On Tuesday, June 5, just before 9 PM, Derrick Gaines, a fifteen-year-old youth of multi-racial descent, was needlessly killed by an officer of the South San Francisco Police Department.
South City Police Chief Michael Massoni and the cooperative local media wasted no time in fabricating a story intended to justify the blood on their hands, in part through shamelessly smearing the victim’s character.
But there are two sides to events like these: what the cops say, and what the truth is. In this case, the
truth is that Derrick never reached for or produced a weapon, and was shot down by an officer who had brutalized and restrained him first. Derrick’s friends and family have staged multiple actions at the site of the shooting, and the anger at Derrick’s murder is combining with general discontent regarding how the South SF police treat youth, particularly youth of color locally, as well as the horrendous reality that such acts of police violence are a disturbingly common occurrence, here in the Bay Area and across the country.
The Arco Gas Station, which was the scene of the incident, is located at 2300 Westborough Blvd., at the corner of Westborough and Gellert. It is 4.4 miles from the San Bruno Caltrain Station, and 3.2 miles from San Bruno BART.
Do not let the South SFPD’s lies, and heinous actions, go unchallenged. Please join friends, family members, and other allies in the ongoing struggle against racism and social injustice as we continue to demand justice for Derrick, and for all victims of racist police violence.
Article about Derrick Gaines: They Treated Him Like a Statistic