Gina Hinton, Survivor of Police Shooting,
Forgotten in SF Jail

mesha Monge-Irizarry / Idriss Stelley Foundation
San Francisco Bay View 26oct2005

This snapshot shows Gina Hinton before the police tried to murder her.

Patrisha Tulloch, director of Police Observers Working to Effect Reform, told me a month ago that young Tyrelle Taylor, whom she was visiting in the medical ward of San Francisco County Jail, was very worried about another inmate on the ward – Gina Hinton, 28.

Gina Hinton? I clearly remembered Afrikan American sister Gina, shot in San Francisco’s Crocker-Amazon district on May 26 outside of his jurisdiction by a Colma kkkop after a high speed chase. I never thought Gina could have survived her horrifying encounter with death and the devil.

After a long Google search for information on the shooting, I found only these few dehumanizing lines from the San Francisco Chronicle archives at sfgate.com under the headline, “Suspect in ramming of police cycle shot,” by Suzanne Herel:

“Friday, May 27, 2005 – A 31-year-old San Francisco woman who was shot in the chest by a Colma police officer Wednesday night was taken to San Francisco General Hospital.

“Gina Hinton was shot after she allegedly rammed her car into a motorcycle officer who had pursued her from Colma to a dead-end street in San Francisco, authorities said.

“The incident began at 10:15 p.m. when Colma police received a call that someone was robbing a Target store. A motorcycle officer chased the suspect’s car into San Francisco, winding up on a dead-end street in the Crocker-Amazon district, police said. The woman reversed her car and rammed the motorcycle the officer had been riding.

“He shot at the woman three times, hitting her twice, police said. She is expected to recover.”

But Gina was not expected to survive, at least not by the criminal kkkop.

The first bullet fired by the Colma cop grazed the back of Gina’s head.

Patrisha and I went to visit Gina, a sweet sister with angel eyes. She was twitching with pain, periodically gasping for air.

The Chronicle’s account of the incident was quite inaccurate, she said. Gina had been chased from Colma’s Toys R’ Us, there was indeed a high speed chase, but she had surrendered, arms spread on her dashboard.

I told Gina about the SF Gate story and she burst into tears, saying, “I did not back up into a police car! Shot three times? Look!”

Gina painfully lifted her jail-issued orange sweatshirt. To our horror, we counted seven bullet holes under her right arm and right breast, clearly corroborating her version of the shooting: She was shot while her arms were resting on the dashboard.

Gina also recounted how when the officer first approached her car, she thought he was only going to arrest her. To her sheer terror, he took aim and she instinctively turned her head and heard the glass shatter as the first of the eight shots fired at her hit her in the back of her head.

Miraculously the bullet did not penetrate but only grazed her skull, temporarily stunning her. Somewhat dazed, Gina looked up, and as he was about to fire again, threw up her arms and was struck seven more times.

Gina had her arms stretched out in front of her with her hands on her dashboard when the Colma police officer fired seven shots into her body.

According to Gina, the dead-end Crocker Amazon alley was blocked by two SFPD kkkops, who by law should have stopped the Colma “peace officer” from attempting to take her young life.

Now the three of us were crying.

In a subsequent visit, Gina relayed to Patrisha that the officer also blocked the paramedics from treating her. Instead, he stood over her, counting the number of bullets he had fired into her body.

Gina recalled saying repeatedly, “He’s trying to kill me, somebody help me,” before passing out.

Doris Henderson, Gina’s mother, states that Gina was in a coma and in critical condition, that it was “touch and go, life or death” for several weeks.

During our visits, Patrisha and I observed that Sister Gina Hinton has been receiving substandard care on the medical jail ward. Her pain management regimen is poorly followed, and she sometimes has to wait long hours in agony to get her pain medication. She appeared very depressed – long forgotten by the general community.

Gina was transferred into the general inmate population at 850 Bryant on Oct. 19, which leads to even more grave concerns for her health and wellbeing.

Are we getting jaded, oblivious to all the Ginas and Tyrelles, to our poor people of color in our community and in the world in general?

Are we just pretending that there will not be yet another casualty at the hands of the police? Just waiting, powerless?

Gina Hinton has entered a guilty plea on theft charges and is pleading not guilty to assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.

The Idriss Stelley Foundation and POWER have launched the “Free Gina Hinton Campaign.” We are committed to working tirelessly on her behalf. One of our chief aims is to learn the identity of her attacker, a man acting under the color of law, who clearly intended to murder her.

The community will no longer tolerate the continual lethal assault by police on our brothers and sisters! As Brother Huey Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party, once said, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”

Power to all Black and Brown People!

• To support Gina’s struggle for life, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreeGinaHinton/ and send your love and encouragement to our sweet Sister Gina.
• Email mesha at Iolmisha@cs.com and log on to http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeo9ewi/idrissstelleyfoundation/.

Tyrelle Taylor’s next hearing Nov. 16

As with Gina Hinton, the police who shot Tyrelle Taylor, 18, on Sept. 9 clearly intended to kill him. Locked up in the same medical ward of the San Francisco County Jail, in agony much of the time, both of these strong young people survived.

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who is personally representing Tyrelle, is appealing to the community for any information on his case. For the sake of our youth and a brighter future for our community, all witnesses are urged to summon the courage to come forward. Call (415) 553-9624 to speak with the special investigator assigned to Tyrelle’s case.

At this point, it is not the police who are on trial; instead, the police want the public to look at Tyrelle as a “cop killer.” A packed courtroom is the best assurance that justice will prevail. Tyrelle Taylor’s next hearing is Wednesday, Nov. 16, 9 a.m., at 850 Bryant, San Francisco.

source: http://www.sfbayview.com/102605/ginahinton102605.shtml 2nov2005