In March, on the one-year anniversary of the police shooting of 28-year old scholarship student and practicing Buddhist Alex Nieto, protestors held a mock trial in front of the Mission District Police Station. Four responding officers, who were cleared of wrongdoing in February, were represented in effigy and interrogated by a looming prosecutor determined to prove that firing 59 shots was not a reasoned response to the Taser Nieto carried as nightclub security guard. It was a powerful piece of protest theater, the essence of which has been dramatized and amplified in Lowrider Lawyers: Putting a City on Trial. The movie, which writer and director Benjamin Bac Sierra hopes to show in schools and community centers, features music by Dr. Loco and singer Favi Estrella. The cast includes community organizer and San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ District 9 candidate Edwin Lindo, as well as the amazing Adriana Camerena, an attorney, activist, author, and artist who has worked closely with Nieto’s family since his death. Real footage from protests, marches, and the local lowrider community capture the heart of San Francisco as well as its battle against police brutality.
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