Body-cam footage shows SFPD violently tackle bystander to ground at protest

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Riot gear-clad San Francisco police officers repeatedly shoved a woman, tackled her to the ground, and “ridiculed” her, according to a complaint from the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. The report, filed Wednesday with the Department of Police Activity, indicates the woman was a bystander — and not a participant — in a protest last summer against U.S. involvement in Israel’s attack on Gaza.

Police body-cam footage captured the incident from several different angles.

The woman, identified as Amelia Jones, was nearby when she saw San Francisco Police Department officers “yank” someone to the ground and yelled for them to stop. Police, according to the complaint, responded by “aggressively” blocking her way and yanked her down as well, while letting others pass by on the same street.

“Multiple officers violated San Francisco Police Department policies by using unnecessary force, failing to intervene in that wrongful use of force, and writing dishonest accounts of the arrest,” said Deputy Public Defender Brian Cox, who heads the Integrity Unit of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. “Incidents like these demonstrate how police aggressively escalate interactions with community members when it is completely unnecessary, with disturbing and traumatic results.”

According to the Public Defender’s Office, Jones was walking her bike down Sacramento Street the morning of July 24 toward her office near the intersection of Kearny Street. Police officers carrying batons and wearing riot gear were lined up across Sacramento at the intersection with Kearny while a protest was happening nearby.

Jones, the complaint said, saw police pull a cyclist to the ground and was one of several bystanders to yell at the officers to “stop hurting the person.”

Officers told Jones to get back and Jones tried to approach the intersection and an officer “shoved her in the back” as she turned away.

“I’m on my way to work, I’m on the phone with my coworkers, and I’m just trying to help someone,” she told officers, according to the complaint.

Jones was arrested and charged with resisting/obstructing an executive officer, battery on a peace officer, and resisting arrest. According to the Public Defender’s Office, SFPD body-worn camera footage contradicts how officers described the incident in their police report.

According to the complaint, Jones was panicked by the officers’ actions, began screaming for help and raised her arms. An officer shoved her and as she brought her arms down, she touched an officers’ helmet. The incident was captured on SFPD body-worn camera footage.

It was at that point that SFPD violently tackled her to the ground.

In disturbing body-worn camera footage reviewed by KRON4.com, Jones can be heard telling officers she has a shoulder injury and shouting “I’m in pain.” Officers can be heard telling her to “stop spitting” while she is cuffed with her hands behind her back, face down on the sidewalk.

“These are your choices, you made this choice,” an officer can be heard telling Jones, who can be heard sobbing and telling officers she “can’t see anything.”

Later in the video, the officers offer to roll Jones over on her side to make her more comfortable if she doesn’t kick at them.

“No kicking,” an officer is heard telling her.

“I know it’s very exciting to have people cheering for you,” an officer tells Jones while she’s cuffed, face down on the pavement.

“Your fanbase is gone, so you’re not really performing for anyone right now,” the same officer later said.

“I was just walking to work, I wasn’t even in the protest,” Jones says at one point in the video.

“You guys were literally assaulted someone up there, all I said was ‘stop,’ and then all of a sudden you guys are on f***ing top of me, and now I’m arrested? This is insane!” Jones can be heard saying at one point.

“I’m a citizen of the United States! Jesus Christ! This is insane!” she exclaims at another point.

“I would like to hold police accountable for their misconduct, which has caused me a lot of anguish and pain,” said Jones. “There have been multiple women on local San Francisco news who have also been forcibly arrested by police for either minor transgressions or nothing at all. Women just crossing the street, on their way to work, or selling hot dogs. Our police are trained to react with aggression and violence. That erodes trust.”

Despite having no prior criminal record, the report alleges that Jones was held in San Francisco County Jail for 36 hours. A judge who later reviewed the body-cam footage dismissed all charges against her.