Demonstrators outside California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s San Francisco office on Monday called on him to take up a historic prosecution of a city police officer charged with shooting and killing a carjacking suspect, Keita O’Neil.
The family of O’Neil, who were at the rally, said they were meeting with Bonta this afternoon as part of their push to sustain the first-ever prosecution of a San Francisco police officer, the man who killed O’Neil.
O’Neil’s aunt, April Green, spoke on the steps of the state Supreme Court in San Francisco earlier today, saying, “At this point, Rob Bonta is our only hope. I’m hoping when he leaves that he will see the case from our perspective, but also to give the case time.”
Charges against Christopher Samayoa, a former San Francisco police officer charged with shooting and killing O’Neil, will be officially dismissed on Tuesday, unless Bonta agrees to take up the case.
The case was most recently in the hands of San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. Last month, Jenkins moved to dismiss charges against Samayoa brought by her predecessor, Chesa Boudin, about three years after the incident.
On March 1, a judge ordered a one-week delay on the dismissal decision after a heartfelt plea from Green. The reprieve was intended to give Bonta additional time to review and decide on the case.