SF Supes Reinstate Mirkarimi

On the Supervisors' Vote to Reinstate

"Exuberant, yes. My family hasn't slept any. But I'm eternally grateful for all our incredible support and to the people of San Francisco for having to endure this agonizing process."

— Ross Mirkarimi

On the Progressive Vote

"In this vote, we had two very progressive women, Jane Kim and Christina Olague, [who voted] to keep the sheriff in the office that he wants. And we had two very progressive [male] supervisors. So that's four of probably the most progressive supervisors that we've ever seen in this city, saying: 'We understand that this is a very, very serious issue, domestic violence, and we will continue to work as hard as we know how to advance that cause. But this particular charge brought by the mayor as identified the chairman of the ethics commission, does not meet the test for official misconduct.'"

— Art Agnos

On Ross Mirkarimi's Response

"I've seen men plead guilty to domestic violence, and let me tell you, you can see it in their bodies. The minute that you acknowledge the harm that you have caused, that's the minute you can start healing. And what we keep hearing: he's the victim, he's had to endure something. You know what I want to say today? There's a lot at stake here, Sheriff Mirkarimi, and it's bigger than you."

— Suzy Loftus

On Whether the Charges Were Politically Motivated

"I don't think it was political from the get go, but I think it was a mistake by a politically immature Mayor, to charge him before he talked to the man himself, before he talked to the victim himself, and, made a judgment based on political advice that didn't work."

— Art Agnos

"The narrative that Eliana has not fallen into is what's bothered them, which is why I think they've intensified their attacks. Such as a Michael Vick analogy, or such as even suggesting to us last night that the next thing I could do is seriously hurt or kill my family. I mean, my god, to say those kind of things in order to enhance your position… while that might be politics and that might be legal maneuvering in a court contest, it does not mean that you have to scare people into falsehoods."

— Ross Mirkarimi

On Eliana Lopez's Version of the Story

"Since day one of this whole ordeal there's been an incredible amount of mischaracterization and mistportrayal about who I am and what I've done. And yet to this day, nobody from the domestic violence agencies, nobody from the police department, district attorney, has ever reached out… [to] the very person they claimed to defend, the very person that they have tried to use.

And yet she has written a number of pieces just outraged at that level of dismissal. So If in fact this is a representation of victims rights, they should talk to the person that they claim to represent and hear what the full story is. And that has never been well told."

— Ross Mirkarimi

"There was a 55 second video of Eliana Lopez detailing… and showing the bruise on her arm, and talking about how it had happened before. And subsequent to that, she has given a different version of the facts, but that, that's recanting and that's what we see in domestic violence cases."

— Suzy Loftus

On What Comes Next

"As the events were concluding last night, I reached out to the caretaker sheriff, spoke with [her] almost around midnight. We have planned a transition debriefing starting later today and over the next several days. I've reached out to members of the command staff and the president of the rank and file union already to let them know I look forward to a debriefing and catching up with them."

— Ross Mirkarimi

"We believe San Francisco has sent a message, that committing domestic violence is not official misconduct, and there is an open question about what that is going to mean for the city of San Francisco, the city of Saint Francis, and whether we can keep doing what we've been doing, which is be a refuge for the most vulnerable people in our society."

— Suzy Loftus