On Wednesday afternoon, as friends and family of Derrick Gaines started to gather at the Arco gas station on Westborough Boulevard where he died Tuesday night for a vigil to mourn him, a woman walked by the makeshift memorial and removed a sign that read "Stop Police Violence."
The reaction was immediate: Gaines' friends, mostly teenagers, rushed toward the woman in anger; another person snatched the sign back. The teens shouted at the woman until Gaines' family members stepped in and asked them to fall back.
"We have to honor Derrick," said Gaines' mother, Rachel Guido Red. "We're not going to be violent."
A South San Francisco police officer after he ran away from the officer and allegedly pulled a gun from his waistband. Since then, there has there has been an outpouring of grief for Gaines and for another violent teenage death in the community.
But at the same time, reactions have been mixed and heated. This can be seen , where some commenters have strongly criticized for police for what they call needless violence while others have defended police actions and questioned why a teenager would be armed.
In a recent email, a Patch reader called the "Stop Police Violence" sign "divisive" and said she had asked the Arco gas station owner to remove it (not wanting to get involved, he declined). She praised the SSFPD for its school liaisons and Police Explorers program that reach out to youth in the community.
This reader placed her own sign at the memorial, which can be seen at the top right. It contained messages of mourning, such as "God Bless Derrick & those who loved him!!" but also read: "We are NOT a community with police violence!!!! Let's wait for the investigation and instead say a prayer for Derrick & his family!!"
Her sign, along with others at the site, was removed.
What do you think? Do you think that police are being misrepresented in the wake of the shooting? Is it incendiary to criticize police, even harshly, or is it simply a part of grieving? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Apparently someone thinks a bullet fired by a 15-year-old (whose friends admitted in the same story that he carried a gun) is less dangerous than a bullet fired by an adult. It's this sort of victim mentality that confirms to me that police are being unfairly vilified here.
1) When your story says that the station owner declined to take the "Stop Police Violence" sign down, it wasn't because he necessarily is taking the anti-police side. He simply didn't want to offend anyone while the family is still grieving. 2) When you say that the lady's yellow sign was removed, it sounds like the station owner took her sign down because he agrees with the "stop police violence" sign. In fact, her sign was taken down when ALL the other signs and candles were removed per orders from Arco corporate due to the fire danger at a gas station. Personally, I don't think the station owner should have allowed the sign up in the first place. I agree with this lady that it was divisive to our community. But in fairness to him, I didn't want the station owner to be be portrayed one way or the other.
I think we have one of the finest police forces in the state and am grateful they are willing to be there for us, but my heart still hurts for Derrick and pray nothing like this ever happens agan.
The officer voluntarily exposes himself to life threatening situations everyday to protect the rest of us from them. We want him to handle all of society's filth, but we insist that it be done in a way that is pretty; an impossible and unrealistic concept. People should be saddened by the tragic death of any youth, but they should be more responsible in how they point the finger of blame. If you run from a police officer, then get shot after you pull a pistol, as reported, it's not the officer's fault. He has a right to stay alive. A gun in the hands of a 15 yr old is no less deadly than if he was 18, and officers are killed almost daily throught the US for hesitating during a deadly threat. We should sympathize with the parents for their loss, but we should also sympathize with the officer who didn't ask for this.
But I want to make clear that the station owner didn't make "a decision to make a statement." Derrick was killed on the Arco station property and so some people decided to put up a memorial there. And one of those people put up the offending sign. This put the station owner in an untenable position. If he left the sign up, guys like you and I would boycott his station. If he took the sign down he would be portrayed as the heartless business owner.
My initial reaction was the same as yours. In fact, upon seeing the sign on Wednesday morning, I called and threatened to distribute flyers to boycott his station. He told me that he didn't approve of the sign being placed up there, but he felt that he couldn't remove it... He said that emotions were high and people needed time to grieve and cool down. I then called the police department to voice my support and to ask if I could remove the sign myself. They said that in this country, we have freedom of speech. So I made my own sign (above). I have spoken to the Arco station owner many times in the last few days. He has been a part of our business community for 24 years. He appreciates our police officers and feels for the family. I think he was put in a hard position. The kids at the station went after the woman who removed the sign and I'd heard they threw rocks at someone else when he asked that the sign be removed. What could they have done to the station owner, his employees or property?