Death of Alex Nieto

For the Uruguayan rugby player, see Alejandro Nieto.
Death of Alex Nieto
Time Approximately 7:00 PM (PST)
Date March 21, 2014 (2014-03-21)
Location Bernal Heights Park, San Francisco, California, U.S.
Participants
  • Roger Morse, Nathan Chew, Jason Sawyer, Richard Schiff (officers)
  • Alex Nieto (death)
Deaths Alejandro "Alex" Nieto
Charges None filed
Litigation Lawsuit (Nieto v. City of San Francisco), jury found officers not responsible

The death of Alejandro "Alex" Nieto occurred on March 21, 2014 in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Nieto was shot by four San Francisco Police Department officers while he was eating his dinner in the park before a night shift at work. A confrontation between Nieto and another civilian led to a bystander calling 911. Nieto was wearing a taser. Police claim that Nieto pointed the taser at them. Police claimed to have believed that the taser was a firearm.[1]

The San Francisco County District Attorney's Office declined to file criminal charges against the four officers involved in the shooting. Nieto's family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, alleging wrongful death. In March 2016, a jury cleared the four officers of all charges.

Background

Nieto, 28, was born on March 3, 1986 in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California, to parents Refugio Nieto and Elvira Nieto (née Rodriguez), Mexican immigrants from the town of Tarimoro, Guanajuato.[2][3]

When he was younger, he worked as a youth counselor at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center for over four years.[1] He also spent two years in the San Francisco Police Activities League (PAL).

In 2007, Nieto obtained a California state license to work as a security guard.[1]

Nieto graduated from the community college, City College of San Francisco, with a concentration in criminal justice. During this time he held an internship at the City of San Francisco's juvenile probation department.[1]

He was a Buddhist.[1]

Event

Nieto worked as a bouncer at a local nightclub. Around 7:00 pm on the night of March 21, 2014, he was walking along the path on a hilltop park called Bernal Heights Park eating tortilla chips, wearing a red San Francisco 49ers jacket, black 49ers cap, white t-shirt, black pants. Under his 49ers jacket, he wore a holstered taser covered in bright yellow marks that he used for his job. A local resident named Evan Snow who was in his 30s and worked in the computer industry had been walking his dog, who wanted Nieto's chips, barking and howling, pushing Nieto onto some benches. Snow was not attending his dog, was at least 40 feet away. Nieto pulled out his taser and made a motion pointing it at the dog. Words were exchanged and Nieto and Snow went their separate ways. Snow allegedly used racial slurs and texted a friend that "in another state like Florida, I would have been justified in shooting Mr Nieto that night." Tim Isgitt and partner Justin Fritz were walking their dog shortly thereafter. Noting a rattled Nieto who had his hand on his taser, Fritz called 911, reporting a man with a handgun wearing a red jacket that is often associated with gang colors.[1]

Police Lieutenant Jason Sawyer and rookie officer Richard Schiff confronted Nieto as he was walking on a path. Their testimony was that he pointed the taser at them when asked to show his hands. Officers Roger Morse and Nathan Chew provided backup and fired another 14 rounds, claiming they saw muzzle fire, although tasers do not display this type of response.[1] According to a report by the city's District Attorney George Gascón, the officers fired a total of 59 shots: Schiff went through an entire magazine, shooing 23 bullets at Nieto while Sawyer fired 20 bullets, allegedly in response to Nieto pointing a taser, which they mistook for a pistol.[4] There is audio of the police dispatch call.[5]

Lawsuit

The family filed a federal civil rights trail with a complaint arguing wrongful death[6][7] ended on March 10, 2016, a jury unanimously cleared the four officers of all charges. It was found that the taser's clock, the weapon’s trigger, was pulled.[8] Nieto's prior issues with mental health were discussed, as toxicology reports found he was not on medication when he was killed. Also discussed were two separate incidents in 2011 when Nieto had contact with law enforcement and resulted in 72-hour mental health holds. The family argued that the police used excessive force and that there was contradictory evidence and details about what happened.[9][10]

Response

Elvira Nieto, mother of Alex Nieto, speaks at a March 2016 protest against police violence.

