Standing atop Bernal Hill, at the spot where Alejandro “Alex” Nieto was killed by SFPD gunfire six months ago, Benjamin Bac Sierra held the 33-page medical examiner’s report.
“Not death by natural causes,” said Sierra, a spokesman for the Nieto family and a member of the Justice for Alex Nieto Committee. “Not death by accident. Not death by suicide. This is a homicide.”
On Friday Sept. 12, the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office released its findings on the death of Nieto, who was killed on March 21. Shortly after receiving the document, Nieto’s family and their supporters convened a press conference in front of the Alex Nieto memorial atop Bernal Hill to announce that the report had ruled “homicide” as the official cause of death.
Although much speculation remains as to the exact number of bullets fired and whether he was shot while he lay on the ground, the report found that Nieto received 14-15 bullet entry wounds that passed in both “upward” and “downward” directions all along his body–from his legs to his head.
“Let’s call it what it is,” said Sierra. “If the medical examiner’s report says that Alex Nieto was shot by both a downward and upward trajectory of bullets, let’s call it what it seems to be: a homicide aka murder.”
The report arrived after an unusually long delay that has frustrated family, friends, and activists. As a result, Nieto’s supporters have been further outraged over how the city has handled this case.
“Never have we known for the department to have lagged so long in getting a report together,” said Roberto Hernandez, a local activist and friend of Nieto’s family. “It’s a matter of distrust. This family is a victim of the city and county of San Francisco.”
The Nieto family had already filed a civil lawsuit against the city in order to expedite the investigation into the death. Now, because of the medical examiner’s ruling, the family feels that they have cause to press criminal charges against the officers involved in the shooting, none of whom have yet been named by the SFPD.
“Because this seems to be an intentional sabotage to our justice laws, we hereby emphatically request that the United States Federal Department of Justice thoroughly investigates this awful homicide of an innocent individual,” Sierra said.
The report also mentions, however, that the medical examiner received San Francisco General Hospital records indicating that Nieto had a history of mental disturbance, including, the report stated, that “in 2011 [Nieto] was off medications and placed on a 5150 [or 72-hour] hold for attempting to burn his parents’ house down.”
Nieto’s supporters have dismissed this information as an attempt to justify the SFPD’s actions by portraying Nieto as an unstable, potentially dangerous individual.
“No evidence whatsoever has been brought forth that police knew anything prior to killing Alex that he had any past history regarding mental health,” said Sierra. “The city apparatus continues to blatantly push forward information to negatively assassinate Alex’s character when the focus should remain on the killing of an innocent, law-abiding man who had never been arrested in his entire life.”
The Nieto family and supporters expressed hope during the press conference that the report will help raise more awareness for Nieto’s case and for officer-involved shootings across the country.
“We are asking that the community be a witness now to how San Francisco is attempting to give us a hoodwink,” said Sierra. “Do not trust the San Francisco machinery to tell you the truth. We as a community can provide more truth than they ever can.”