Union President: Supervisors' Resolution Supporting Alleged Cop Killers is 'Spitting in the Face of Every Cop in San Francisco'
Monday, Jun. 8 2009 @ 5:28PM
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| The Ingleside police station, where Sgt. John V. Young was killed in 1971 |
Gary Delagnes of the San Francisco Police Officers Association said the resolution, which he characterized as "idiotic," is "going to send a pretty devastating message to the members of the police department."
Delagnes said, "What it says to the cops is, 'You can kill a cop, and 40 years pass, and it doesn't matter anymore.' My answer to that is, 'Would Jewish people accept that for the Holocaust? Would African-American people accept that for the KKK?'"
Mar plans to introduce the resolution during tomorrow's regular board
meeting, according to legislative aide Cassandra Costello. Maxwell is a
co-sponsor. It is unknown whether other supervisors will attach their
names to the measure, which is likely to be voted on next week.
The resolution concerns the so-called "San Francisco Eight," a group of seven men -- one of the defendants has died -- charged with the murder of San Francisco Police Sgt. John V. Young in 1971. Young was killed by a shotgun blast during an attack on the Ingleside Police Station. The Black Liberation Army, a splinter faction of the Black Panther Party, claimed responsibility for the killing.
The case was originally thrown out by a judge because of allegations that suspects were tortured by police officials in New Orleans. Then, two years ago, police brought charges based on new evidence and testimony.
"Anybody who knows anything about this case knows that these were career criminals. I have never heard any of the guys say they didn't do it," Delagnes said. "We're all hiding behind this 'New Orleans -- Oh, they got the information from torture.' You know what? I don't care. They murdered the guy."
This isn't the first time the police union has found itself at loggerheads with other sectors of the political scene over the high-profile murder trial. In May, Delagnes wrote a blistering letter to the San Francisco Labor Council after the council adopted its own resolution in support of the San Francisco Eight.
The resolution concerns the so-called "San Francisco Eight," a group of seven men -- one of the defendants has died -- charged with the murder of San Francisco Police Sgt. John V. Young in 1971. Young was killed by a shotgun blast during an attack on the Ingleside Police Station. The Black Liberation Army, a splinter faction of the Black Panther Party, claimed responsibility for the killing.
The case was originally thrown out by a judge because of allegations that suspects were tortured by police officials in New Orleans. Then, two years ago, police brought charges based on new evidence and testimony.
"Anybody who knows anything about this case knows that these were career criminals. I have never heard any of the guys say they didn't do it," Delagnes said. "We're all hiding behind this 'New Orleans -- Oh, they got the information from torture.' You know what? I don't care. They murdered the guy."
This isn't the first time the police union has found itself at loggerheads with other sectors of the political scene over the high-profile murder trial. In May, Delagnes wrote a blistering letter to the San Francisco Labor Council after the council adopted its own resolution in support of the San Francisco Eight.
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