At a press conference Thursday, San Francisco city officials declined to confirm many new details surrounding the April 4 killing of tech exec Bob Lee, instead criticizing the public and tech luminaries for pushing a narrative of unchecked and rampant crime following the 43-year-old’s stabbing death.
Police confirmed details broken by Mission Local this morning: That Lee knew his alleged killer, fellow tech executive Nima Momeni, who was arrested earlier today. The two were reportedly driving together when an altercation ensued. The reason for their deadly dispute is still unconfirmed.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins blasted “reckless and irresponsible statements” that made incorrect assumptions about the Cash App co-founder Lee’s killing, which she said “serve to mislead the world in their perceptions of San Francisco and also negatively impact the pursuit of justice.”
She specifically referenced a tweet from Elon Musk, the world’s second-richest man, in which he suggested repeat violent offenders could be to blame for Lee’s death, and tagged Jenkins’ Twitter account.
“Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately. Is the city taking stronger action to incarcerate repeat violent offenders @BrookeJenkinsSF?” Musk wrote on April 5, about 24 hours after Lee’s death.
“We all should and must do better about not contributing to the spread of such misinformation without having actual facts to underlie the statements that we make,” Jenkins said today.
Jenkins herself has been accused of misconstruing and exaggerating crime trends in San Francisco in her 2022 campaign to oust the progressive former district attorney, Chesa Boudin, and take the seat herself. Then, nuance on crime statistics was a less convenient proposition.
“Crime rate is directly linked to [Boudin]’s failed policies,” Jenkins wrote in one tweet.
“We don’t have security to protect us like [Boudin] does,” Jenkins wrote in another tweet last year about San Francisco safety. “We are at risk 24/7.”
After she took office, in November, Jenkins announced that San Francisco is “no longer a haven for crime” at a Chinatown event. “The free pass is over.”
Suspect to be arraigned Friday
Police Chief Bill Scott formally confirmed that Momeni, 38, was arrested early Thursday morning. Momeni, who lives in Emeryville, was booked in San Francisco county jail this morning on one charge of murder, and will be arraigned on Friday.
Two search warrants were also served in San Francisco this morning, but Scott did not confirm where or to whom. Neither Momeni nor Lee lived in San Francisco, but police sources told Mission Local that Momeni’s sister and her husband live within blocks of the scene of Lee’s killing.
Lee was discovered on April 4 around 2:30 a.m. suffering from apparent stab wounds on Main Street between Folsom and Harrison streets. Lee, who had recently moved to Miami, Florida, and was visiting San Francisco, had called 911 to report his stabbing. While it was not confirmed at today’s press conference, police sources have told Mission Local that the apparent weapon used in the stabbing was recovered not far from Lee’s body.
Surveillance video footage shows Lee’s final moments in the Rincon Hill neighborhood, as he apparently sought help, to no avail.
Citing an ongoing investigation, Scott said he could not discuss the nature of Lee and Momeni’s dispute, including whether Momeni’s family members are connected to the investigation.
“What I don’t want to do is put out information that’s going to come back and haunt us, or the prosecution of this case,” Scott said. He and the other officials on Thursday emphasized that, despite Lee’s being a high-profile case, the department has a high rate of solving homicides: 85 percent so far this year. He noted that a 1994 homicide was closed just Wednesday, bumping that rate even higher.
Nuance on crime statistics wins the day
The emphasis certain city officials made today on withholding conclusions regarding crime in San Francisco, including that crime is in fact not as high as it seems, was somewhat surprising, considering those very same officials have used particular anecdotes to push tough-on-crime policies in the past.
Today’s tone was different.
“Most major cities in the United States would probably trade their violent crime problem for our property crime problem,” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey to reporters after today’s press conference.
He further expressed gratitude to the press for showing that “violent crime numbers are not spiking in San Francisco, even if San Francisco struggles with some other crimes.”
Homicides per 100,000 residents
18
16
Over the past few years,
homicides did rise in San
Francisco – but they remain
low compared to
historic trends
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
Year
Homicides per 100,000 residents
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
Over the past few years,
homicides did rise in San
Francisco – but they remain
low compared to historic trends
4
2
0
’85
’90
’95
’00
’05
’10
’15
’20
Year
Chart by Will Jarrett. Data from the California Department of Justice and the Census Bureau.
