Frisco 5 end hunger strike against SFPD killings
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Five people in San Francisco ended a hunger strike tonight after nearly 17 days without solid food, a spokeswoman for the five said in a statement.
The Frisco Five have been in a hospital for nearly two days now and decided to end their strike at the urging of community members, spokeswoman Yayne Abeba said in the statement.
The group of five protesters was admitted to UCSF hospital on Friday, where they are being monitored by staff.
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They say their cause will be better served by "staying and fighting" rather than "starving and dying." The Frisco Five went on strike to demand that San Francisco's Mayor Ed Lee fire his police Chief Greg Suhr over the police shootings in recent years of some San Francisco black and brown residents, such as Alex Nieto, Luis Gongora, Mario Woods and Amilcar Perez Lopez.
They are calling for a general strike on Monday.
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The announcement to end the strike comes hours after religious leaders offered them a prayer for strength.
"They've shown an enormous courage, and enormous dedication. They've served our community so well by lifting up so much anger and so much pain that goes back for decades in our communities because of the way people in our communities have been treated by law enforcement," said Father Richard Smith.
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Protesters who support the Frisco 5, stormed San Francisco City Hall on Friday night. Thirty-three people were arrested in that incident.
The protesters smashed some of the front windows of City Hall and destroyed metal detectors during the protest.
The Frisco Five will likely be in the hospital for a number of days, Abeba said in her statement.
She said in no way are the Frisco Five conceding their demands for the firing of Suhr. Instead, the five are asking Bay Area residents to join them at 8:30 a.m. Monday in front of City Hall for a general strike.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
