Bodycam shows San Francisco police officers beating man during 2025 arrest
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Newly released body camera footage shows three San Francisco police officers restraining a man on the ground as he is repeatedly punched during an arrest that left him hospitalized in intensive care.
Now, the San Francisco Public Defender's Office is accusing the officers of excessive force and prosecutors of trying to cover up what happened.
The video, released Thursday by the Public Defender's Office, shows the August 2025 arrest of 33-year-old Kevon Gibson at a residential hotel on Sixth Street in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood.
Police were responding to a 911 call from a neighbor who claimed Gibson had threatened him with a gun. But bodycam footage also captures that neighbor making violent and racially charged threats against Gibson while speaking with officers.
Officers initially went looking for Gibson at a friend's apartment, where they were recorded making taunting remarks to a woman they believed was inside.
They eventually found Gibson in an elevator down the hall.
The footage shows officers telling Gibson he was not under arrest before grabbing his arms and pulling him from the elevator. Surveillance video shows all three officers taking Gibson to the ground and restraining him as he is repeatedly punched. Gibson can be heard calling for help and saying he cannot breathe.
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Officers accused Gibson of biting one of them and attempting to break another's thumb, allegations his attorneys dispute.
According to the District Attorney's Office, Gibson refused officers' orders to step out of the elevator. Prosecutors say he then fought officers as they tried to pat him down for weapons. After all three officers restrained and handcuffed him, police recovered a loaded, unregistered 9 mm Glock from his right pocket.
Gibson's attorneys say he lost consciousness and spent several days in intensive care following the arrest.
After leaving the hospital, Gibson was taken to jail and faced several criminal charges, including making threats against the neighbor, felony resisting arrest and illegal gun possession.
His attorneys say prosecutors offered him a plea deal that would have dismissed the felony resisting charges but required him to sign a waiver that could have weakened his ability to sue the officers. Gibson rejected the offer, and the case went to trial.
During the trial, prosecutors dropped the criminal threats charge involving the neighbor.
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The jury ultimately convicted Gibson of being a felon in possession of a firearm and three misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest, but acquitted him of three more serious felony resisting charges.
Court records reviewed by ABC7 Eyewitness News also show Gibson has several prior felony convictions, including robbery and domestic violence offenses. It is unclear whether the arresting officers knew about his criminal history at the time.
Gibson's attorneys say the video was critical to his defense and accuse prosecutors of initially trying to keep portions of the footage and audio from jurors.
Deputy Public Defender Bonnie Chan-Silen, who represented Gibson alongside John Paul Passaglia, called it part of an attempted cover-up. The attorneys also criticized District Attorney Brooke Jenkins for thanking the officers in a news release following the verdict without mentioning Gibson's injuries.
Jenkins' office strongly disputes the accusation.
In a statement to Eyewitness News, the District Attorney's Office said:
"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."
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SFPD also defended the officers' actions, saying the District Attorney's Independent Investigations Bureau determined their use of force was justified under California law.
The department provided Eyewitness News with the following statement:
"The District Attorney's Independent Investigations Bureau (IIB) found this use of force was justified under California law. The SFPD is conducting an administrative investigation, which is standard procedure following an (IIB) investigation. Additionally, the jury found the defendant guilty of resisting arrest and being a felon in possession of a firearm."
SFPD confirmed that all three officers involved remain employed by the department.
The Public Defender's Office plans to file a complaint with San Francisco's Department of Police Accountability and ask state officials to revoke the officers' police certifications.
Gibson, who spent about a year in jail following his arrest, has since been released. His attorneys say he plans to appeal his firearm conviction and is considering a civil lawsuit against the officers.
