Don't be mean and lied about being mean when caught

[theking]

A victim of unprovoked street violence or a vigilante who 'terrorized' homeless San Franciscans?


The video seems damning: A person wielding a metal pipe swings it wildly, striking former San Francisco Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani in the head outside a gas station.

A firestorm ensued, seeming to bolster critics who say the city has descended into lawlessness. It also drew swift action from the district attorney, who charged a 24-year-old homeless man shortly after the altercation last month.

But now, the case seems precarious, as Carmignani is apparently unwilling to cooperate with investigators, leading to the suspect's release from custody amid allegations that the former fire commissioner had "terrorized" homeless people with bear spray.

Defense attorneys for Garret Doty, who was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the apparent attack April 5, said he struck Carmignani in self-defense.

In an interview with Bay Area television station KPIX, Carmignani, 53, said that on that day, he had approached some homeless people who were fighting in the street and told them to move. Carmignani said the same group had been blocking the entrance to his mother's home in the Marina District and "smoking crack cocaine" earlier that day.

One of the men struck him with a metal pipe, leaving him with injuries including head wounds and a broken jaw, he told KPIX. A bystander caught the scene on cellphone video.

“I understand how a violent attack like this can shake a community, and I am committed to ensuring that the defendant is held accountable, so that we send the strongest message that violence like this is unacceptable,” San Francisco Dist. Atty. Brooke Jenkins said in an April 10 statement announcing felony charges against Doty, including aggravated battery and assault likely to cause great bodily injury.

But late last month, the San Francisco public defender's office released videos and new information that it said cast the case in a new light, calling for the charges against Doty to be dropped on the basis of self-defense.