning in his eyes. The substance was later determined to be spray-paint. The same officer reported that a rioter attempted to disarm him by pulling on his baton from behind.
As the officers were reentering the van to leave the area, they were struck by projectiles thrown from the crowd. An unidentified suspect used a skateboard to smash the van’s right rear window. A second suspect attempted to break the left rear window with a skateboard but was unsuccessful.
Several officers sustained minor injuries.
"Even amidst recent protests that were unsparing in their criticism of our law enforcement profession, the vast majority of demonstrators in San Francisco showed respect for the SFPD officers who are sworn to protect their safety and First Amendment rights and throughout these events, SFPD officers have demonstrated tremendous professionalism and restraint," said Chief of Police Bill Scott. "But Sunday afternoon's vicious assaults on police officers stand in stark contrast to those laudable San Francisco values. The individuals who initiated the attacks on Sunday acted maliciously and deliberately to injure police officers and to damage police department property. Accordingly, I directed our Special Investigations Division to conduct a thorough investigation to identify offenders so that we may aggressively pursue their prosecution. San Francisco has for years been a world-renowned voice for peaceful, progressive change. It has never been a City that tolerates violence against members of their police department, and it isn't now. I’m asking that anyone in the community with information regarding this incident come forward and work with investigators.”
The San Francisco Police Department, through its Special Investigations Division, has been conducting an investigation into this incident since Sunday and refrained from earlier public statements so that sufficient progress could be made on it.
Anyone with information, cell phone photos or video is asked to call the SFPD Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. You may remain anonymous.