Super Bowl City Sparks Community Outcry

Countless protests emerged during Super Bowl week where activists accused Mayor Ed Lee and San Francisco police of displacing the homeless to make way for Super Bowl City.

On February 3, 2016, Stuart Schuffman, a 2015 mayoral candidate known to locals as Broke-Ass Stuart, organized the #tacklehomelessness protest.

Supporters pitched tents in front of the Ferry Building in attempt to start a dialogue among passersby and Super Bowl City attendees.

Less than a minute into the rally, the SFPD demanded the immediate removal of the tents from the Ferry Building premises. Failure to do so would result in arrest. Protesters responded by lifting up the tents, and chanting “Hey Ed Lee, no penalty for poverty!”

Speakers included former California assemblymember Tom Ammiano, Coalition on Homelessness executive director Jennifer Friedenback, Laura Thomas from the State Drug Policy Alliance, and Father Richard from the Gubbio Project which hosts homeless guests overnight at a Tenderloin church, among many others.

After the rally, protesters marched around the perimeter of Super Bowl City, sharing their grievances with tourists and commuters alike. Twice as many SFPD officers trailed the supporters, making sure they stuck to the sidewalk.

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