Oakland clothing designers’ ‘Stop Killing Black People’ masks seized by postal officials - San Francisco Chronicle

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An Oakland printer who specializes in social justice merchandise sent 2,000 face masks to Black Lives Matter protesters ahead of historic protests, but the face coverings were seized by U.S. postal inspectors who considered them suspicious.

The masks have since been put back in the mail, according to postal officials, but the incident has raised concerns of racial targeting by the print shop’s owner and social justice groups.

René Quiñonez of Movement Ink wanted to help people protesting police brutality against black people while protecting them against COVID-19. So, he worked with the Movement for Black Lives and put in long hours along with his workers to produce black cloth masks with the message “Stop killing black people” and the Movement for Black Lives logo.

He packed up the first 2,000 in four boxes, labeled them and shipped them Wednesday from a West Oakland postal facility to Washington, D.C., St. Louis, New York City and Minneapolis. When the masks didn’t arrive as scheduled Thursday, his client checked the online tracking system and discovered they were labeled “seized by law enforcement.”

Quiñonez, who routinely ships large orders of T-shirts and printed merchandise to clients involved in controversial campaigns, said he was perplexed and disturbed by the brief seizure and he’s convinced it was no accident.

“I’m really concerned for the obvious reasons,” Quiñonez said. “They’re violating our rights and they endangered the lives of protesters by delaying the delivery of the masks.”

Protests have erupted across the country over the last two weeks in response to the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was killed on Memorial Day when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.

Officials for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said the “packages were originally set aside for further investigation because there were indications that they contained non-mailable matter.”

Postal inspectors confirmed the contents of the packages to make sure they were “mailable” and “immediately placed back in the mail stream to be delivered at their intended destinations without further delay.”

Quiñonez wasn’t buying the explanation.

Nothing about the shipment or the way the boxes were packed or labeled was out of the ordinary, he said. And when he questioned postal workers, he said, they gave cold and seemingly rehearsed answers.

He’s pleased the masks are back to being delivered but worried what the disruption may signify.

“The scary part of all of this,” he said, “is if they’re doing this now, what’s to come?”

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan

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