Defund SFPD Now Statement in response to SFPD Town Hall on Police Murder of Cesar Vargas
As the San Francisco Police Department convened a legally mandated virtual Town Hall to release information regarding the October 10 murder of 21-year-old Cesar Vargas by SFPD officers, Defund SFPD Now issued the following statement:
“Cesar Vargas was murdered. The number of officers that fired the shots to end Cesar’s life is still unknown, but the accomplices to his murder extend far beyond a handful of SFPD officers.
Today, Police Chief Scott will tell us that the killing of Cesar Vargas was justified. He will express sadness that a 21-year-old is dead. He may even describe it as a tragedy and talk about reviewing policing policies.
But, there is no policy, there is no reform, that will make the institution of policing anything but violent. When our “justice” system is dependent on violence—guns, handcuffs, cages—it should be no surprise that a public execution is described as “justified.” But, there is no justice when killings are justified. There will be no justice until we stop relying on violence to address societal challenges.
In November, our Board of Supervisors will vote to approve the mayor’s renegotiation of the Police Officers Association (POA) contract. If approved, it will give SFPD officers two additional years of raises and lock in the policies that have traumatized countless San Franciscans and hampered efforts to create real public safety for all. A commitment to the racist POA is a commitment to the status quo – the very status quo that brings us here today to mourn the police killing of 21-year-old Cesar Vargas.
No San Francisco supervisor has gone on record stating that they will reject the racist POA contract. This is what we mean when we talk about accomplices. Yes, the officers that murdered Cesar Vargas must be held accountable. But what about the public officials who embrace the status quo? Those who have enabled the violence of policing in our communities and the perpetuation of white supremacy?
Today, we demand accountability and we demand justice for Cesar Vargas and everyone traumatized by police. We demand the abolishment of state-sanctioned violence.
Today, we stand in community to support each other and care for each other because we know that the police do not take care of us. The mayor does not take care of us. The supervisors do not take care of us. We take care of us.”
The Defund SFPD Now campaign is a joint project by the SF Afrosocialists & Socialists of Color Caucus (Afrosoc) and the Justice Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), SF. The SF Afrosocialists & Socialists of Color Caucus is a Black-led organization created in 2020 to center BIPOC voices within socialist spaces. The DSA SF Justice Committee was formed in 2017 and organizes DSA SF’s work fighting for the abolition of policing and prisons.
This campaign is one part of the collective pursuit to defund SFPD into abolition, and ultimately abolish the prison industrial complex in San Francisco and beyond. For years, there has been a grassroots movement in the City fighting for abolition. We support and work alongside these organizations by contributing additional leadership, capacity, and structure as needed in times of mass mobilization.