While discussing the arrest in the killing of tech executive Bob Lee, San Francisco's district attorney on Thursday took aim at Elon Musk, calling out the Twitter CEO for his comments about crime in the city following the deadly stabbing.
Lee, founder of Cash App, was stabbed in the early morning hours of April 4 in the Rincon Hill neighborhood.
In a tweet following the attack, Musk said, in part, "Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately."
San Francisco Mayor London Breed, police Chief Bill Scott and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins on Thursday announced during a briefing that 38-year-old Nima Momeni, a resident of Emeryville, had been arrested in connection with Lee's killing. Scott said Lee and Momeni knew each other.
At the end of her prepared statement, Jenkins called out Musk by name.
"Mr. Lee was murdered by somebody that he knew," Jenkins said. "While we're not going to release any additional facts at this time, 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. 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."
When asked about perceptions of crime in San Francisco, Scott said the case is "more about human nature and human behavior than it is about our city" because Lee and Momeni knew each other.
"Just put it in any other city," he said. "I don't believe it would have changed the circumstances one bit. This is not about San Francisco. It happened in San Francisco and that is unfortunate. It's even more of a tragedy that it happened at all, but this speaks to more about human nature. Facts show and research shows that most people who commit homicides know the people that they kill. The research shows that. I do understand how people see and view things. I see it, I read it, I live here just like a lot of you all. This has nothing to do with San Francisco. This has to do with human nature."
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