San Francisco leaders, Black community discuss recent hate crimes
San Francisco residents gathered at Third Baptist Church of San Francisco on Thursday to discuss the recent hate crimes against the Black community.
Christiana Porter, who said she was attacked by a San Francisco police officer, was among those who spoke at the meeting.
"I've never experienced so much hate just being a Black person and merely existing in a city that is supposed to be so culturally diverse," Porter said, referring to the incident.
"The time has come, for us to call out the bigotry, hate, and inhumanity that has perpetrated against Black folk," The Rev. Amos C. Brown, president of the San Francisco NAACP, said.
In the discussion on Thursday, the reverend spoke out about the push for reparations for Black families in California.
CBS News Bay Area talked to one mother who said her daughter was recently a victim of hate crime.
"My daughter was at an assembly for a Black artist at her school. During the assembly, her and another friend of hers who was also Black were asking questions," Harbor said. "There was a group of boys sitting behind them, and the group of boys commented and said, of course it's the (racial slur) that are asking the questions."
San Francisco Chef Wendy Drew also found herself in a similar situation last weekend, when she said a man walking his dog called her a racial slur.
"I asked him, 'Excuse me, why are you calling me that word?' And then he comes back, and he says 'What?' And then he starts hitting me," Drew said.
Drew stood up for herself and fought back, after leading him into a liquor store where surveillance video captured her struggling with her attacker. Drew eventually chased him up the street where he was then arrested.
She is now recovering from several bruises on her face.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, Police Chief William Scott, district supervisors as well as the local FBI leaders joined in on the discussion.
"I take it as my full responsibility to make sure that we have a justice system that does what it's supposed to do," Jenkins said.
While there wasn't a clear next step announced as to how to combat this issue, city leaders said it is important to stand in solidarity and stand up for what's right.
"I felt so much safer than being in South Africa. And now? It's like the roles have switched," Drew said.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office had recently released its 2023 hate crime report. Officials said anti-Black hate crimes were the most prevalent in California. Despite a nearly 21% decrease last year, nearly 520 cases of anti-Black bias were still reported in the state.
The vandalism targeting the nonprofit, Youth 1st Building near Lake Merced, will be recorded in this year's hate crimes.
Last week, the executive director told CBS News Bay Area that he discovered a racial slur spray painted on the building and what appeared to be a noose hanging from a door.
"Our grandparents fled to the north to get away from these types of incidents that we're still experiencing today," said Renard Monroe, the group's executive director.
FBI leaders are encouraging anyone who is a victim of a hate crime to come forward and report immediately so that law enforcement agencies can hold these criminals accountable. The FBI also said that they will continue using all the resources, including technical and forensic tools to investigate hate crimes.
