Mayor Breed's office condemns Dolores Park hill bomb, defends SFPD
In a statement to SFGATE, the office of San Francisco Mayor London Breed condemned Saturday’s “hill bomb” event in the Mission and defended the San Francisco Police Department, which arrested more than 100 people, including 81 minors.
The unsanctioned, impromptu “hill bomb,” a semiregular event where skaters gather and travel at high speeds down Dolores Street, has been the subject of public safety concerns for a number of years — especially after reports of fights and serious accidents, including a fatal collision with a cyclist in 2020.
This year’s hill bomb included reports of fireworks being set off and vandalism of Muni buses/light rail. But the heavy-handed response from SFPD — more than 100 officers showed up, many in riot gear, according to Mission Local — has drawn criticism for targeting teenagers and inflaming the situation, rather than de-escalating it.
“To go after teenagers — it is immoral, it is wrong, and there needs to be accountability,” Kevin Ortiz, co-president of the San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club, said at a rally reported on by Mission Local. The Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club released a statement that it was “outraged by the large scale show of force by police in military gear against teenagers at Dolores Park,” and Supervisor Dean Preston wrote that he was “at a loss to explain this abuse of power, waste of money, and trauma inflicted on our young people.”
SFGATE reached out to Breed on Monday, asking her whether she felt the large police presence at Dolores Park was an appropriate use of department resources, whether she felt it was appropriate for police to detain and arrest at least 81 minors, and what the mayor’s response was to parents who are upset about how SFPD treated their children into the early-morning hours on Sunday (attendees alleged being zip-tied for hours in the cold, in some cases urinating themselves because they couldn’t use the restroom).
The mayor’s office sent back a statement that did not directly answer SFGATE’s questions.
“This was an unpermitted event that has led to serious problems in the past, including property destruction and physical injury,” a spokesperson wrote. “The last time it was held, someone died. In San Francisco, we welcome public events that are conducted safely. This event was not that. People assaulted police officers, set fires, and vandalized property, including Muni vehicles. Individuals on Saturday were arrested over an hour after they were ordered to disperse by the Police and as people continued to destroy property. No one at this event was arrested for skateboarding.”
SFGATE also sent a similar list of questions to Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, whose district includes Dolores Park. As of Monday afternoon, Mandelman had not responded.
SFPD referred to Saturday’s hill bomb as a “riot.” In a statement Sunday, police Chief Bill Scott wrote, “This dangerous and unlawful behavior put members of the public and our officers at risk of serious injury or worse. This behavior will not be tolerated in our city and I thank our officers for taking action to hold those accountable who brazenly engaged in reckless and dangerous behavior and violated the law. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries.”
Source: SFGATE
