[su_heading size=”20″ align=”left”]Bayview honors memory of Mario Woods, police honor themselves[/su_heading]
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The skirling noise of a police whistle filled the air on the morning of July 22, splitting the stillness as attendees bowed their heads for a moment of silence.
Approximately 70 San Francisco residents and police officers—both on and off duty—gathered at the Golden Gate Yacht Club in the Marina to remember officers killed in the line of duty.
“Today’s event is to honor and remember those police officers and those firefighters who have put their lives on the line and who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their fellow man,” said Martin Halloran, president of the San Francisco Police Officer’s Association (POA).
Names of deceased officers from San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose’s police departments were read aloud, before Craig Floyd, president and CEO of the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, addressed the mostly white audience.
“Wake up America, our police officers are the good guys,” Floyd said angrily. “As a private citizen of these United States who has never worn the badge, never faced the risk that our officers face daily, I am sickened by the hatred and the violence that has been directed at America’s law enforcement professionals.”
It was only a few weeks ago on July 7, when U.S. Army veteran Micah Xavier Johnson killed five police officers during a peaceful Black Lives Matter rally in Dallas, Texas. Ten days later, Gavin Long, a veteran of the Marine Corp., killed three officers in Baton Rouge.
Floyd seemed to blame the recent police deaths on the people across the nation, who protest fatal shootings of black and brown men by law enforcement. Floyd dismissed those protests, incorrectly associating them with Johnson and Long.
“This hatred, this violence by weak-minded individuals is based largely on a false narrative,” Floyd said.
No one attending the event acknowledged that the day also belonged to Mario Woods.
Mario Woods Remembrance Day
In January, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors dedicated July 22 to Mario Woods, the birthday of the 26-year-old black man, who was shot more than 20 times by SFPD on Dec. 2, 2015.
The POA made its views about Woods’ day of remembrance clear, purchasing a $15,000 full-page color add in the San Francisco Chronicle, with a photo of police officers saluting and a caption reading: “It’s they who are deserving of special civic remembrance.”
On the other side of town from the Yacht Club, at the Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church in Bayview-Hunters Point, candles lit the afternoon darkness, illuminating the silver heart-shaped nylon balloons and vivid colored flowers along the sidewalks between Fitzgerald and Gilman Avenue.
More than 100 people gathered around 5 p.m. to observe the first official Mario Woods Remembrance Day across the street where Woods was killed.
“My purpose today is to stand up for justice,” said Darrell Rogers, a member of the Justice 4 Mario Woods Coalition. “Today is his birthday and City [and] County of San Francisco decided that they were going to use this day to honor him.”
Woods’ death further galvanized a community frustrated by the SFPD’s tactics in dealing with people in crisis situations.
The event, hosted by the Justice 4 Mario Woods Coalition, attracted family, friends and other coalitions.
Woods’ mother, Gwen Woods, said she would have given anything to talk to her son, who would have turned 27 that day.
“In the end, we have this pain to deal with,” she said through tears. “I would just love to talk to him one more time. I would love for him to say ‘Mom what are we going to do today?’ or, ‘Where are we going to eat?’”
“It wasn’t just a day for Mario Woods,” said Supervisor David Campos, who attended. “This remembrance day has truly changed the way so many communities, especially communities of color view the police, and it also serves as a reminder [of] the need for police reform.”
Campos and Supervisors Eric Mar and John Avalos made the effort to reach out to the Woods coalition and the community, but in doing so drew the ire of former POA President Gary Delagnes, who called the supervisors “idiots” and labeled Woods as a “street thug” in a Facebook rant.
But Rogers didn’t take issue with the POA scheduling its day of remembrance on Woods’ birthday.
Rogers said that all lives matter because he has respect for hard-working honest cops, and believes those officers also have the right to have a Remembrance Day.
“I’m 70 years old. If I’m out here in the streets and there is no police, I can become a target. I’m not against good policing. I thank God for them because I get to walk the streets safely. So it’s never been an ‘us against them’ situation as far as we’re concerned.”
The evening ended with attendees gathering for an intimate ceremony at the spot where Woods was killed.