SF Pride Resolves Lawsuits Over Shootings

One man who was shot and another who was injured during shootings at recent San Francisco LGBT Pride celebrations have resolved their lawsuits with the event's organizers.

In complaints filed in May, Freddy Atton and Mahlik Smith claimed that they'd been hurt because the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee had failed to provide adequate security.

In response to emailed questions, George Ridgely, the Pride Committee's executive director, said the Atton case "settled on terms acceptable to all parties, and those terms are confidential. The Smith case has also been resolved, and the resolution is confidential."

Ryan Lapine, an attorney representing Atton, who was 64 when he was shot, and Smith, 19, said in a brief phone call, "The parties reached satisfactory settlement to resolve their disputes." He said he couldn't answer more questions.

According to court records, Atton's case was settled November 30. Smith's was dismissed with prejudice December 1, which essentially means the case can't be re-filed.

Atton, of San Francisco, was shot in the arm June 27, 2015, after "a large fight broke out" on Fulton Street west of Hyde, which was inside the Pride festival perimeter. He claimed in his complaint that the Pride Committee allowed someone "to bring a handgun into the celebration."

"There was no security in sight to address the fight, to dissipate it, or to eject the combatants," the complaint says, and the celebration was allowed "to descend as it does annually into lawlessness."

Atton's injuries included losing the use of his left hand, according to court records. He'd sought at least $10 million in damages.

Joshua Spencer, 20, has pleaded not guilty to charges including attempted murder and assault with a semiautomatic firearm in the incident. Spencer, whose next court date is Friday, December 9, is in custody on $2.5 million bail.

Smith, who's from Oakland, was injured as he fled a shooting at the June 30, 2013 celebration.

His complaint says that after 6 p.m. that night, the party "was still in full swing. A group of young men began fighting outside the celebration and were allowed to proceed" inside "without anyone stopping them. ... The committee's safety volunteers, in the middle of this, just up and left."

Eventually, at least one of the people involved in the fight "began to display a handgun and rob attendees."

Nobody from SF Pride tried to stop the fight or throw out the people involved, the documents say, and soon after the 6:30 closing time, "one of the combatants fired into the crowd shooting at least two victims."

Smith "was shoved to the ground by the stampede" that resulted, "his head striking a metal pole before hitting the ground," his complaint says.

He became unconscious during the incident and later started having "debilitating and frequent migraine headaches." (Two weeks before the Pride party, he'd suffered a concussion while playing sports, but after being released from the hospital that time he'd "suffered from no symptoms and, importantly, had never experienced a migraine in his life," his complaint says.)

Smith's brother, Monte Smith, 20, was also injured and was originally part of the complaint, but he was eventually removed as a plaintiff. The brothers had sought at least $5 million.

During the court proceedings, Pride organizers had fought demands that they add metal detectors and bag checks, among other security tactics, to the June 2016 celebration, but they relented shortly after the mass shooting June 12 at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Forty-nine people died and 53 people were injured.

The Pride celebration and parade draw hundreds of thousands of people every year. Proceeds from donations at the festivities have resulted in over $2.5 million going to local nonprofits that work on issues ranging from HIV/AIDS to homelessness.