Bob Lee, a 43-year-old tech entrepreneur, was sprawled on a San Francisco sidewalk. He died as a result of a double attack on the chest with a knife. This happened on the morning of April 4.
Once the news broke, there was as much praise for the late, widely admired founder of the popular payments app Cash App, as there was scorn for the Californian Bay Area city.
The case fit perfectly with the far-right narrative pushed by Donald Trump and admirers like Elon Musk against liberal cities, those that bet more on left-wing initiatives and less on hard-line impulses while cutting taxes on corporations in exchange for taking care services away from the poor, without medical care or housing.
Big names in the tech industry, celebrities and conservative politicians took to social media and the media to condemn a metropolis beset by anarchy and violence and ruled by progressive leaders who look the other way.
Jake Shields, a famous UFC fighter (the world’s largest martial arts company), rushed to tweet that the city was guilty of “a random attack to commit a robbery”. And he added in his comment: “Fuck San Francisco”.
Later, in some statements, Shields reinforced the idea that it could only be a random crime, which is what is most feared in supposedly lost cities, because “no one could have anything against Bob”, whom he described as good friend
This led to the irruption of Musk, always ready to act as a great justice. “I know many people who have been assaulted. Crime in San Francisco is horrendous; they arrest many criminals and release them immediately. Will the city take tougher actions to incarcerate habitual violent criminals?†he questioned.
For his part, Davis Shack, known for his podcast All in, came to predict that the author could be a psychotic homeless man.
They are just three voices among many others. They assumed, without any basis, that this would not be clarified.
But this whole story has disappeared nine days later and the vast majority of the promoters of fear and hatred remained silent yesterday Friday. They hoped to find the appropriate reply in the style of “it doesn’t matter what they say to me”.
Because the police announced on Thursday the arrest of another technological entrepreneur, Nima Momeni, as the alleged author of the fatal stabbings.
A business owner in Emeryville, a city east of the bay, it turns out that Momeni was a friend of Lee’s. That night they were seen driving in the same car, and they had an argument, according to the Mission Local media, which cited police sources. The authorities did not offer any explanation on the matter.
“This has nothing to do with San Francisco, this has to do with human nature,” said Bill Scott, head of the uniformed. “This is the danger of making crime a symbol,” said state senator Scott Wiener. He insisted that the hasty judgments of some “luminaries” are wrong and “hurt” the city.
Brooke Jenkins, the San Francisco prosecutor, lamented the loss of a vibrant innovator who has impacted the city and far beyond, but qualified that certain premature pronouncements were “reckless and irresponsible.”
Despite the zombie imagery of drugs and homeless encampments, crime rates have fallen or remained stable in recent years. Its homicide rate is lower than that of other cities in the United States. 2019 had the lowest level of violent deaths in 60 years. The number grew during the pandemic. In the first months of 2023, there were 13 homicides, a figure similar to a year ago.
Jenkins directly alluded to Musk for “spreading misinformation when the police were trying to solve the case.” And he claimed to be more careful when propagating theories without having data: “The victims and the neighbors deserve it”.
