Suit says San Francisco Cops Unlawfully Broke Into and Raided “The Black Panther Apartments” after Unlawfully Surveilling the Occupants and Internet Servers of Complex Serving Low Income Tenants

From [HERE] The Black Panther Apartments has sued San Francisco over a May police raid on the West Oakland affordable housing complex, alleging officers smashed through the building’s entrance, detained and pushed staff members and conducted an unconstitutional search after the robbery suspect they were investigating was already in custody.

The federal civil rights lawsuit, filed Sept. 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses San Francisco police of unreasonable search and seizure, excessive force and other civil rights violations stemming from the May 21 operation at the 79-unit complex.

Plaintiffs 7th & Campbell LP, which owns The Black Panther Apartments, Resident Property Manager Misty Cross and security employee Shawn Johnson filed the lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco and unnamed city employees.

The Black Panther Apartments is a 100% affordable housing development created for low- and extremely low-income residents, including people who have historically faced significant barriers to obtaining housing.

Beginning in July 2024, according to the lawsuit, the development expressly welcomed applications from formerly incarcerated people, except registered sex offenders, along with other economically and socially marginalized individuals and families. More than 7,000 people applied for its 79 residential units.

The complaint states that residents include foreign-born families and a substantial number of Black residents, including single mothers and young children. Many residents came to the complex after experiencing homelessness and living in shelters or vehicles.

The lawsuit alleges that the May 21 police operation followed approximately a month of SFPD surveillance of the building.

According to the complaint, officers told building personnel that SFPD had been watching the property for about 30 days. The lawsuit further alleges an officer acknowledged that police had accessed the building’s internet servers and the private server associated with Apartment 515 without the owners’ knowledge or consent or a warrant.

Those allegations have not been adjudicated, and the plaintiffs state that they do not yet possess all records concerning the surveillance, warrant application, police communications or planning of the operation. [MORE]