I did a little more digging. Yep, definitely SGI.

[www.sfgate.com]

Jonathan Bonato, 53, met Nieto through his volunteer work teaching Buddhism classes in 2008 and worked with him and the Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai International on setting up the Victory Over Violence exhibit in the Bayview neighborhood.

"He was an encouragement and inspiration to me," Bonato said. "I just never in my wildest imagination connected the story on Friday with Alex."
Friend's concerns

Bac Sierra said he didn't believe Nieto was going through anything that would make him act erratically. But even if he was, "the officers should have had more compassion, more training on how to approach someone," he said.

"I don't know exactly what his state of mind could have been," he said, "but I always knew him as someone who would chant, someone who would go up there and look at the view and reflect. That's all."

So much for the protection of the Magic Law, I guess. I'm surprised das org isn't trying to blame the temple or enemies of the lotus sutra.

IMO, Alex sounded a bit taser-happy, having had a restraining order put on him for tasering someone in the back 4 times. And pointing the taser weapon at a dog didn't help matters either. Even an idiot should know that in today's Police State, when the police want to arrest you, its best to just put your hands up and get down on your knees to avoid having your body riddled with bullets due to a "perceived" threatening move. Whether or not Alex was a wannabe LEO, he should have been aware of the danger he found (or put) himself in.

Setting aside whether there was or wasn't justification for this police murder, there's just no getting around this fact: the police officers shot the guy 14 times. No matter how you cut it, that's excessive use of force. No single shot in the leg to disable and defuse the confrontation, no sir. Today's police officers are trained killers, taught to unload their entire clip into a human being without a shred of mercy or compassion, confident that their monsterous crimes will be fully protected by the State, applauded by their departments, and rewarded with paid vacations. Having any knid of run in with state-sanctioned uniformed killers can be (and was) the epitomy of misfortune.

Magical and delusional thinking are at the heart of being a cultie. Who knows where this guy's head was at. As an SGI member, he may have slipped beyond the usual delusional thinking regarding his status as a "protected" buddhist. There is NO protection from the gohonzon. And there is NO serve and protect from the police either - a lose-lose situation for Alex.

And besides not having any Buddhist gods' "protection", where is the supposed "good fortune" that the SGI claims its members will inevitably enjoy?? Fail. Double Fail.

Getting shot and murdered by the police is not only unfortunate, its actual proof that practicing SGI's form of Buddhist is complete bullshit. In science, it only takes one predictive failure to disprove any theory. Alex's brutal murder proves beyond a doubt, the deluded folly of believing in the SGI's false claims of "protection" and "good fortune".

Alex's untimely and violent death should serve as a reality check that all SGI members should pay attention to. But of course, the SGI's mind control programming and indoctrination will never allow any glimpse of the truth to happen. All the stock standard excuses will be trotted out by the SGI to comfort and confuse - "karma was too heavy", "not practicing correctly", "not connecting with Sensei enough", "not donating enough money", "not the right ichinen", "not doing enough activites", etc. etc. The SGI leaders will completely blame Alex for his misfortune - while the obvious failure of his SGI practice to provide "protection" and "good fortune" will be neatly covered up - unmentioned and unnoticed. Nothing to see here - keep moving!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2014 05:23PM by Spartacus.

AS far as police shootings, there is a pattern where police are trained that if they are going to shoot, then shoot to kill with a dozen bullets, likely for legal reasons. It seems the mentally ill repeatedly pay the price, as they are not behaving in a way that makes sense.


Many people with problems with mental illness get hooked into SGI, as if you are suffering from delusions, then the SGI-USA machine will encourage you to expand your self-delusions instead of doing a reality check.
Is SGI-USA ashamed of themselves for leading people with mental illness into even more delusions?
If anyone from SGI-USA is reading, then they should be ashamed of themselves. Your DUTY as a human is to NOT encourage delusional thinking in people, but the opposite,like a sane and decent person. You don't exploit the delusions of disturbed and vulnerable persons, you try to get them help from a trained professional.

But SGI-USA does not do this. They exploit mentally ill people by telling them their delusions are not delusions.
Shame on SGI-USA.

It is really beyond belief that some SGI members might actually believe that a "gohonzon" could offer them any kind of protection whatsoever? There is nothing there. Its simply an illusion. Its a delusion.


The post by "doubtful"on the last page offers a way out of the delusion and back to reality.

