In 2024 Bay Area Law Enforcement Killed and Maimed Black People With Impunity

By JR Valrey
The People’s Minister of Information

We are a month away from Trump taking office in his second term, and the anxiety in the air is palpable due to the mainstream media induced fear of fascism, that has been gripping the nation’s airwaves since the beginning of the campaign season, last summer. 

Many are too busy looking into the future to realize that fascism has intensified locally, under the Biden/Harris administration. 

Within 2024, Oakland Police nearly murdered Deontae Faison with a taser, shocking him while he was in the water at Estuary Park in Oakland, last April. Last July, San Francisco Police terrorized Christiana Porter, for walking down Geary St, with headphones on and not hearing their sirens. And in September, Aamonte Hadley un-expectedly died in San Francisco City and County Jail

Faison is no longer able to walk, talk, bath, or feed himself. Porter suffered head injuries and nerve damage in her arm. Both were severely traumatized. Hadley’s family still has questions about what happened to her, in the two years while she was in jail, waiting to initially go to court to face her charges. 

Human Rights attorney, Adante Pointer, has been on the frontlines of fighting police terrorism in courtrooms all over the Bay and the nation, so we are checking in with him to see what is currently going on with police and Black community relations in the Bay Area. 

JR Valrey: Can you talk a little about the story of your recent client who was tasered by police while standing in the waters of Estuary Park in Oakland? What happened? When was this?

Adante Pointer: On April 5, 2024, Deontae Faison and a friend were enjoying the Estuary here in Oakland when they were approached by an East Bay Regional Park District police officer. He saw the registration tags on the truck they were both standing in front were expired. The Officer ordered them to sit on the bumper of the truck. 

According to the lawsuit, Deontae, who is Black, became nervous and upset because the officer was treating him differently than his friend, who is white. Deontae gave the officer an alias, and the officer told him he would bring in a fingerprinting tech when his name didn’t come up. The officer never asked the friend if she was the van’s driver, did not initially run her name through the criminal database, nor did he threaten to bring a fingerprint tech to the scene when he could not locate her name.

Deontae panicked when more officers arrived and started to leave the scene. The park police officer pulled his service weapon, and Deontae, who was unarmed, started running toward the estuary.

The officer then shot Deontae in the back with his Taser. Deontae at first collapsed on the beach but waded into the water as the officer continued Tasing him through the darts which remained stuck in his back. 

Tasing someone who is wet or in water is against district policy. The manufacturer also cautions against using the device in water. Taser shocks are intended to cause pain and loss of muscle control, and are known to elevate heart rate and disrupt breathing. Water increases the spread and depth of the electric shocks. And Tasing someone in salt water is especially dangerous, because salt is especially conductive. 

Deontae struggled in the water for over 30 minutes, calling for help, according to the officer’s own report. Only after he became unconscious and floated closer to shore did officers pull him out. Officers then watched Deontae gasp for air on the bank of the estuary for nearly 15 minutes and did not render any lifesaving aid, the lawsuit states. Deontae then became unresponsive and was brought to Alameda Hospital where he was resuscitated. He has been in a coma ever since.

The officers did not call for EMT or paramedic services until after Deontae was pulled from the water. And they never told paramedics that he had been Tased.

The officer of purposefully concealed evidence by instructing officers to turn off their body-worn camera sound, disposing of Deontae’s clothing and taser strings, and failing to take witness statements from Deontae’s friend.

The officers also drafted fraudulent reports claiming they believed Deontae was armed.

JR Valrey: How is your client’s health after this act of police terrorism? 

Adante Pointer: Mr. Faison is still recovering from his injuries. He is unable to talk, walk or do many of the basic living activities most of us perform without much effort such as walking, bathing or feeding oneself. 

JR Valrey: Where is this case legally?

Adante Pointer: We recently filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Faison. The Defendants filed a motion to try and get the case kicked out of court. We are confident we will win the ability to keep the case in court and will ultimately obtain justice for Mr. Faison.

JR Valrey: Can you tell us what happened in the case where another one of your clients walked across a San Francisco city street with headphones, and the police manhandled her because she didn’t hear them or stop when they turned on their lights behind her?

Adante Pointer: On July 29, 2024, at approximately 7:00 p.m., Christiana Porter was walking down Geary Blvd, in San Francisco toward her home. She was wearing headphones as she walked and when she arrived at the corner of 2nd Ave and Geary Blvd., she initially stopped, looked both ways and entered into the crosswalk and proceeded to cross the street with several seconds left on the timer.

