The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office alleged Thursday that the District Attorney’s Office tried to cover up an assault by police officers in August 2025.
Prosecutors charged the victim of the assault, 33-year-old Kevon Gibson, with crimes he did not commit and misled the jury and the public about the facts of the case, according to a news release issued Thursday by the Public Defender’s Office.
On Aug. 17, 2025, San Francisco Police Department officers arrived at an address on Sixth Street after a complainant called the police on Gibson for threatening him, the public defender’s news release said.
Bodycam footage released by the Public Defender’s Office on Thursday shows multiple officers kneeling and pinning Gibson to the ground and beating him repeatedly as they tried to restrain him. Gibson can be heard saying, “I can’t breathe” multiple times in the clip.
Gibson was hospitalized in intensive care because of the injuries suffered during his encounter with the police, according to the Public Defender’s Office.
Prosecutors then charged Gibson with making criminal threats against the complainant, three felony counts of resisting arrest, and gun possession.
The Public Defender’s Office alleges that in the trial that followed, the District Attorney’s Office concealed evidence like the complainant’s “propensity for violence and racism,” and sought to present only parts of the bodycam footage with the audio removed.
The jury acquitted Gibson of the three felony charges but convicted him of misdemeanor resisting arrest charges and unlawful gun possession.
On Aug. 19 of this year, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins’ office issued a news release announcing the conviction and stating that a loaded firearm was found in Gibson’s possession after a search. It also said that Gibson resisted arrest and fought with the officers, who were eventually able to restrain him.
Instead of holding these police officers accountable, the DA’s Office tried to hide key evidence from the jury and then misled the public by thanking the officers for their actions.
Deputy Public Defender Bonnie Chan-Silen
“I would also like to thank the witnesses and San Francisco police who responded,” Jenkins said in that news release. “Compliance with our gun laws, especially for convicted felons, is not optional.”
“Instead of holding these police officers accountable, the DA’s Office tried to hide key evidence from the jury and then misled the public by thanking the officers for their actions,” said Deputy Public Defender Bonnie Chan-Silen, who represented Gibson, in Thursday’s news release. “The public should be aware of the brutal and racist actions of these San Francisco police officers, and the dishonest way that prosecutors presented this case to the jury and the public.”
In response, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office issued the following statement: “The jury saw the video. The jury heard the evidence. 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.”
The Public Defender’s Office said it will file a complaint with the city’s Department of Police Accountability and seek decertification of the officers through the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.
“The District Attorney’s Independent Investigations Bureau (IIB) found this use of force was justified under California law,” the San Francisco Police Department said in an email statement. “The SFPD is conducting an administrative investigation, which is standard procedure following an (IIB) investigation.”