Arrest of San Francisco activist Equipto sparks protest outside police station in Mission District

Ilyich Sato (right) hugs his mother Cristina Gutierrez (left) after being detained by the police outside the MIssion Police Department in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2018. Ilyich Sato (right) hugs his mother Cristina Gutierrez (left) after being detained by the police outside the MIssion Police Department in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2018. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle Photo: Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Arrest of San Francisco activist Equipto sparks protest outside police station in Mission District 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

More than 50 protesters confronted police outside of the Mission police station in San Francisco following the arrest of a Bay Area activist Wednesday who residents said was taken into custody for videoing police mistreatment of a black youth.

Ilyich Sato, a rapper also known as Equipto, and the youth were arrested after 6 p.m. on Valencia Street in a chaotic scene that was filled with tense confrontations between residents and police. Sato was released hours later, as protesters crowded outside the Mission station, shouting at police and accusing them of brutality and unfairness.

It all began, witnesses told The Chronicle, as members of the Black and Brown Social Club were meeting on Valencia Street to discuss police brutality against people of color. During the meeting, participants heard a thud outside and saw police arresting the youth across the street, in front of Everlane, a women’s boutique.

Sato said he began videoing the police as they pinned the youth on the sidewalk.

“He was handcuffed on his back and he started slightly moving a little,” Sato said of the black youth. That’s when Sato said police began getting aggressive with the youth, infuriating bystanders, who began shouting at officers and confronting them about their actions.

Tensions escalated when police arrested Sato and took him down on his stomach, he and witnesses said.

“The more I said that I couldn’t breathe, the more it was hurting,” Sato said after he was released. “They had me in a hog-tied position.”

Officer Joseph Tomlinson, a public information officer with the San Francisco Police Department, could not say why Sato was arrested. Police did not release information on the arrest of the youth.

Outside the Mission station after his release, Sato told The Chronicle that arresting officers told him that he was detained for “resisting arrest,” but that officials declined to provide why he was originally placed under arrest.

Kevin Williams, a witness who had been attending the meeting, said he heard Sato say “get your hands off of my mother” before police arrested him.

Videos posted to social media show the confrontation between residents and multiple officers who were standing around a male who was face-down on the sidewalk on Valencia Street.

Earlier in the night, as Sato was still detained by police, dozens of protesters swelled outside of the Mission station chanting “power to the people.”

When Sato walked out of the station, he embraced his mother and was welcomed by cheers.

At one point, police closed off Valencia Street in front of the station as the crowd outside grew, with people shouting, “Who do you serve? Who do you protect?”

Sato has led hunger strikes at the steps of San Francisco police stations in recent years in response to fatal officer-involved shootings and allegations of police brutality in the area.

He called for former San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee to fire then-San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr in 2016 after a number of officers were accused of sending racist, sexist homophobic and anti-Semitic text messages.

Gwendolyn Wu and Lauren Hernandez are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com; lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com