Large numbers of SGI members read this thread, as they are wondering about their own private doubts about SGI in their own mind.
Read the posts by former SGI members, think as carefully as you can, looking at all the facts and evidence, and then make up your own mind. Forget all the SGI nonsense, think for yourself.

Unfortunately, some of those with serious mental illness do not have that choice, and they get exploited by SGI-USA and encouraged to do insane things, like chant all day long.

Shame on you, SGI-USA, how can you look in the mirror everyday, knowing you are exploiting vulnerable people for profit for the Ikeda family?
Maybe its time to wake-up and put a stop to it.

We will need an in depth exam of what Mr Neito's life was like prior to this tragedy.

It appears he was a scholarship student at City College of San Francisco -
in criminal justice, no less.

And early reports are that N, when told to pull his hands from his pockets, pulled out a Taser.

[www.google.com]

It is going to take a long time to find out if there is any connection between
this (if it happened) and N being involved with SGI.

Can say that anything resembling a weapon, especially anything that remotely
resembles a firearm, will scare police officers.

Man killed by S.F. police was 'inspiration' but had troubles - SFGateApr 2, 2014 ... previous; video; Mourners celebrate the life of Alejandro Nieto, killed by ...
suggested it was a Taser stun gun - and forced officers to open fire.
www.sfgate.com/.../Man-killed-by-S-F-police-was-inspiration-but-5344159. php - 164k - Cached - Similar pages


[www.google.com]

[www.google.com]

Bernal Heights, where Mr. Neito was killed, is a complex neighborhood in San Francisco.

Complex and edgy.

Bernal is becoming expensive as new arrivals purchase property, many favoring a quaint and prettified aesthetic. They live alongside older residents fortunate to have bought in decades earlier when prices were comparatively cheap. In the 1970s and 1980s many progressive communal households set up
in Bernal, and some of these still exist. The older residents and communes latter prefer stained glass,natural wood, let the paint on their houses become mellow in the sun. Small children are minutely supervised while untamed vines and flowers climb the fences.

Bernal Heights has an idyllic feel, sitting in the sun, aloft in the clouds.

But at ground level, Bernal is near a multitude of freeways. On one side, it abuts some tense housing projects, on another side slopes down to the county hospital and trauma center sit. The Mission Distric, formerly mostly
immigrant and a haven for artists is now tense due to evictions as cash loaded
workers from tech companies move in.

To add to the complexity, Bernal is a short bus ride away from Bay View Hunter's Point, where many struggle with violence and poverty, and demand
better.

With all this, Bernal has been cheerful, neighborly, which adds to its appeal. But residents will be quick to worry if anyone seems to be carrying a weapon.

[webcache.googleusercontent.com]
-------------------------


(Names converted to initials for privacy, except for the police chief, the journalist and for the deceased - Corboy)
Page 1 of 1

Alejandro Nieto sought refuge on Bernal Hill. When he had a lot on his mind, friends said, he would trek up the steep slope to sit and think, looking over the city he loved.

That's where the 28-year-old student at City College of San Francisco went Friday evening before his shift as a nightclub security guard. That's where police officers found him as they investigated reports of a man with a gun at Bernal Heights Park, acting erratically and threatening passersby.

And that is where he died, after police said he appeared to reach for a weapon - friends and witnesses suggested it was a Taser stun gun - and forced officers to open fire.

Three days after the shooting, Nieto's friends, many of whom called him "Alex," were bewildered Monday, unable to process such a violent death for a man who they say advocated for peace. They held a vigil for him Monday evening at the park.

"We are all shocked in the community," said his friend (B B S) "Everyone knew Alejandro. He was such a beautiful, peaceful, loving man."

Restraining order

Friends said the man they knew was a Buddhist who preached compassion - and who carried a stun gun for his job. But some also said Nieto had been out of sorts lately. And one former friend recently filed for a restraining order against him, saying that Nieto attacked him with a Taser.

Police officials said officers encountered Nieto on a pedestrian path on the north slope about 7:10 p.m. Friday. Nieto appeared to draw a weapon, and at least two officers fired at him, police Deputy Chief Lyn Tomioka said Friday.

A weapon was discovered close to his body, Tomioka said, but she did not identify the weapon. On Monday, police remained tight-lipped on the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

One resident, (IMG), said his wife was warned of a man wearing a holstered gun as she ran up the hill just before the shooting.

