Ross Mirkarimi Update: Domestic Violence Groups Call on Sheriff to Resign

So far the gig has been anything but fun

​Update 2:25 p.m.: Staff writer Joe Eskenazi was at City Hall and gave us a puzzling detail about this afternoon's press conference: Mirkarimi's wife, Eliana Lopez, stood in the crowd among reporters and anti-domestic violence advocates who were calling on her husband to resign as sheriff. Eskenazi chased Lopez down, asking her what she made of this, to which she responded: "No comment."

Amid allegations that the newly elected sheriff, Ross Mirkarimi, physically abused his wife over New Year's Eve, a local domestic violence group is publicly asking the county's top law enforcer to resign.

The Domestic Violence Consortium and female community leaders are gathering at City Hall this afternoon, demanding that Mirkarimi step down from his job, less than a week after he was sworn in as San Francisco's sheriff.

"In the wake of allegations of spousal abuse and Mirkarimi's ridiculous assertion that spousal abuse is "a private family matter," we are calling on him to step aside," said Beverly Upton of the Domestic Violence Consortium. "Domestic violence by anyone -- including elected officials -- cannot and will not be tolerated by San Franciscans."

SF Weekly called Mirkarimi, but a secretary told us to call Jim Stearns, the political consultant who ran Mirkarimi's sheriff campaign. No word back from Stearns.

Mirkarimi has been accused of grabbing his wife, Eliana Lopez, with enough force to cause bruising to her arm. The allegations, reported by a neighbor, were made public a few days before Mirkarimi, the former District 5 supervisor, was sworn in as sheriff.

Lopez told the press there was nothing to complain about, and the allegations were "taken out of context." What's more, Mirkarimi has been criticized for his response to the allegations, saying it was a private family matter.

The District Attorney is reviewing the case, and could charge Mirkarimi with a misdemeanor felony, perhaps as soon as Friday.

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