Five men and one woman who allegedly tried to attack supervisor Gavin Newsom, a San Francisco mayoral candidate, during the city's gay pride parade have been jailed on felony charges, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The six, who are reportedly members of the "anticapitalist" group Gay Shame, are being held without bail because individuals charged with threatening a public official are not eligible for bail until they appear before a judge. The defendants are identified as Lily Pastora, Matthew Luton, Jesse Sanford, Jonathan Baker, and Harry Mansor. The sixth person has not been identified.
According to a police spokesman, the incident happened early Sunday afternoon, when about eight people jumped a barricade along the parade route and rushed toward a car in which Newsom was riding. The police said the Gay Shame members were holding a copper pipe, a 60-inch wooden stick, and a 39-inch bamboo stick. Group members say the poles were used to hold signs.
"The intent was, literally, to join the parade," explained Mary Woods, a Gay Shame spokesman. (All group members go by the first name "Mary.") Woods said the group was protesting the parade's corporate sponsors and the presence of "straight conservative" Newsom.
This is the second time Gay Shame members have been arrested after protesting the mayoral candidate. In February two members were arrested outside the city's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center, where a Newsom fund-raiser was taking place.
READER COMMENTS (