"She looked again and he was air boxing," McG said. "She ran down the hill away from him and warned everyone walking up."

Another witness, who declined to give his name, said he was walking his dog just after 7 p.m. when the dog came upon a man eating chips. The dog got excited, scaring the man, who jumped on a bench and started acting erratically.

According to the witness, the man pulled out a pistol-type stun gun and pointed it at the dog, leading the witness to call the dog back and yell at the man.

The man then started "flexing," yelling profanities and threatening him, the witness said. The witness said he left the area, went home and called police.

According to San Francisco court records, Nieto's former friend AV described a March 5 incident in which Nieto had used a stun gun.

In a March 14 request for a restraining order, V said Nieto shocked him four times in the back in front of his wife and 3-year-old son. V said he had been picking up his son when Nieto appeared and forced himself into his wife's car.

V said Nieto had screamed profanities. He and his wife got away, but two days later he saw what he believed to be Nieto's car following him.

Possessing stun guns is legal in California for everyone except convicted felons, drug addicts and people who have misused the devices in the past.

Contrasting views

V's experience with Nieto stands in contrast to the man some of his friends remember. Nieto appeared depressed and hadn't been acting like himself lately, they said, but was still the caring and civic-minded man he always was.

Nieto was a few credits away from earning an associate's degree in criminal justice from City College, Bac Sierra said. He planned to become a youth counselor, working with troubled children who needed guidance.

He volunteered at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center and with Homey, a nonprofit youth empowerment group in the Mission District, and had just finished a stint at a youth guidance center working with youth in juvenile detention.

JB 53, met Nieto through his volunteer work teaching Buddhism classes in 2008 and worked with him and the Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai International on setting up the Victory Over Violence exhibit in the Bayview neighborhood.

"He was an encouragement and inspiration to me," B said. "I just never in my wildest imagination connected the story on Friday with Alex."

Friend's concerns

S said he didn't believe Nieto was going through anything that would make him act erratically. But even if he was, "the officers should have had more compassion, more training on how to approach someone," he said.

"I don't know exactly what his state of mind could have been," he said, "but I always knew him as someone who would chant, someone who would go up there and look at the view and reflect.

"That's all."


Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/2014 11:31PM by corboy.

The magic chant does different things to different people. It calms some people, but I've also seen it "flip a switch" is some, too. Cognitive individuality creates its unpredictable effects - for some it is a helpful balm for their psyche, for others it's an addictive crutch enabling them to function and cope with the world, and yet for others it is a trigger point unleashing deeper realms of pre-existing psychopathology. It plays all roles at different times. One need not look any further than gakkai cult org. "leaders" (at all levels) and their own delusions of grandeur dictating their behavior and ill treatment of others (fellow members, and in the case of non-member interaction, misguided dogmatic manipulative shakubuku /proslyetizing - which I also call "world-saviour" mode).

In all cases, however, it (the magic chant, NMRK) encourages magical thinking and delusion (some can ditch it, others become chronically or permanently shackled to it, while it causes some to flip-out).


- Hitch

I've heard that before, Hitch, but I can't find any documentation on it. Let's face it, though, it changes your perceptions of what's going on around you.

While I'm not blaming the victim here, if he was in command of himself, he would have realized that the last thing you do when confronted by two police officers with their guns drawn is to reach into your pocket. Sadly, Hollywood has (surprise, surprise) provided a wealth of misinformation regarding the whole "shoot to injure" scenario. It's not as simple as it sounds - this article offers some clarity:

[www.pfoa.co.uk]

Full disclosure - I'm pro-cop. My son was one (and thank goodness left the force), and I spent most of my life with my breath held. So did his wife. Like any occupation or group of people, you only hear about the bad apples, and the rest of them get cast in that same light.

Altered state-of-consciousness (at its most severe, psychotic break(s)) was a very common experience within the gakkai cult org., especially at meditative retreat (tozan pilgrimages of days past and FNCC modern day substitute post-excommunication cult retreat of times present) events. Most occur during, but I've seen a few occur as a delayed reaction upon returning to the "real world."

People handle the flight from rationality in different ways, some readapt by eventually discarding/leaving/cultivating critical thought, others by immersing themselves slowly deeper into the magical thinking (by either remaining in the cult org. or cult/philosophy hopping). The partition between spirituality and psychosis can sometimes be paper-thin (from common member to cult leader).


- Hitch