San Francisco protesters want justice for Alex Nieto, killed by cops

San Francisco — Workers World received news early in the morning on March 23 that protesters seeking justice for the police killing of Alex Nieto had chained themselves to the headquarters of the San Francisco Police Department in protest, effectively shutting it down.

On March 21 people had gathered at the top of the hill in Bernal Heights Park for a one-year community commemoration at the site where young Nieto was killed by San Francisco police in 2014. Nieto’s father and mother were both present. The authorities had decided in February not to charge the police who killed Nieto.

An altar decorated with white, pink and red flowers marked the spot where Nieto was killed. Aztec dancers performed a ritual dance at the commemoration. After the ceremony, people marched in a “trail of tears” down the hill and into the Mission district to the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts for a film premiere of “Amor for Alex.”

Along the way, the dancers stopped at many intersections to perform their dance, blocking traffic for up to 15 minutes at each stop. When they got to the house where young Amilcar Pérez López, a Guatemalan immigrant, was killed by the SFPD in February, the crowd again stopped to pay respects at the altar marking the spot where Pérez López was killed.

When the march finally arrived at the cultural center, they were met by another large group of people that had gathered to watch the Nieto film. The dancers again performed their dance, joined by other dancers, blocking several lanes in the busy Mission district for over half an hour during the performance, with large crowds watching in support.