Former Hunger Strikers to March from SF to Sacramento to Protest Police Violence

The Frisco 5 hunger strikers are pushed by wheelchair by doctors from UCSF during a march to City Hall demanding that Mayor Ed Lee fires SFPD Chief Greg Suhr on day 13 of their hunger strike on May 3, 2016 in San Francisco, California. Photo from El Tecolote.

The #Frisco5 are back! Well at least some of them are. Members of the #Frisco5 will be marching from San Francisco to Sacramento to protest police violence.

If you recall, in April and May of 2016 five people sat in front of the Mission polices station in San Francisco and went on hunger strike to protest police violence against people of color. Called the #Frisco5 and comprised of Maria Cristina Gutierrez, her son Ilych Sato (aka Equipto), Edwin Lindo, Sellassie Blackwell, and Ike Pinkston, these brave activists went without solid foods for 17 days. One of their main demands was the firing of Police Chief Greg Suhr, who subsequently stepped down after the police shooting of Jessica Williams on May 19th, 2016. The pressure put on the SFPD by the #Frisco5 almost certainly led to his resignation.

On October 6th, Cristina Gutierrez and Equipto, along with Mothers on the March and Black and Brown for Justice, Peace and Equality, will be launching a March for Peace. Their demand is for accountability from State Attorney General Javier Becerra for the police killings of Mario Woods, Alex Nieto, Jessica Williams, Amilcar Perez Lopez, Kenneth Hardy Jr and Luis Gongora.

The March for Peace will start with a press conference at noon at 850 Bryant in San Francisco on October 6th and will have planned gatherings every night at 730pm in the following towns:

Mill Valley, San Rafael, Petaluma, Novato, Sonoma, Napa, Fairfield, Vacaville, Dixon, Davis, Sacramento.

This march will be supported by the Do No Harm Coalition, health workers and students working to end racism and state violence. Previously the Do No Harm Coalition has come out in support of the #Frisco5, Colin Kaepernick, the Water Protectors at Standing Rock, and more.

If you have questions or want to get involved you can reach out to Cristina Gutierrez at companeros98@hotmail.com.

We will be keeping tabs on this story and reporting on it as things develop.