Things aren't looking up for Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi.
First, a former supporter and confidant attends a City Hall event calling for his ouster, saying that the allegations that Mirkarimi bruised his wife during a New Year's Eve argument are so severe that he needs to step aside while an investigation is conducted.
And then Eliana Lopez, Mirkarimi's wife, attends the event.
Wait -- huh?
Lopez, a former South American television star who married Mirkarimi in 2009, happened by the afternoon press conference on her way into City Hall to meet with Mirkarimi, the former district supervisor elected sheriff in November, according to the couple's lawyer. Their young son attends day care at City Hall, and she was there to see him, too.
A harmless explanation for the odd timing, perhaps, but plausible.
That means Lopez was on hand to hear Beverly Upton, the head of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium, say that her husband's handling of the issue has been to date deplorable.
Mirkarimi initially told reporters that the issue of whether he grabbed and bruised Lopez is a "private matter... a family matter." A neighbor of the couple, whose complaint to police led to the issue becoming public, has been called "out of line" for going public.
"We are here to say 'Enough,'" Upton said. "It is not a family matter. It is not a private matter. The neighbor who calls police is not out of line -- she is doing a public service, and should be applauded."
The District Attorney's office has yet to file charges against Mirkarimi. An announcement could come as early as Friday.
