Internet trolls attack former police chief after his stroke

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Former San Francisco police chief Earl Sanders certainly has his issues. Just this month the Chronicle ran a story on a judge's ruling that Sanders knew a witness in a murder trial had given false testimony, but did not correct it, resulting in a tainted conviction.

But when it was reported that Sanders, 73, had suffered a serious stroke and was hospitalized, some of the online comments were incredibly vicious. Anonymous writers said things like, "I hope he dies and rots in hell . . . the hotter and longer the better.''

It's a familiar phenomenon. Cowardly internet trolls write the meanest possible posts, knowing that they will get a public viewing without anyone confronting them. The idea that these are people, with families and friends, seems lost, along with a sense of humanity.

But this time there was a response. Marcus Sanders, the chief's son, posted a reply. (In it, he refers to another case, where two defendants, Antoine Goff and John Tennison, were freed from prison after serving 10 years because the courts found some evidence was not disclosed during the trial.)

Here is the response in full:

''You are all talking about my father. And your comments are very cruel. Its easy to be cruel when you are hidden in the anonymity of the Internet. I am the Chief's son, Marcus Sanders - None of you have the courage to say what you've said in your comments to my face.

''If you had the courage I might educate you on the real facts about my father's over 30 years of public service, the circumstances of the Factual Finding of Innocence granted to my father and how his courage to stand up lead to the release of Tennison and Goff and this latest case. But, (spending) time to educate you would be complete waste of my energy in educating you ignorant Internet Trolls! You never deserved my father's time and service! That's why I spend my career getting rich and not serving a day working for an undeserving public!''

I reached Marcus Thursday afternoon and he confirmed he was the one who responded.

"We're used to the battle back and forth about my father in the news,'' he said. "But we're a family, going through a pretty tough time and when I read some of those comments I thought they were just horrible.''

Marcus said this was his first experience with internet trolls, but he wouldn't mind meeting up with some of them.

"I'm 6-2 and I weigh about 250,'' he said. "Come up and say that to my face.''

Posted By: C.W. Nevius (Email) | December 23 2010 at 05:17 PM

Listed Under: Ethics