By Malik Washington, Destination Freedom Media Group
The Biden Administration has stated on numerous occasions that “liberty” is on the ballot in the upcoming US Presidential election in November 2024. A woman’s right to obtain an abortion is most certainly on the ballot in 2024, but by no means is that the only freedom currently under threat in the United States of America.
THE RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH, THE RIGHT TO POLITICAL ASSOCIATION, THE RIGHT TO COUNSEL, AND THE RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE AND PROTEST ARE ALL UNDER ATTACK.
“If the First Amendment means anything, surely it means that citizens have the right to question or criticize public officials without fear of imprisonment.”
~United States Appellate Judge for the 5th Circuit, James Ho
The San Francisco District Attorney’s office headed by Brooke Jenkins is pursuing criminal charges against at least 80 protestors and community members in connection to a traffic stoppage and protest that took place on the Bay Bridge in November 2023.
The pro-Palestine protest was just one of many similar protests that have taken place across the United States.
D.A. Jenkins was appointed by Mayor London Breed after a recall election ousted former progressive D.A. Chesa Boudin.
D.A. Jenkins has portrayed herself as a “tough on crime” Democrat, in the same vein as Fani Willis in Atlanta, Georgia. My argument as to why D.A. Jenkins should dismiss the charges against the Bay Bridge protestors is grounded in historical objective facts. Nevertheless, I also seek to appeal to D.A. Jenkins’ sense of fair and equitable treatment of those in her jurisdiction who exercise their First Amendment constitutional right to protest and assemble.
I want to remind our readers that these specific activists in the Bay Area in Northern California were pleading for the lives of Palestinian human beings. Since October 7, 2023, well over 25, 000 Palestinians have been killed during military strikes carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Over 10,000 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza during that time period.
There have been a number of journalists who have lost their lives reporting on the war in Gaza. The ranks of journalists have been disseminated so much that young citizens like Lama Jamous have had to step up to the plate in order to provide the public with accurate information regarding the conditions on the ground.
I conducted some research into the deaths of children during the Russian war with Ukraine. I uncovered some shocking and disheartening evidence. As we approach the 2nd anniversaryof the war in Ukraine, approximately 600 children have been the victims of the Russian military. Now compare that number (600) to the over 10,000 Palestinian children who have been killed in a time span of only 4 months!! I don’t know if D.A. Jenkins is a mother, but I do know she is a God-fearing woman, and I must question her moral compass as she pursues criminal convictions against the Bay Bridge 80.
Israeli Government spokesperson Mark Regev has claimed that the IDF has done everything possible to avoid killing innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza. The empirical data that has been release by the Hamas Health Ministry does not support the Israeli spokesperson’s words.
I decided to look deeper into the prosecutorial history of D.A. Brooke Jenkins. A few stark contradictions have arisen.
D.A. Brooke Jenkins refused to pursue criminal charges against Officer Samayoa in the death of Keita O’Neil.
Then last year D.A. Jenkins refused to bring any criminal charges against a security guard that murdered Banko Brown in cold blood at a San Francisco Walgreens.
I personally watched the Banko Brown video numerous times. Banko who happened to be a queer person of color did not possess a weapon during the altercation. Yet, the Walgreens’ security guard found it necessary to shoot Banko in the chest. D.A. Jenkins watched the same video that all of us did and she gave us the impression that the murder of Banko was justified. D.A. JENKINS’ INABILITY AND RELUCTANCE TO CRIMINALLY CHARGE POLICE OFFICERS AND SECURITY GUARDS WHO KILL PEOPLE OF COLOR WHILE PURSUING CRIMINAL CHARGES AGGRESSIVELY AGAINST PEACE PROTESTORS ON THE BAY BRIDGE SENDS A CLEAR MESSAGE TO OUR COMMUNITY.
The message being sent is this: “The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office doesn’t give a damn about the lives of Palestinian people, and the lives of Black people don’t rate very high on the Office’s priority list.” I said that and I meant that.
Gale Washington reports excerpts from article (below):
Since January (2023), District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has refused to hand over police reports and body camera footage, among other materials, from four police shootings, arguing that such evidence is part of open investigations that are confidential, according to a letter from the Department of Police Accountability.
The Department of Police Accountability (DPA), which is tasked with heading up police misconduct investigations, as well as police shooting misconduct investigations since 2016, has asked the commission to step in and force the police to hand over the material the DA refuses to share. The commission is expecting a response from the DA in late December and will decide on the next steps in the matter in early 2024.
Now I have a provocative question: What if Brooke Jenkins dropped the charges against Bob Lee’s alleged killer?
In my opinion, that would be a travesty of justice. Now, I want you to contemplate how do you think the families of Keita O’Neil and Banko Brown feel? What is the difference between the value of Bob Lee’s life and the value of lives of these people of color?
In regard to the suppression of First Amendment rights in San Francisco, the question arises: Don’t our sisters and brothers who dared to stand up for the Palestinian people deserve mercy? And more importantly, shouldn’t their right to protest be respected and protected by one of the most progressive and liberal cities in the nation?
Apparently, London Breed and Brooke Jenkins aren’t the only Democrats in San Francisco who opposed pro-Palestinian protestors. Recently, former US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been urging the FBI to launch an investigation against pro-Palestine protestors.
It’s important for the world to know that Palestinians are also being terrorized and attacked by Jewish settlors.
STOP THE WAR – FREE HOSTAGES. ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.
