District 2 Councilmember Ed Harris had only been out of office for an hour when one of incoming Councilmember Lori Zapf‘s staff made national headlines.
The Student Justice Coalition led by Marine Veteran and SDSU student, Mark Jones had been demonstrating peaceably at City Hall to ask for systemic changes by the City Council in light of recent police atrocities reported from around the country.
Students handed out a list of demands that included the appointment of a Special Prosecutor for all Deadly Force cases, the establishment of a Police Oversight Committee in San Diego City (and San Diego County), and the adoption of the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014.
The staffer, Shirley Owen, referred to the protestors as “f—— idiots with their hands up” and said “I wanted to shoot them.”
Lori Zapf suspended Owen for two weeks without pay and her office released an apology, but many in District 2 and throughout the city feel this doesn’t go far enough.
10 News reported Rafael Bautista as saying “She needs to be held accountable.” and “She needs to be fired immediately. The fact that the council members are not calling on her to be fired is repugnant.”
You can read more details in this KPBS News article as well as a A Call for Councilwoman Zapf to Do the Right Thing by Lori Saldaña on the OB Rag.
There’s an online petition asking for Lori Zapf to fire Shirley Owen you can sign.
POINT LOMA & OB DEMS 