After 17 days without solid food, the five hunger strikers who had been camped out in front of Mission Station to demand the resignation of San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr ended their fast Saturday night, a spokesperson for the strikers said.
On Friday afternoon, the entire group had been hospitalized.
In a continuation of their movement, however, the group has called on their supporters to participate in a general strike on Monday.
“The end of the strike is in no way a concession – it’s a victory of monumental proportions. They have been told in no uncertain terms by the community that they are needed here to help fight a corrupt administration and a racist and violent police department,” wrote Yayne Abeba, in a statement on behalf of the strikers. “They still hold true to their demands.”
Maria Cristina Gutierrez, Ilyich “Equipto” Sato, Edwin Lindo and Sellassie Blackwell began their strike in protest of deadly shootings at the hands of police officers, the most recent claiming the life of Luis Gongora, as well as a series of scandals including the discovery of two separate sets of racist and homophobic text messages exchanged among officers.