SHOW SOLIDARTY WITH PILGRAMAGE FOR PEACE
There are at least 1,000 influential Black pastors in the United States who have called for a march from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. in order to call for a ceasefire in Gaza as well as the release of hostages held by Hamas. The march will begin on February 14, 2024 at 10 am at Independence Hall, 520 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The march will end on February 21, 2024 in Washington D.C. at the White House. We at Destination Freedom encourage all citizens of conscience, activists, and journalists, to attend as well as participate in this historic march for human rights if it is within your means to do so or you can donate to the march:
One of the pastors who is helping organize the march has roots in the San Francisco area.
Rev. Frederick D. Haynes III comes from a long line of pastors who also served as community leaders and activists for change.
Rev. Frederick D. Haynes, III had this to say from the article (below by Maya King)
“‘What they are witnessing from the administration in Gaza is a glaring contradiction to what we thought the president and the administration was about,’ said the Rev. Frederick D. Haynes, the senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas and the president and chief executive of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson. His church has more than 12,000 members. ‘So when you hear a president say the term, ‘redeem the soul of America,’ well, this is a stain, a scar on the soul of America. There’s something about this that becomes hypocritical.’”
The final part that we at Destination Freedom Media Group wish to make was made by Rev. Michael McBride, Founder of Black Church PAC and lead pastor of the Way Church in Berkeley CA who was quoted by Maya King saying:
“Our call for a ceasefire ought not be read as a call for the killing or terror of Jewish individuals and families. We’re against all of these wicked expressions of dehumanization and terror, wherever they show up.”
THE DREAM OF REPARATIONS TRANSFORMED INTO A NIGHTMARE IN THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO
San Francisco Mayor London Breed and her cronies decided to defund the Reparations Task Force.
Amos Brown, the Pastor of the Third Street Baptist Church has not just been a giant in the Black community of San Francisco but was an indispensable member of the recently-defunded Reparations Task Force. I am positive that his heart is broken as he watched the City of San Francisco be relegated to the status of a police state rather than the progressive haven that it has been for decades.
Through the years, London Breed and billionaire developer Ron Conway have come up with a sophisticated strategy to further gentrify San Francisco. Former San Francisco D.A. Chesa Boudin wouldn’t help Mayor Breed promote nor initiate her gentrification strategies, nevertheless D.A. Brooke Jenkins has been a more than willing collaborator and participant in the program of gentrification.
THERE IS MUCH MORE GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES IN SAN FRANCISCO THAN MEETS THE EYE.
Recently, Mayor London Breed would not approve even the bare minimum of funding for the much-lauded Reparations Task Force that has made national headlines.
In a March 2023 article, the Board of Supervisors approved a $25 million payout to the San Francisco Police Department.
Supervisors Dean Preston and Shamann Walton were the only two votes against the massive cash boost.
A repeated pain point for the board was a perceived imbalance in overtime deployment, with Downtown and posh shopping districts allegedly favored over residential neighborhoods. Recent revelations from Supervisor Joel Engardio said just four cops protect 130,000 San Franciscans on any given night in the Taraval police district on the city’s west side.
“The reality is that police wildly overspend their already increased budget and now want a bailout with raises, bonuses and unlimited overtime, with most of it [going] to luxury retail stores and tourists in areas already saturated with coverage,” Preston told the meeting Tuesday.
Now, think about this. The San Francisco Police Department receives a $25 million infusion of cash, and just recently D.A. Brooke Jenkins is spending even more taxpayer dollars prosecuting 78 peace protestors on the Bay Bridge. Yet, Mayor London Breed and her inner circle can’t come up with any money to fund the Reparations Task Force?
I am an independent thinker, and I firmly believe that Mayor Breed could have easily provided some funds for the Reparations Task Force, yet that is not where her allegiances lie.
Recently, Rev. Cynthia Hale made the following quote “THEY ARE OPPRESSED PEOPLE; WE ARE OPPRESSED PEOPLE.” She was speaking about the commonality between Palestinian people in Gaza and Black people living in America.
Board of Supervisors presidential acceptance speech delivered Jan. 8, 2015, by London Breed
Gale Washington reports:
What happened to the woman who stated this at her acceptance speech for District 5 in San Francisco back in 2015: “I sit up here today, reflecting on where I started, in a public housing unit right down the street, five of us living on $700 a month.”
– and –
“But I had a grandmother who loved me. And early on I learned a lesson that San Francisco should carefully remember today: wealth is nothing without love.”
– and –
“I was loved, and I was embraced by a system that, even with all its faults, cared about me.”
What is absolutely heartbreaking is that London Breed witnessed firsthand how the Fillmore District in San Francisco was subjected to hyper-racialized gentrification.
Back in the day, London Breed worked side-by-side with Sheryl Davis developing amazing programs for the marginalized Black community in San Francisco.
HOW COULD LONDON BREED NOT SUPPORT REPARATIONS FOR HER PEOPLE?
San Francisco District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton has defined himself as a dedicated supporter of the Reparations Task Force. Perhaps in the future Shamann Walton will seek the office of Mayor in San Francisco.
It is important in my advocacy journalism that I operate from a position of integrity. It appears that Sheryl Davis of the Human Rights Commission, D.A. Brooke Jenkins, and Mayor London Breed are still trying to keep “the dream alive” with the Dream Keeper Initiative. But I question why they had to kill the funding for the Reparations Task Force. I just don’t undertand it.
Malik Washington is a free-lance journalist and staff writer for Destination Freedom and Destination Freedom Media Group. He is a co-founder of the SRJ Freedom Collective.
