San Francisco’s Pink Saturday street party was marred Saturday night by a shooting that left three people hit, one dead, and two suspects in custody. Police don’t believe the violence was tied to pride events but was instead the result of an earlier dispute; the dead man, Stephen Powell, 19, is reportedly the intended victim of the attack.
This was the scene immediately after the shooting:
ggreen
No neighborhood involvement lets trouble escalate and reach these outcomes.
Most folks I know were barricaded inside or out of town Saturday. The event’s organizers were not realistically prepared for this event at all. It was beginning to get out of hand before dusk on Saturday.
Lots of amplified noise and no room to move, every other person was walking around with an open container of liquor (usually glass pint bottles purchased from Safeway).
Imagine the cast of “Jersey Shore” holding a combination Latin Hip Hop/Imelda Marcos Look-a-like party and inviting the entire city of Bayonne NJ. You’ll get the picture.
Daniel
I love visiting San Francisco but selection of guys is atrocious. No offense to the guys that live there, but that’s just my experience. The men here in the Midwest are cute, charming and down to earth. The men there are extremely slutty and superficial. I’ll take Midwestern boys over Cali boys anyday;-)
Daniel
Oh, and the guys here are NATURAL blonds;-)
badlydrawnbear
The gay men in the midwest aren’t slutty and superficial??? LMFAO
But about pink saturday. This is just a continuation of the trend of the residents of SF and the bay area to treat every public event like some college party with no on responsible and no one in control. First it was the Castro Halloween party, then it was Bay to Breakers, now it is Pink Saturday.
Even the annual pillow fight turns into mess that costs the city tens of thousands of dollars in clean up and none of the participates seem to give a shit.
At least the SOMA bars are still sane and relaxed but who knows how long that will last. Once the SOMA goes there really won’t be much reason for ‘the gays’ to visit or even stay.
Tallskin
A fatal shooting at a pride event??? Come on!!
Pffff, only in America, eh?
I remember years ago talking to a yank over in Mexico at a street festival and he, being from LA, said they could never hold similar open air events, like because of the threats from gangs and gunmen.
scott ny'er
Holy crap! That’s a LOT of people out there in the middle of the street. Man, I marched in NYCPride and was so beat I went home and fell asleep. It probably would’ve been better off if these peeps did the same.
whatever
@Daniel: and cali is majority non-white, so lots of non-blondes. what’s your point?
FanOfThat
Daniel – I NEVER see any hot guys in San Francisco. That city is just too rich, too pc, too wimpified. It’s the less glamorpuss cities that have the genuinely hottest men. Even in NYC, Brooklyn and Bronx guys are so much hotter than Manhattan men.
FanOfThat
But that might just be our taste, Daniel. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
adman
The thing about SF is that straights ruin everything here, and they’re proud of it. SF is a town full of gawkers (excuse me “hipsters”) cannibalizing anything creative and worthwhile while we flee in droves, and rightfully so. Take that shit to a fucking footbal game? Why, when they can fuck it up for everyone and brag to the homies about it later? I mean it’s only the gays creating civilization as we know it, so it is inherently meant to be consumed, derided, then pissed on, right?
FanOfThat
Adman It’s the hard truth. Gays make the value of neighborhoods go up. Gangstas, like the shooter in this case, don’t exactly improve neighborhood beauty nor restore houses.
whatever
wow. lots of dog whistling in the responses here.
Qjersey
Sadly our gay youth that have grown up in violent ghetto neighborhoods don’t leave the violence behind them when they visit “the gay scene.” There is a gay bar I know that caters to men of color that actually has a ‘no weapons’ sign on the door.
Alex Sarmiento
I attended Pride in SF this weekend, but I didn’t stick around for the big Pink Saturday events. I didn’t even know that this happened until last night after the parade. I feel bad that it happened.
Surfy
First: you vapid queens dissing SF men for their looks can take a hike and stay where you are. WE don’t want you here.
Second: obviously, if this had happened on their home turf in the Black slums, none of you would care, or have ever heard about it.
But most important is that the (dis)organizers, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, should take some responsibility for creating an environment that welcomes violence and mob chaos.
It took gay Supe. Bevan Dufty to finally grow some cajones and cancel Halloween after nine people were shot in 2007. Since then, without the Sisters of Self-Indulgence, the Castro streets, with car traffic, have been fun and safe.
Now that there’s a death, what did the Sisters do? After taking buckets of completely unaccountable cash for other causes (allegedly), they issue a vague two-paragraph press statement about peace and love, without saying anything about their massive negligence in not hiring proper security, then disappear in a cloud of pot smoke and black tulle.
While they do a great job at private indoor event fundraisers, they still remain unaccountable in their fundraising and disorganization.
