DSA SF Resolution in Support of Christiana Porter, Demanding Justice and Accountability from the City and SFPD, and Recommitting to Organizing for a Future Free of Racist Police Violence

WHEREAS, On July 29, 2024, Christiana Porter, a 34-year-old Black single mother and domestic violence survivor, was brutally attacked in broad daylight by SFPD Officer Josh McFall; and

WHEREAS, Without warning, Officer McFall slammed Christiana’s head against a wall so hard that she suffered a concussion and a separated shoulder, apparently for walking while Black in a city that uses policing as a weapon against the poor, the unhoused, and our Black and Brown neighbors; and

WHEREAS, Christiana’s physical pain was compounded by the psychological trauma of being brutalized by the very system that purports to “protect and serve” survivors like her; and

WHEREAS, Christiana was allegedly stopped for jaywalking, despite the fact that jaywalking was decriminalized under state law in 2023, well in advance of this incident; and

WHEREAS, Despite there being video evidence, the City and County of San Francisco has denied Christiana’s claim and refused to take accountability for wrongdoing, further traumatizing Christiana and furthering SFPD’s culture of racialized violence and impunity; and

WHEREAS, The City and County of San Francisco and the San Francisco Police Department have not apologized, taken disciplinary action against the officer involved, or issued a public statement of concern about this incident; and

WHEREAS, In contrast to the silence from the Mayor (current and former) and San Francisco Police Department, local DSA elected officials – D9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder and former D5 Supervisor Dean Preston – have spoken out in support of Christiana; and

WHEREAS, The DSA SF Steering Committee Statement: Justice for George Floyd and all Victims of Police Murder states:

“Police violence upholds capitalism, as well as the systemic racism on which American class society rests. It is the state’s most brutal and reliable weapon in upholding class society, and now that the ferocity with which it is dispensed is being exposed, it can be proclaimed, unequivocally, that the police are the enemies of freedom for the oppressed, exploited, and marginalized. It is right and just to rebel against this system and these atrocities. Our collective liberation and the task of building socialism require us to take the boot of state repression off the necks of all oppressed people. There is no room to waver on this question - we know which side we’re on;” and 

WHEREAS, This resolution is in line with the beliefs and aims laid out in our 2021 Chapter Priority, “A DSA SF Chapter Commitment to Black Liberation, Indigenous Sovereignty, and Fighting Global White Supremacy;” and

WHEREAS, As socialists, we are committed to dismantling the system of state repression that continues to harm the most vulnerable while shielding its enforcers from consequence; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That DSA San Francisco stands in full solidarity with Christiana Porter, demands justice and accountability from the City and SFPD, and recommits to organizing for a future free from racist police violence, and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution, or reference to the substance of this resolution, will be published on DSA SF’s website, social media, and sent to Ms. Christiana Porter, the San Francisco Police Department, the Police Commission, and the Mayor.