The San Francisco district attorney blasted comments tweeted by Elon Musk after Cash App founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death in the street earlier this month.
Lee, 43, was killed in the Rincon Hill neighborhood of San Francisco around 2:30 a.m. on April 4. A day later, Musk took to Twitter to lament how violent repeat offenders continue to get away with crime in San Francisco, one of the biggest tech hubs in the country. He was quickly joined by other high-profile figures and tech executives.
“Many people I know have been severely assaulted. 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?” Musk wrote, tagging DA Brooke Jenkins.
On Thursday, Nima Momeni, a tech consultant and owner of a company called Expand IT, was taken into custody in the San Francisco suburb of Emeryville. He was charged with murder in connection with Lee’s stabbing.
Authorities said the men knew each other, meaning Lee’s death was not the result of a random violent attack or a repeat offender as Musk suggested.
During a news conference regarding the arrest, Jenkins condemned Musk’s comments as misinformation.
“I must point out that reckless and irresponsible statements like those contained in Mr. Musk’s tweet that assumed incorrect circumstances about Mr. Lee’s death served to mislead the world in their perceptions of San Francisco, and also negatively impact the pursuit of justice for victims of crime as it spreads misinformation at a time when the police are trying to solve a very difficult case,” Jenkins said.
She added: “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. Victims deserve that and the residents of San Francisco deserve that.”
Police chief Bill Scott said the stabbing was “not about San Francisco” but human nature.
“Just put it in any other city,” he said. “I don’t believe it would have changed the circumstances one bit.”
