S.F. protesters allege police assault

Four members of a San Francisco group called Gay Shame say they were assaulted by police Thursday during a scuffle outside the city's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Gay Shame was demonstrating outside the community center during a fund-raiser that was attended by mayoral candidate and city supervisor Gavin Newsom. Gay Shame members say a confrontation with police officers during the demonstration resulted in one of the protesters being treated at a hospital for a shattered tooth. About 60 Gay Shame members had shown up at the fund-raiser to protest Newsom's "antihomeless" policies and his "blatant pandering to the powerful gay vote." The run-in with police officers occurred after Newsom and his wife were mobbed by protesters, according to Eric Jaye, a Newsom campaign spokesman. A police official said Monday that the officers had acted appropriately. Two of the Gay Shame members who were arrested could face felony charges of lynching, defined as "the taking by means of a riot of any person from the lawful custody of any peace officer." Two others face misdemeanor battery charges.