More than l00 women supporters of suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi gathered on the City Hall steps Sunday to stand with Ross in a show of support and a photo shoot.
The women held signs reading “Stand with Eliana and Ross, Reinstate our Sheriff” and “I believe Eliana” in English and Spanish.
Ross told the women that Mayor Ed Lee was seeking his ouster as sheriff as a way to knock out the top elected progressives in the city and to consolidate power against the progressive community.
But, he said, “as a community we stand our ground and we maintain the principles of what is just and fair.”
He said that Lee was orchestrating the supervisorial vote on his ouster to come before the November election and thus put maximum pressure on the supervisors. He called on the community to fight back, contact the supervisors and the media and let them know that the public wants Ross to be reinstated as sheriff.
His outreach information, distributed at the event, stated: “Let the Board of Supervisors and media hear from you on behalf of Ross Mirkarimi. He is a good man who has dedicated himself for years to serve the citizens of San Francisco. Ironically, although his career is in Justice, he has experienced the lack of Justice at the hands of City Hall.”
And: “We elected Ross and should be the only ones to determine who is our sheriff. Not the mayor, not the Ethics Commission, but the voters.”
The statement noted that Ross got more votes in November than did Lee for mayor and that the voters have been disenfranchised by Lee. It also noted that “there is no precedent for suspending an official without pay. What a terrible, unjust thing to do to a man.”