San Francisco Police Face Brutality Allegations After Graphic Arrest Footage Emerges

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is facing allegations of police brutality, according to an Oct. 8 press release shared by the San Francisco Public Defender. The release contains several photos and videos that were allegedly captured during an August 2025 incident. 

The San Francisco Public Defender says that the graphic footage was filmed using body cameras, which show the violent arrest of Kevon Gibson. The 33-year-old was hospitalized for multiple days following the arrest.

According to the press release, Gibson was then charged with crimes he didn’t commit, accusing the Public Defender’s Office of attempting to hide evidence and misleading the public about what happened. 

Gibson spent about a year behind bars as a result of the August incident. Now, the San Francisco Public Defender says it is seeking accountability from the SFPD and that the organization plans to file a complaint in an effort to see that the officers involved in the alleged incident are decertified.

Warning: Please note, some of the information provided in the press release could be triggering. 

Using information provided by the 33-year-old, his girlfriend, and body-worn camera footage, the San Francisco Public Defender’s office says that it plans to seek justice for Gibson. 

“It’s our job as public defenders to fight back against government overreach, and to protect the community by confronting violence perpetrated by state actors. That is why we are exposing this police brutality and the District Attorney Office’s attempts to cover it up,” San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju wrote in the press release. “My office will continue to advocate for transparency and accountability when police officers and prosecutors misuse their immense authority to harm our clients and our communities.”

As such, the office plans to file a complaint with the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability. The group will also notify the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) in an effort to see the officers decertified. 

The press release says officers were called by a neighbor to the apartment building where Gibson was staying.

When the police arrived, they went to the door of the unit where Gibson was staying, allegedly pounding on the door, telling the woman that her father had sent her, and claiming that they had drugs for her. They were also accused of saying that they could kick the door down and “no one would care.”

Gibson arrived back at the apartment while this was happening, which is when the press release alleges that things became violent. According to the San Francisco Public Defender, officers physically moved Gibson from the elevator while the 33-year-old pleaded with officers. Then they slammed him on the ground, punching him in the head, kicking him, and kneeling on his back and neck.

When Gibson told officers that he couldn’t breathe, they allegedly told him to shut up. In the end, Gibson faced injuries that were severe enough that he spent several days in the ICU.

Once he was well enough to be released from jail, the San Francisco Public Defender says that Gibson was transferred to jail, and he remained there for the next year while facing charges. 

When it came time for the case to go to court, the press release claims that the officers lied to the District Attorney’s Independent Investigations Bureau (IIB), claiming that Gibson had assaulted the officers first, justifying the excessive force. But when the body-worn footage was later released, those claims were deemed not credible, according to Gibson’s defense team. 

In the end, he was acquitted of three felony resisting-arrest counts and convicted of three misdemeanor resisting-arrest counts and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The District Attorney’s Office was contacted by ABC7 News after the press release was shared. “The jury saw the video. The jury heard the evidence,” the office wrote in a statement.

“The District Attorney’s office never asked the Court to exclude this footage which we played for the jury. The jury convicted Mr. Gibson of four crimes. Calling this a ‘cover-up’ isn’t just an attack on our prosecutors-it shows remarkable disrespect for the court and the jurors who heard the evidence and rendered the verdict.”

Only time will tell where this story goes.