Tensions were high at the town hall meeting at Balboa High School regarding the police-related shooting of a 21-year-old man at a barbershop in the outer Mission as an altercation broke out during the public forum.
On Wednesday, March 21, Jehad Eid was shot and killed by two San Francisco Police Department officers Kevin Edno and Tess Kasey. Eid was shot over 18 times by the two officers after Eid pulled out his handgun. Even with bodycam video evidence, it’s still unclear who pulled out a gun first.
“I’m physically and mentally hurt,“ said Doc Conway, a barber from the Amazon Barber Shop who was injured from gunfire during the shootout on the 21st.
Before Conway spoke in front of everyone at the meeting, he got into an altercation with Eid’s relatives. There was yelling and some pushing, which scared the public. Some people cried, others shouted and several left after the altercation. Conway went out to get air and then apologized to everyone for getting out of hand during the Town Hall meeting..
People from the barbershop and in the community shared their perspectives at the open forum.
“I just wanted to offer my condolences to the family. I can’t speak for you but I can speak for myself and the black and brown community but congratulations to the police for killing folks,” said a middle-aged man who didn’t introduce himself to the forum. This man elicited the most reactions from the public after the statements he made regarding the excessive force SFPD uses.
“We got to start thinking outside the box … there are good officers too. I went to this same high school in the ‘90s and I didn’t feel scared at all to be here,” said Rosario C. who spoke at the open forum on her past experiences growing up around the same neighborhood near where the shooting happened.
Rosario, visibly upset, urged the police officers to come up with other solutions where guns don’t have to be involved.
“We need to realize that this is based off of racism this is exactly what this is, they don’t do this to anybody but people of color. We need to hold the police accountable, we need to realize that this is a public safety issue,” said Thomas Valverde, a 27-year-old student who spoke at the town hall meeting.
Valverde spoke twice at the forum before and after the altercation with the barbers and Eid’s family.
At the meeting, relative of Eid’s said to the police and the public that they’re not mad at the SFPD but also insisted on that Eid was a peaceful guy and wouldn’t shoot first.
The officers names were released on March 30, a day after the Town Hall meeting. There’s still an ongoing investigation on the shootings. One officer was shot during the process. SFPD still hasn’t released whether Endo or Kasey was shot in the leg.
“Not one time did I hear about safety for the barbers. My son does homework in the back. These are my barbers they cut my hair this is BS,” said an upset speaker who gets his haircut at the Amazon Barbershop.
