An out of doors public listening to on San Francisco’s drug disaster got here to an abrupt finish Tuesday after protesters interrupted the occasion, with one attendee later arrested on suspicion of assault after a brick was thrown.
The occasion, held at United Nations Plaza within the metropolis’s downtown, was a part of a month-to-month question-and-answer session with Mayor London Breed hosted throughout the commonly scheduled assembly of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Board President Aaron Peskin organized the listening to to focus on Breed’s plans to curb drug gross sales and overdoses on town’s streets.
Breed was met with boos from the group, and hecklers regularly yelled over her dialogue with Peskin. As protesters chanted “no extra cops,” Breed mentioned the outside listening to wouldn’t be “the suitable discussion board” to reply Peskin’s questions, and the occasion was recessed after 10 minutes to the Board of Supervisors’ chambers.
As the general public officers left the world, somebody within the crowd threw a brick — putting a juvenile bystander, in accordance with the San Francisco Police Division. The lady’s accidents have been described as non-life-threatening.
Witnesses helped police detain the suspect, whom police recognized as 26-year-old San Francisco resident Elysia Katet.
Katet was booked into San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of assault with a lethal weapon and youngster endangerment. On-line jail data include an alternate spelling of her first identify: Elijsia.”
Earlier than the occasion’s sudden cancellation, Breed delivered some remarks in regards to the challenge of open drug use and its results on public security.
Breed — who might face a difficult reelection battle subsequent 12 months, in accordance with one recent poll — mentioned the difficulty of open drug use was “nothing new” to town, having witnessed it herself rising up.
Nonetheless, she mentioned the issue has persevered regardless of varied interventions and packages, main her to hunt out different options, together with the arrest of drug sellers and customers.
“I am placing every little thing on the road to vary what we have to do,” she mentioned.
This story initially appeared in Los Angeles Times.