Video shows Mayor Lurie's security shoved man to ground before fight

"In a TikTok video posted online Friday, which appears to be a snippet from a surveillance camera over the Lower Nob Hill alley, the bodyguard appears to speak to Tony Phillips, 44, the man later identified by the San Francisco Police Department as having attacked the officer. Phillips, holding a blanket, is standing next to another man. He appears to try to walk around the bodyguard, approaching within a foot of his body."

"Then, in a matter of seconds, the bodyguard abruptly shoves Phillips backward, knocking him into a pile of debris on the sidewalk. Philips rises and comes back at the bodyguard. The officer makes contact with him a second time, and the two go into a clinch. The bodyguard holds Phillips in a headlock before Phillips throws the officer to the ground, where the officer hit his head and sustained an injury."

"At the scene on Thursday evening, Mission Local witnessed the bodyguard bleeding out of the back of his head. The officer told his fellow cops that two men had refused to comply with requests to move along, and that Phillips had come at him. The video calls the officer's narrative into question."

Security footage from a Lower Nob Hill alley contradicts a San Francisco police officer's account of an attack while guarding Mayor Daniel Lurie. The video shows the bodyguard speaking with Tony Phillips, who was holding a blanket and attempting to walk past. The officer abruptly shoved Phillips backward into debris, initiating physical contact. Phillips then approached the officer again, leading to a struggle where Phillips threw the officer to the ground, causing a head injury. Mayor Lurie backed away during the altercation. Another man, Abraham Simon, briefly shoved a second bodyguard before retreating. The officer's initial account claimed Phillips refused to comply and came at him, but the footage suggests the bodyguard initiated the confrontation.

Read at Mission Local