Kate Steinle's Family to Sue ICE, BLM and SF Sheriff

The family of a woman shot and killed at San Francisco’s Pier 14 last month today said they plan to sue city and federal officials.

San Francisco resident Kathryn “Kate” Steinle, 32, a Pleasanton native, was fatally shot on July 1 while walking with family members on the Pier in broad daylight. Within an hour of the shooting, police arrested Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, an undocumented immigrant who had been deported five times and has seven prior felony convictions, including four involving narcotics.

The shooting and arrest have triggered a national debate on San Francisco’s Sanctuary City policy, which limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.

Lopez-Sanchez, a Mexican national, had been released from San Francisco County Jail in April despite a request from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service to detain him so that ICE field agents could deport him for a sixth time.

Related:

• Expert Witnesses Say Bullet Likely Ricocheted Off Pier 14 Before Fatally Striking Woman
• Photographic Evidence, Witness Interviews Place Pier 14 Homicide Suspect at Crime Scene
• House Passes SoCal Congressman’s Legislation to De-Fund ‘Sanctuary Cities’
• SF Pier 14 Killing Spurs U.S. Senate Hearing on Immigration Enforcement
• In Wake of Fatal SF Pier 14 Shooting, Bill O’Reilly Starts ‘Kate’s Law’ Petition

Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, who has borne the brunt of the criticism following the incident, has argued that cooperating with the ICE request would have violated San Francisco’s Sanctuary City and Due Process for all policies, as well as the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

This evening, Mirkarimi issued a statement saying that while he “can’t comment on potential litigation, he continues to extend his deepest sympathy to the Steinle family for their loss.”

The Steinle family plans to file claims against Mirkarimi, ICE and the Bureau of Land Management, according to a statement released this evening. The gun used in the shooting had previously been reported stolen by a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger while he was traveling on official business in San Francisco.

Previous:

• Family of Pleasanton Woman Fatally Shot in SF Pier Starts Fundraiser to Support Causes She Loved
• Sources: Gun That Killed Woman on SF Pier 14 Possibly Stolen From Federal Agent
• Parolee Arrested in Murder of Woman Strolling With Family At Popular San Francisco Pier
• Woman Shot, Killed in Broad Daylight Near SF Ferry Building Identified
• Pleasanton Woman Fatally Shot at Pier 14 in San Francisco

In a preliminary hearing last week to determine if Lopez-Sanchez would stand trial for murder, experts testified that the bullet that killed Steinle appears to have ricocheted off of something before hitting her, suggesting that she was not the intended target. That hearing has been continued to Sept. 3.

--Bay City News