Unbeknownst to her, SFPD Officer McFall was approaching the same intersection. He watched her cross the street and determined the she was jaywalking. In San Francisco, police are prohibited from claiming a person was jaywalking in order to make contact with them in an effort to harass and/or detain them.  

Nevertheless, Officer McFall, drove his police car on the wrong side of the street and nearly onto the sidewalk in an effort to stop Ms. Porter. Ms. Porter was unaware that Officer McFall was following her and kept walking and listening to music on her headphones. When Ms. Porter was approximately halfway down the block, Defendant McFall exited the police car and walked directly in Ms. Porter’s path. In response, Ms. Porter took off her headphones and asked him why she was being stopped. Defendant McFall did not respond to Ms. Porter’s question. Instead, Defendant McFall asked her what she was doing, where she was going, and why she was going there. Concerned by Defendant McFall’s conduct, Ms. Porter took out her cell phone to record the encounter. Defendant McFall then approached Ms. Porter and pulled out his mace. Ms. Porter, believing that the mace was a taser, asked for Defendant McFall’s name and badge number. Defendant McFall told Ms. Porter that she was being detained. 

Defendant McFall asked Ms. Porter for her identification. Ms. Porter attempted to comply by reaching into her purse.  However, Defendant McFall reached for his firearm and told her “stop reaching into your bag. You are under arrest.” Ms. Porter asked why she was being arrested, at which point Defendant McFall grabbed Ms. Porter and thereafter violently threw her against the wall, striking her head and shoulder. 

At some point, Defendant McFall summoned back up. Shortly thereafter, several yet-to-be-identified SFPD officers arrived. They surrounded Ms. Porter and assisted Defendant McFall in handcuffing Ms. Porter. Ms. Porter was screaming and she told the officers that she was the victim of domestic violence and was involved in an open case. Ms. Porter was handcuffed and placed in the back of a patrol car. She was thereafter transported to a nearby police station. 

As the result of Defendant McFall and the other yet to be identified officers’ conduct, Ms. Porter suffered substantial injuries to her body, including but not limited to a concussion, separated shoulder, back pain, neck pain, and sciatic nerve damage in her hips. 

JR Valrey: Where is this case at legally?

Adante Pointer: My law firm filed a claim against the City and is in the process of preparing to file a federal civil rights lawsuit on her behalf to hold Officer McFall accountable.

JR Valrey: Can you talk a little bit about what happened to your client Aamonte Hadley in San Francisco City Jail?

Adante Pointer: On September 3, 2024, 22 year old, Aamonte Hadley was found dead in her cell at the City and County of San Francisco Jail. The 22 year old had been held in custody for 2 years as she fought the system to receive mental health treatment and/or diversion for the crimes she stood accused of committing. Her parents have not been provided many answers and is desperately trying to understand how their daughter’s life came to an end.  

JR Valrey: Where is this case legally?

Adante Pointer: We are in the process of investigating this loss of life. We are asking anyone who saw or interacted with Aamonte within 48 hours of her death to contact my law firm.

JR Valrey: What can the public do to assist in the firing and prosecution of corrupt police working in our neighborhoods?

Adante Pointer: Anyone who is a victim of police abuse needs to file complaints with the police department’s internal affairs division in order to document any corrupt cops assaultive behavior. The public also needs to hold district attorneys, police chiefs and mayors accountable by demanding any cops who engage in violating our rights are disciplined and criminally prosecuted. 

JR Valrey: Trump talked about granting police nationwide “qualified immunity”, what does that mean for the Black community?

Adante Pointer: That is a code word for declaring “war” on our community. If police were to be granted blanket immunity for using excessive force, unreasonably stopping, detaining and/or arresting folks you can expect a sharp increase in police abuse and a steep decline in cops being disciplined, prosecuted and/or sued for misconduct.  

JR Valrey: How can people get in touch with Lawyer For the People?

Adante Pointer: The community can get in touch with me by phone (510) 929-5400, or by email at intake@lawyersftp.com or via social media on IG or tiktok @lawyersftp.

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Source: https://sfbayview.com/2024/12/in-2024-bay-area-law-enforcement-killed-and-maimed-black-people-with-impunity/