REPOST
Rioting is not new to San Francisco. Growing up, my mother Anne heard about labor strikes that became violent[1]. She was alive when people died in the riot that erupted at the World War II V-J Day celebrations[2]. The late 1960s and early 1970s were marred with constant protesting, rioting and sit-ins as citizens, mostly students, vented their frustration over the Vietnam War. But since 1966, there have been three San Francisco riots that stemmed from racial injustice and resulted in curfews. The first such incident occurred on September 27, 1966 when Matthew Johnson, a 16-year old black man, was shot and killed by a white police officer in Hunters Point as Johnson ran away after a suspected car theft. Public outrage escalated into a 128 hour riot in Hunter’s Point that led to smashed windows, thrown bottles and gunfire. Governor Edmund Brown called a State of Emergency and sent the National Guard to patrol the city. A curfew was issued, but only for residents of the Hunters Point and Fillmore districts (black neighborhoods). 359 arrests were made, mostly for curfew violations, and 51 people were injured. Mayor John Shelley later said: “Members of our community who are Negroes are the victims of almost unendurable frustration. Some are consumed with almost uncontainable fury because of the fact that they do not have the same economic and social opportunities that are taken for granted by our fellow citizens.” The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce pledged to hire 2,000 black youths though by June the following year only 19 positions had been filled.
On April 29, 1992 a 9:00 curfew was issued in San Francisco following the acquittal of four white Los Angeles police officers who were caught on tape and subsequently charged with the unlawful beating of Rodney King during a routine traffic stop. 700 officers were dispatched into San Francisco and 1,100 arrests were made in one day. Approximately 100 businesses were damaged.
And then on May 30, 2020 protests once again erupted in the City after video emerged of George Floyd dying as a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck. When the video was made public, 1,000 protestors gathered at the UN Plaza in front of San Francisco City Hall. By 7:30pm additional protestors gathered and a crowd marched down Market Street. As the evening progressed, stores surrounding Union Square were looted and vandalized. On Sunday, May 31st Mayor London Breed announced an 8pm curfew for two nights. In the end, 30 businesses were damaged, and 10 people were arrested. Relatively peaceful protests continued for weeks. On April 20, 2021, the Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, was convicted by a jury of murder.
[1] 1934 Longshoreman strike: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3513
[2] V-J Day Riot: see story coming August 15th
