Today, April 7th, marks six years since Luis Góngora Pat was killed by Ofc. Michael Mellone and Sgt. Nate Steger of the San Francisco Police Department. Six years later, his brother José Góngora Pat still seeks justice. “I want D.A. Chesa Boudin to charge the murderers of my brother Luis,” says José. “I am asking my community to join me in my demand.”

By all witness accounts Luis Góngora was sitting on the ground alone, minding his own business, when Ofc. Mellone launched an unmerited attack on him with four bean bag rounds to the back that propelled him to his feet. Sgt. Steger began firing his firearm at Góngora, and as the victim fell wounded to the ground, Mellone fired fatal firearm bullets to Góngora’s head.

Adriana Camarena, family advocate and organizer with Justice for Luis, explains, “The Department of Police Accountability and Internal Affairs of SFPD found the officers to have violated all use of force policies and recommended their suspension. It’s outrageous that these two murderers walk around without any consequences. Our hope is that Chesa Boudin will choose to reopen the case of Luis Góngora Pat. We’re asking everyone to call him, email him, tweet him to choose to charge the killers of Luis Góngora Pat! “

Call or write Chesa Boudin
(628) 652-4000
districtattorney@sfgov.org
#ChesaChooseToChargeKillerCops
#Justice4Luis

Luis Góngora Pat is survived by his widow Carmen May Can, and his three children Luis, Angel and Rossana Góngora May, his brother Carlos and Jose, as well as his mother Estela Pat all of whom live in his hometown of Teabo, Yucatán. His father Demetrio Góngora recently died of natural causes without seeing justice done for his son.

Taking stock of the past six years since the murder of Luis Góngora Pat, the family-led coalition for Justice for Luis has done everything to seek a measure of justice in the name of their beloved Mayan father, brother, son and cousin. The family pursued a civil case, participated in protests, countless times spoke in favor of police reform before the Board of Supervisors and the Police Commission, testified before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission of the OAS against police brutality in the United States, organized community members around artwork and altar installations, and held a 24 hour vigil demanding that former D.A. Gascón charge the 24 pending cases of police shootings. During the pandemic, the family protested against the hiring of Michael Mellone by the Antioch police department, and participated in the development of a Compassionate Alternative Response to Policing Homelessnes (CARTSF.org) which was funded by the Board of Supervisors but continues to be buried by the bureaucracy of Mayor Breed.

Camarena adds, “San Francisco is regressing towards heavy handed policing tactics under the Breed administration. It’s unbelievable to me that the Board of Supervisors funded the CARTSF proposal and that the Mayor prefers to sit on it, rather than implement a community-supported reform to end the unnecessary policing of homelessness.”

Prior relevant articles:

KPIX5, Police Brutality Protesters Gather At Antioch City Hall, Seek Removal Of 2 Officers, 6.29.2020

SF Examiner, SF officer involved in shooting death of homeless man quit while facing discipline, landed new job in Antioch

KQED, S.F. Oversight Agency Calls for Suspension of Officers Who Shot Homeless Man in 2016

48Hills, 33 arrested at ‘Frisco Five hundred’ City Hall shutdown, May 7, 2016

Mother Jones, Hunger Strike in San Francisco Puts a Spotlight on Police Brutality: A string of fatal police shootings of blacks and Latinos has met with rising protest. April 27, 2016

(8.12.2016) The Guardian UK, The life and death of Luis Góngora: the police killing nobody noticed, The Guardian UK
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6 years since the murder of Luis Góngora Pat by SFPD officers, his brother still seeks justice. (Photo 2021, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts)