"Zero tolerance": SF leaders denounce recent acts of antisemitism
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Mayor Daniel Lurie said Friday the city has no tolerance for hate. Photo: Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Local officials and community leaders gathered Friday at City Hall to condemn a recent string of antisemitic incidents and to assure San Franciscans that perpetrators will be punished.
Why it matters: The public stand comes after Jewish-owned cafe Manny's was vandalized and a man accused of a violent attack in the Marina was charged with a hate crime.
What they're saying: "As a member of the Jewish community, these incidents hit close to home," Mayor Daniel Lurie said. "I want to be clear that we have zero tolerance for acts of hatred. ... If you commit a hate crime in San Francisco, we will find you and we will arrest you."
- There has been "a dramatic rise in antisemitism locally and nationally, on both polar extremes left and right of our politics," Tye Gregory, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said at the press conference.
- "This isn't about what's going on outside of the United States in the Middle East or anywhere else," district attorney Brooke Jenkins said. "This is about what we believe and who we are."
State of play: Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, the Bay Area Jewish Community Federation has recorded over 40 threats — including bomb threats to local synagogues, schools and community centers — and more than 220 incidents of harassment and intimidation, senior vice president Rebecca Randall said Friday.
- Manny's was hit with graffiti saying "F**k Manny" and "The only good settler is a dead 1" following a night of anti-ICE protests earlier in June.
- Meanwhile, the attack in the Marina occurred after a Jewish woman asked a group of people to stop shouting "F**k Jews, free Palestine," she told the San Francisco Chronicle.
- Juan Diaz-Rivas punched the woman's friend, repeating antisemitic remarks and causing him to lose consciousness, prosecutors allege. Diaz-Rivas has pleaded not guilty.
The big picture: Jewish leaders across the nation have warned that President Trump's invocation of antisemitism to justify policies like slashing college funds and deporting student protesters risks making Jewish people scapegoats.
- Reported antisemitic incidents in California increased by 6.2% from 2023 to 2024, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
