Crime

March and Rally in S.F. on Anniversary of Immigrant’s Shooting Death by Police

Published

8 years ago

April 10, 2017

By Adriana Camarena

Undaunted by the threat of rain, dozens marched and rallied on the anniversary of the death of Luis Gongorra-Pat, an immigrant worker from Yucatan, Mexico, who was shot by San Francisco police on April 7, 2016, at 19^th and Shotwell streets.

Cell-phone videos taken by witnesses a year ago show that Gongora-Pat, 45, was shot by four to five bean bag rounds and seven bullets by Officer Michael Mellone and Sergeant Nate Seger in the span of 28 seconds from the moment of their arrival in response to a call that someone at the camp for the homeless was wielding knife. Gongora-Pat, an indigenous Mayan who spoke little Spanish and even less English, was sitting down when police showed up, witnesses said.

Gongora-Pat immigrated to the U.S. in 2004 and worked as a dishwasher among other Mayan Yucatecs at a Mels’ Diner in the Mission. But he would lose that job, and later his housing by 2013 putting him among the homeless in San Francisco.

The altar built in his memory was erected at the site where he was killed. Bernardo Caamal, an expert in Mayan customs from Peté, Yuctaán, led a Ceremoniral Ku’sakai prayer and Ohlone activist Corrina Gould and Danza Azteca were on hand. The march then proceeded to the Mission District police station, where the police who killed Gongorra-Pat worked and then on to the rally at City Hall.

To underscore the suffering of his brother, José Góngora Pat, the brother of Luis, carried a heavy cross from station to station of the protest march, called the March on Police Terror in the anctuary City.”

“My brother’s unjust killing by police is the cross that I have to bear,” said José. He concluded his protest march in honor of Luís by re-enacting his brother’s death at the steps of City Hall, adding “I put myself in his shoes to help the people of San Francisco understand the horror and pain and injustice inflicted on my brother by those officers.”

Gongora-Pat’s cousins Luis and Carlos Poot were also among the marchers.

POOR Magazine’s Tiny Gray-Garcia was the MC of the rally which involved with a large cross- section of supporters, including family members, Causa Justa, Mothers on the March for Justice and homeless advocate organizations.

At City Hall, Adante Pointer, of the John Burris law firm, who represents the family in a federal civil case against SFPD, reminded the crowd that the trial won’t happen until 2018. Carolina Morales, legislative aide to District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen and Francisco Ugarte, Immigrant Defense Public Defender of San Francisco also spoke. The rally closed with a poem by Amalia Alvarez in honor of Góngora-Pat.

POOR magazine, and El Tecolote contributed to this report.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

3 days ago

May 25, 2025

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Bo Tefu

California Assembly Passes Bill to Strengthen Penalties for Soliciting Minors

The revised version of Assembly Bill 379, authored by Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento), now allows prosecutors to file felony charges against adults who solicit sex from a 16 or 17-year-old, provided the accused is three or more years older than the minor. If the offender is within three years of the minor, the charge would remain a misdemeanor.

Published

1 week ago

May 19, 2025

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By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

The California State Assembly has agreed to amend a controversial bill that would increase penalties for adults who solicit sex from minors ages 16 or 17, following a wave of criticism from Republicans and concerns raised by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“From a prosecutor’s standpoint, this bill strengthens California law and gives us the felony hammer to prosecute the creeps that are preying on teenagers,” Krell said in a statement supporting the amended bill.

The new amendments also include provisions for a state grant program aimed at improving the prosecution of human trafficking and sex trafficking cases, as well as a support fund for survivors partially funded by increased fines on businesses that enable or fail to address human trafficking.

The bill faced significant opposition last week after the Assembly removed a provision that would have treated solicitation of 16 and 17-year-olds as a felony for all offenders.

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BOOK REVIEW: The Afterlife of Malcolm X

Betty Shabazz didn’t like to go to her husband’s speeches, but on that February night in 1965, he asked her to come with their daughters to the Audubon Ballroom in New York. Did Malcolm X sense that something bad would happen on that night? Surely. He was fully aware of the possibility, knowing that he’d been “a marked man” for months because of his very public break with the Nation of Islam.

Published

1 week ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Book Cover of the Afterlife of Malcolm X. Courtesy of Simon & Schuster.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Author: by Mark Whitaker, c.2025, Simon & Schuster, $30.99, 448 pages

Who will remember you in fifty years’ time?

A handful of friends – at least those who are still around – might recall you. Your offspring, grandkids, and greats, maybe people who stumble upon your tombstone. Think about it: who will remember you in 2075? And then read “The Afterlife of Malcolm X” by Mark Whitaker and learn about a legacy that still resonates a half-century later.

As the news of his murder spread around New York and around the world, his followers and admirers reacted in many ways. His friend, journalist Peter Goldman, was “hardly shocked” because he also knew that Malcolm’s life was in danger, but the arrest of three men accused of the crime didn’t add up. It ultimately became Goldman’s “obsession.”

Malcolm’s co-writer for The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley, quietly finished the book he started with Malcolm, and a small upstart publishing house snatched it up. A diverse group of magazines got in line to run articles about Malcolm X’s life, finally sensing that White America “’needed his voice even more than Blacks did.’”

But though Malcolm X was gone, he continued to leave an impact.

He didn’t live long enough to see the official founding of the Black Panther Party, but he was influential on its beginning. He never knew of the first Kwanzaa, or the triumphs of a convert named Muhammad Ali.

Malcolm left his mark on music. He influenced at least three major athletes.

He was a “touchstone” for a president …

While it’s true that “The Afterlife of Malcolm X” is an eye-opening book, one that works as a great companion to the autobiography, it’s also a fact that it’s somewhat scattered. Is it a look at Malcolm’s life, his legacy, or is it a “murder mystery”?

Turns out, it’s all three, but the storylines are not smooth. There are twists and tangents and that may take some getting used-to. Just when you’re immersed, even absorbed in this book, to the point where you forget about your surroundings, author Mark Whitaker abruptly moves to a different part of the story. It may be jarring.

And yet, it’s a big part of this book, and it’s essential for readers to know the investigation’s outcome and what we know today. It doesn’t change Malcolm X’s legacy, but it adds another frame around it.

If you’ve read the autobiography, if you haven’t thought about Malcolm X in a while, or if you think you know all there is to know, then you owe it to yourself to find “The Afterlife of Malcolm X.”

For you, this is a book you won’t easily forget.