Civil rights advocates are calling for swift sanctions against a San Francisco police officer after an NBC Bay Area hidden camera investigation showed the officer threatening to deport a group of minorities.
Friday, the FREE SF Coalition called for Police Chief William Scott to discipline officer Joshua Fry alleging the officer violated San Francisco’s Sanctuary City policy.
"We are deeply disturbed by the recent undercover video that captured an SFPD officer threatening a group of Latino and Asian people with deportation,” the group said in a Statement. “That an SFPD officer racially profiled and threatened people of color with deportation in perhaps the most well-known sanctuary city is shameful and an affront to our deepest values. Authorities must treat all people fairly, regardless of their background, where they were born, what they look like.”
In February, the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit went undercover to expose a black market for stolen items on the corner of 7th and Market streets. Our cameras were rolling when Officer Joshua Fry arrived in plainclothes and confronted a crowd of Asian and Hispanic men.
“You know why people steal stuff? It’s because people like you come down here and buy their [expletive] all day long,” Fry said to the group. "Wait ‘til we get INS [Immigration and Naturalization Service] involved in here too, it's going to be awesome. We're going to ship everybody back to their own country."
SFPD policy prohibits officers from working with federal immigration officials. Earlier this week, the Asian Law Caucus filed a complaint with the Department of Police Accountability condemning fry’s comments.
Officer fry declined to comment for our report. S-f-p-d confirmed the case is under internal investigation.
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