It takes violent shootings to shut their chaotic “events” down, which is what should happen. Pink Saturday hasn’t been a “gay” event in years. It, like Halloween, is a sloppy, creepy mess ready-made for unrelated and homophobic violence.
Don’t blame the rats when you serve up a cheese buffet.
you
Marcus
Surfy, I agree with you, I never trusted those Sisters, I think they are chiselling frauds at these big events, collecting buckets of cash donations that are NEVER accounted for.
Lived near the Castro for 5 years til recently, am very very fond of the place and the people. But these big events, a million people pouring in for Halloween or Pride Saturday, scared the hell out of me, too many people and no in in charge. Best to go home at a decent hour. The people who cause violence and mayhem are NOT from the neighborhood, and the mess they make is just a damn shame.
Ogre Magi
@Surfy: Wise words Surfy wise words!
David Ehrenstein
@adman: SING OUT LOUISE !!!!!
B
No. 15 · Surfy wrote, “But most important is that the (dis)organizers, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, should take some responsibility for creating an environment that welcomes violence and mob chaos.”
The shooting had nothing to do with Pink Saturday – it seems to have been gang related according to the San Francisco Police Department and could have happened anywhere.
Just out of curiosity, should we also blame the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for the second shooting at the intersection of 3rd Street and Quesada Avenue that occurred during a neighborhood vigil for the guy who was killed in the Castro on Pink Saturday? http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/baycitynews/a/2010/06/29/castro29.DTL&tsp=1 has the details for the second shooting.
So far there’s been one arrest for murder, made shortly after the shooting on Saturday evening, which suggests that Surfy’s claim “about their massive negligence in not hiring proper security” is simply bogus – there were enough police present to catch the murderer almost immediately. Unless you are going to have a security guard escort each person, there is simply no way you are going to stop a 20 year old felon with a gun from pulling it out and shooting some person from a rival gang. Even checking everyone entering at the gate isn’t enough – lots of people were there before the Pink Saturday event started, whether for dinner, to catch one of the Frameline films, or to hang out with friends.
Freddie
B, while I appreciate your noticing the second shooting, and yes, it’s going to be forgotten because the second shooting happened in that part of town, your comparison is erroneous.
The Sisters took over an informal event to raise/make money. It grew out of control. If you attended any organizational meetings, you’d know how resistant they were to controls and heightened security. The police are paid by the city, double time, actually. The sisters only added paid security at Halloween when pressured to do so.
And, yes, everyone should be required to pay to enter this mess. Everyone should be patted down. The herds of kids storm through the gates, never donating a cent, which completely negates the point of the Sisters “organizing” the event.
Yes, the police did their job. And we paid for it.
The Sisters did their job. Their original stated purpose decades ago was to create chaos. They did that, in abundance.
Freddie
And another thing (Yes, Surfy is also Freddy):
NO other San Francisco street fair has had this level of increasing and ongoing violence. Ever. Chinese New Year, Haight St., Union St, Carnival, etc.
None of them has ever had fatal shootings. Why? Look at how they are organized. They also take place mostly in daylight.
Nighttime street closures that go late into the night are dangerous and poorly managed. And the Castro, i.e, The Sisters, “organized” the two most violent chaotic events in San Francisco street fair/event history.
Prove me wrong or STFU.
B
No. 20 · Freddie: “B, while I appreciate your noticing the second shooting, and yes, it’s going to be forgotten because the second shooting happened in that part of town, your comparison is erroneous. The Sisters took over an informal event to raise/make money. It grew out of control. If you attended any organizational meetings, you’d know how resistant they were to controls and heightened security.”
I’d imagine that “taking over” simply means they helped staff some gates where they’d hold out a bucket to collect donations, and maybe pay for some musicians on a sound stage. Meanwhile, all the businesses stayed open and took in a fair bit of money, with San Francisco collecting 9.5% on top of that (the city sales tax). According to http://sanfrancisco.going.com/event-341840;Pink_Saturday_Castro_Party# the party attracts more than 500,000 people (which sounds a bit high given the size of the area, but maybe people just stay for a while and then leave). If you figure on 100,000 spending $10 per person, that amounts to $95000 in sales tax, so the city is probably not exactly losing money on this event.
Freddie
So, $95,000 is your price for a human sacrifice?
B
No. 23 · Freddie wrote, “So, $95,000 is your price for a human sacrifice?” ??? The point was that the event was bringing in enough money to easily pay for the police.
I’m not sure what anyone could have done to prevent the shooting given the lack of gun control in the U.S. There was enough of a police presence to catch the murderer almost immediately so even the near certainty of being caught was not enough to deter him. Furthermore, even if you lined the boundaries of the area with metal detectors and airport security, you could still get a gun in there by simply arriving early – before the event started.