Earlier this week, Dorsey, the former spokesperson for the SFPD, used a recent announcement of closure from one of the city’s multiple Whole Foods stores and current crime in the city to push for additional policing resources.
“Whole Foods’ closure, together with many other safety-related challenges we’ve seen recently, is Exhibit A as to why San Francisco can no longer afford NOT to solve our police understaffing crisis,” Dorsey said in a statement on Monday. In response, Dorsey proposed a city charter amendment to increase police staffing levels.
At today’s press conference, printed packets on the city’s crime levels were provided for reporters, showing that overall crime has decreased since 2017, with slight increases in violent and property crimes this year.
Mayor London Breed also noted “a lot of speculation and a lot of things said about our city and crime in this city,” and praised what she called Scott and Jenkins’ “responsible” handling of the case.
In 2021, Breed announced a crackdown on crime, blasting the “bullshit that has destroyed our city” and called for an end to “the reign of criminals who are destroying our city” with an emergency police intervention.
The DA’s office has charged Momeni with murder, with an enhancement for allegedly using a knife, Jenkins confirmed today. Momeni will be arraigned tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., and Jenkins said her office intends to file a motion to detain him without bail.
Scott declined to confirm whether the murder weapon was discovered by police.
“The facts will come out,” Scott said. “But we are confident in the evidence that we have found so far.”
Techies helped cause the problem,
The druggies and drunks and crazies have always been here.
Artists too.
They just all lived indoors.
Problem, as I noted elsewhere is that we have a Figurehead Police Chief, a wishy-washy Mayor and an SFPOA telling its members to do as little as possible to avoid legal exposure.
We need to convince 6 members of the BOS to put a Charter Amendment on the ballot to give we the Voters, the right to choose our own chief.
Then, if they screw up it’s on us.
Go Niners !!
h.
Voters already choose BOS and Mayor. Its already on us.
Oh, and here I was worried there was rampant crime in SF. All those store lootings, car break ins, assaults by street loonies, side shows, hit and runs, etc., never happened ever since it turned out Bob Lee was murdered by his friend. Phew!
In politics, perception is reality. Usually perceptions are somewhat reality based and can be changed with changes of policy.
But in this case, perceptions have detached from reality such that mere policy changes can’t fill the gap. “Done” is thus not crisply defined, rather the product of tens of thousands of subjective psyches.
This changes the role of government from policy to psychotherapist.
keep up the great reporting!
Laughing, it’s all Elon Musks fault. What leadership! Boy does that strengthen public safety.
Also expressing contempt for how Lee’s murder was covered was Lee’s brother, who the Times updated their article with a quote from (they also updated with a mention of and a link to ML). It might be coincidental Lee’s brother used the term “co-opt,” but it’s also possible ML’s original coverage resonated with the family, which would be an honor.
From the Times: “Mr. Lee’s brother, Oliver Lee, of Palo Alto, Calif., said in an interview on Thursday that the moves to “co-opt” the tragedy had been agonizing for his family. “Bob loved being in San Francisco, and San Francisco loved Bob,” he said, adding that young people would stop his brother on the street there and ask for advice.”
Its a thrill to read Mission Local. This popular, emerging news outlet has reporters who actually conduct research and report facts. Result is: ML thoughtfully establishes a narrative that demolishes the daily comic strip about San Francisco that’s illustrated by local and national corporate media. Corporate media paid for by tech titans. (Looking at you, SF Standard.) This particular piece focuses the self-serving hypocrisy of Breed, Dorsey and especially DA Jenkins, rabid recallers who allofasudden are tripping over each other to capitalize on the new theory of this homicide. Disgraceful, deceitful hypocrites. Hope this piece (and Joe E’s earlier today) also gets picked up by the Guardian, for the world to benefit from honest, analytical reporting.
The reporting here has always been top-notch. What’s basically a local neighborhood blog is putting certain international news conglomerates to shame.
The Guardian linked the piece, as did the NY Times and TMZ, and many in-between. Had to have been one of the highest traffic days in ML’s history.
The Standard should be embarrassed tapping Steven Buss for a hot take. Wtf was that?