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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2015
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MEDIA CONTACT
Saira Hussain, Advancing Justice - ALC
408-828-7777
Sandy Valenciano, CIYJA
925-642-8468
Kitzia Esteva, Causa Justa::Just Cause
415-235-01717
(numbers are not for publication)
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FREE SF coalition condemns murder of Mario Woods, urges end to police violence
San Francisco, CA -- As anger over the police shooting of Mario Woods continues to grow, the FREE SF coalition -- including Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus, ASPIRE, California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance, Causa Justa::Just Cause, California Immigrant Policy Center, Centro Legal de la Raza (Oakland), Chinese for Affirmative Action, Dolores Street Community Services, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, La Raza Centro Legal, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Pangea Legal Services, SFOP PIA (Faith in Action) -- released the following statement:
We are outraged by the police killing of 26-year-old Mario Woods in the Bayview District last week. Video of the shooting, which shows San Francisco Police Department officers firing numerous rounds at close range, has shocked San Franciscans and people across the nation.
The killing of people of color - and especially Black people - at the hands of law enforcement is a grave national crisis, and this tragic case is further proof that San Francisco is no exception. At a time when African American community members make up a tragically diminishing percent of San Francisco's overall population - but about half of the city's jail population - it is clear that deep structural change is urgently needed.
Further, we are profoundly troubled by the apparent lack of transparency and truthfulness in police accounts to date of the shooting. We urge city leaders to take all necessary steps to ensure accountability and justice in this shooting and others.
FREE SF stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter Bay Area and all who are fighting to put an end to police violence against communities of color.
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Free SF (Full Rights, Empowerment, and Equality - San Francisco) is a coalition of organizations advocating for community safety, transformative justice, immigrant rights, and self-determination. We strive to stop deportations and end mass incarceration. We use our diverse skills and organizational expertise along with our community power to advocate for policies to uphold our values of equality, safety, and justice in the City and County of San Francisco. We focus on immigrant rights, language access, and a reorientation of the criminal justice system towards restorative and transformative justice that will keep all of our communities safer.
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