The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

The event is MCed by Sister Kissi, a fierce young activist and member of the Bayview Chapter of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, who leads us into prayer after our two-hour rally and protest.

We soon start wondering, “Where’s the police?” Mr. Ayala steps up and looks through City Hall’s front door peep hole and lets us know: “There are seven or eight inside” – likely ready for us, just in case. “Look, they are videotaping us from two cameras by the second floor windows” – nonstop for the next two hours.

Love and unity is strong, surrounded as we are by community activists, many young Latino homies dressed in black and proudly wearing their Justice4JulioAyala T-shirts, and Julio’s huge extended family.

Frank Rosenberg, whose son was killed by Hayward PD five years ago while experiencing a mental health crisis, holds high his October 22nd Coalition Against Police Brutality sign, telling it like it is: “We’ll NEVER give up!” while youngsters and seniors alike are chanting: “1, We are the People! 2, A little bit LOUDER! 3, Justice for JulioAyala!” At first watching timidly at a safe distance, bystanders, mostly Latinos, start to join the protest and pick up signs, chanting: “Justice for Julio Ayala!”

The harassment of Julio’s family and buddies has already been set in motion, in an attempt to demonize them and weaken the Justice4JulioAyala Campaign: phone interrogations of Tony, his childhood friend, and his sister Tanya, who simply state that they have nothing to divulge.

Yet, at our very protest, a way more despicable violation of our right to protest occurs, in total disrespect of the safety of our participants, including parents with young children. A late model black Mitsubishi with tainted windows slowly drives by, and a bottle flies at our crowd, as the car suddenly speeds away.

Young Brother Paulo, forehead and left brow spurting blood, is badly cut and rushed to the Ivy Clinic by his homies. I carefully pick up the broken bottle from the ground, covered with blood, for police investigation and fingerprinting. Yeah, right. We’ll call San Mateo PD and make a report anyhow.

We do NOT call 911, as we figure the holice serve and protect the ruling class and keep assaulting po’ people of color.

This cowardly attempt to silence the Ayalas and the community is not working! Silence is killing La Raza as surely as evildoers. Marylon Boyd, greeted with warm applause, tells the crowd: “This must end! You are fighting for Julio’s memory but also for all other families and for your own lives! None of our children should die this way. No more, in California, in the U.S.!”

A homie is quietly burning sage in the background, and a donation can, decorated with the October 22 logo, “Danger! Police in Area,” is passed around, as we notice even humble poor folks fumbling through their pockets and adding their few cents to the Justice4Julio Campaign.

Except for La Radio Grande 1010 and San Mateo Daily Journal, the media did not respond to the Justice4Julio press release about our protest. Are we surprised? The bigger the scandal, the longer the cover-up through the corporate media!

Hate mongers injuring a teen of color at the rally, watch out: To the perpetrators of genocide and war against Black and Brown, you know that we da people are a force to be reckoned with!

The bullhorns are now switching hands, as we shout toward police video cameras upon leaving SSF City Hall: “We’ll be back! Every month, we’ll be back, assassins!”

On Thursday, the Idriss Stelley Foundation emailed the San Mateo Board of Supervisors requesting their June calendar for the community to schedule a special hearing, demanding answers about the PD killing of Julio Ayala at their earliest (if not zealous) convenience. Tentatively June 6, later to be confirmed.

Unlike San Francisco, San Mateo does not have a police commission. Instead, the City Council, with only one non-white member, hears complaints against the police.

The Ayala family demands immediate release of the San Mateo police and DA reports, the coroner’s report, a list of witnesses to Julio’s execution, the names of all 13 “peace officers” involved in Julio’s wrongful death, the launching of a federal investigation and justicia para Julio Ayala, NOW!

On our way back to Bayview Hunters Point, Julio’s parents, Sister Kissi and I stop by Julio’s altar under Room 203 of the Airport Inn, where Julio fought for his last breath. Julio Sr. and Mirna Alaya tiressly set it back up every time it has been dismantled by the South San Francisco DPW. Mirna collapses in front of Julito’s picture and profusion of flowers, under la Virgen de Guadalupe. “The protest was great. It does not bring my Julio back!”

For further background on the PD killing of Julio Ayala, log onto http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Justice4Julio/. Mail to Julio’s family can be sent to Justice4Julio@yahoogroups.com or iolmisha@cs.com.

If you have any information on the killing of Julio Ayala or want to send messages of support to his family, call (415) 595-8251, the Idriss Stelley Foundation 24-hour bilingual crisis line.

Email mesha, the mother of Idriss Stelley, murdered by SFPD in the Metreon Theater in June 2001, at Iolmisha@cs.com.