Nieto's death and the verdict sparked waves of demonstrations and rallies in the Bay Area,[11] protesting against police brutality and excessive use of force against minority groups amidst calls for SFPD Chief Greg Suhr's resignation.[12] In March 2016, on the day before Nieto's trial started, San Francisco public school children staged a walk out from school in protest.[1]

The protests and the ensuing debate also emphasized the need for policing reforms[13] and the threats faced by Latino communities increasingly displaced by gentrification in the city.[1][14] After the publication of the verdict, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California published a piece pointing at racial bias within SFPD and calling for urgent policing reform.[15] On April 21, 2016, 5 protesters started a 17-day hunger strike in San Francisco's Mission District to demonstrate against recent police killings, including Alex Nieto's death.[16][17][18][19][20][21]

On May 19, 2016, Police Chief Suhr resigned after an officer-involved killing of a 29-year-old female. Jessica Williams was shot once by San Francisco police in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood during a car chase.[22]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Solnit, Rebecca (21 March 2016). "Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Francisco". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Camarena, Adriana (1 May 2014). "May Day: The Nieto Family Story". Unsettlers. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Alejandro Nieto - California Birth Index". FamilySearch. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  4. ↑ Lee, Henry K.; Williams, Kale (13 February 2015). "4 San Francisco cops cleared in Alex Nieto killing". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  5. ↑ Emslie, Alex (16 April 2014). "Scanner Audio From Police-Involved Shooting in Bernal Heights". KQED News. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  6. ↑ Burris, John L. (22 August 2014). "Complaint for Wrongful Death and Violation of Civil Rights And Damages" (PDF). United States District Court Northern District of California. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  7. ↑ Emslie, Alex (15 April 2014). "Family of Man Slain by San Francisco Police Files Wrongful Death Claim". KQED News. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Lamb, Jonah Owen (10 March 2016). "Jury rules SF officers who killed Alex Nieto did not use excessive force". The San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  9. ↑ Terrazas, Alexis (27 August 2015). "SFPD decision reopens wounds for Nieto family and community". El Tecolote. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  10. ↑ Terrazas, Alexis (27 August 2015). "Decisión del SFPD reabre heridas de la familia Nieto y comunidad". El Tecolote. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  11. ↑ "Activist Groups Join Forces To Protest Fatal San Francisco Police Shootings". CBS News. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  12. ↑ Fleshman, Karen (9 May 2016). "San Francisco Needs a New Police Chief". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  13. ↑ Smith, Chauncey (19 February 2015). "Alex Nieto, Black and Brown Lives, and the Need for Policing Reform". ACLU of Northern California. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  14. ↑ Zoufonoun, Omid (25 April 2016). "Alex Nieto Police Shooting Spurs Young Actors to Reclaim their Neighborhood Identity". KQED Arts. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  15. ↑ Schlosser, Alan (10 March 2016). "Would Alex Nieto Still Be Alive If He Were White?". ACLU of Northern California. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  16. ↑ Lee, Seung (3 May 2016). "Why #hungerforjusticeSF Shut Down San Francisco's Busiest Streets". Newsweek. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  17. ↑ Roberts, Chris (6 May 2016). "Frisco 5: Longest Hunger Strike in Memory; Stalemate in Standoff with Mayor". SF Weekly. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  18. ↑ Allday, Erin (4 May 2016). "Hunger strikers put suffering on display, but are they in danger?". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  19. ↑ "#Frisco5 protest: US 'police racism' hunger strike ends in San Francisco". BBC News. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  20. ↑ Rios, Edwin (27 April 2016). "These San Francisco residents are hunger striking against a wave of police brutality". Mother Jones. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  21. ↑ Eskenazi, Joe (11 May 2016). "The Hunger Strike May Be Over, but the Conversation Around Police Violence Is Still Starved". San Francisco Magazine. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  22. ↑ Green, Emily (19 May 2016). "San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr resigns after killing of woman". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 20 May 2016.

External links

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