UCSF 'die-in' protests guns and Tasers in hospitals

Some 60 UCSF medical residents, students and faculty laid their bodies down in front of San Francisco General Hospital during a “die-in” to protest guns and Tasers in hospitals, according to an article on the Mission Local website. 

“We’re wondering if we can provide safety in hospitals in other ways without uniforms and guns and flashing lights,” said Sheyda Aboii, a first-year UCSF student who helped organize the event with the activist group White Coats for Black Lives.

The protesters want guns and Tasers banned from hospital campuses. They also want hospitals to move away from using law enforcement as security and hospital staff to not comply with SFPD or federal immigration agencies. They are also asking UCSF make an official statement “decrying” Tasers, which the Police Commission recently approved.

“We certainly recognize there’s this desire to create safe space where professionals can provide care and those seeking care can receive it,” Aboii said. “But unfortunately, some of our patients have had bad encounters with [local law enforcement].”

Read the article.