Man allegedly threatens to shoot family wearing Black Lives Matter shirts
A San Francisco man faces hate crime charges after allegedly threatening to shoot a family wearing “Black Lives Matter” shirts at a restaurant, according to a report.
Steve Cibotti, 55, was caught on surveillance video accosting Ciara Doherty, Anthony Colon and their three young kids on June 7 while they ate at the Flights Restaurant in the city of Burlingame on the San Francisco Peninsula, ABC7 News reported.
He was booked late last week into San Mateo County Jail on four counts of felony threats with a hate crime enhancement after an 11-day investigation.
“He basically banged the table, slammed his hands on the table looked directly at my son and said, ‘Black lives matter. F— black lives. Blue lives matter,’” Colon told the news outlet.
The family had just arrived at the restaurant after taking part in a demonstration in San Francisco, ABC 7 reported.
Colon said Cibotti returned to their table and again threatened to shoot them.
“He said, ‘F— you, b—-. I’ll f—- shoot you!’” he told the station.
On Thursday, Cibotti was released from jail after posting $150,000 bail.
“He signed up for rehab because I said, ‘Dude you have a drinking problem, you need to go to rehab,’” his attorney Paula Canny told ABC 7, adding that Cibotti had too much to drink with his family at the restaurant.
His family — which has ties to law enforcement — left the joint but he returned to use the restroom – which is when he made the threat, she said.
Canny said Cibotti has been fired from his job at United Airlines after the incident and has been “just a bundle of tears, super upset, super crying, super stressed out.”
The lawyer denied that Cibotti threatened to shoot the family, adding that he doesn’t have firearms at home, but San Mateo County DA Steve Wagstaffe said police interviewed a dozen witnesses.
“Right now, on what people reported to the detective who interviewed them, those words were spoken,” Wagstaffe told ABC 7.
“This wasn’t just somebody who was yelling at the people next to them because their kids were crying or making noise,” he said.
“This one has that added element that it’s based on race at a time in our world, our community is very concerned about this issue and he is railing against a family for exercising their right,” Wagstaffe said, referring to the hate crime component.
“According to the evidence we have, he added in, ‘If I had a gun, I would shoot you,’” he said, adding that Cibotti has no registered weapons.
In a statement, Doherty and Colon said they were “relieved to hear that the District Attorney has filed charges.”
“We look forward to the resolution of this matter so that we and everyone else affected by this incident can put it behind them and begin the healing process,” the couple said.
Cibotti’s arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.
“The alleged actions of this individual are unconscionable and go against everything our company stands for,” a United Airlines rep told The Post in an email.
“Upon being informed of this incident we took immediate action and he is no longer employed by the company. At United, we have a zero tolerance policy for acts of racism and bigotry and take pride in standing together against racism.”
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