San Francisco Mayor says folks should not ‘leap to conclusions’ about Money App boss Bob Lee’s homicide

By Jen Smith, Chief Reporter for Dailymail.Com

15:49 11 Apr 2023, updated 18:07 13 Apr 2023

• Mayor Breed has come under fire since the brutal murder and separate attack
• San Francisco is still short of 500 police officers to meet the need
• Whole Foods this week closed its flagship store in downtown San Francisco due to widespread drug use, theft and violent behavior towards employees

Amid mounting criticism of escalating crime in her city, San Francisco Mayor London Breed has urged people not to jump to conclusions about the high-profile murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee and a separate attack on a former fire commissioner.

Lee was stabbed to death while visiting San Francisco last week. The police have not released any information about his death, nor have they made any arrests.

A day after his brutal murder, former fire commissioner Don Carmignani was beaten by Garett Doty outside his mother’s house. Doty’s attorney claims Carmignani pepper sprayed him first, provoking the attack.

Carmignani has since appealed to Breed to make policy changes to make the city safer.

Instead of heeding those calls, she defended the city on Saturday, even appearing to imply that the incidents were not examples of senseless crime.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has urged people not to jump to conclusions about the high-profile murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee and another attack on a former fire commissioner. Cash App founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death last Tuesday. Former fire commissioner Don Carmignani was attacked outside his mother’s house

“I would like to start by clarifying that the information in both cases is not yet public and that it is being investigated.”

“When some facts about many of these cases come out, people will be surprised,” Breed told ABC News, without giving further details.

She also claimed that social media, where many had complained about the state of the city, was exacerbating the problem.

“It’s really aggravated events like this and people jumping to conclusions about what they think is happening.”

Neither Lee’s family nor Carmignani have yet responded to her comments.

Disturbing cellphone footage shared via a local neighborhood app shows a man wandering the local area with a metal crowbar in hand

According to Breed’s office, the San Francisco Police Department is still short of 500 officers to keep the city safe.

The city is now providing an additional $25 million to cover overtime pay for officers still on the job.

Breed claimed on Saturday that this would be enough to ease the crisis.

Democratic city manager Joel Engardino is among those urging the mayor to do more.

“For a city our size, we’re short of more than 500 civil servants.” Hundreds more civil servants may retire in June, and many will. The last police academy graduated 12 new officers. The current academy has only eight cadets.

Lee, seen with his children, was visiting San Francisco from Miami when he was attacked

“It’s not enough if we’re missing 500. That shows me that more money is not the only solution.” Yes, we need this overtime funding.

“But we need to talk about the real reason we have a police staffing crisis — because too few people want to be police officers anymore,” he said in a recent statement.

Harrowing surveillance footage shows Lee stumbling through the city streets after being stabbed to death around 2:30 a.m.

The father and technology investor was visiting from Miami, where he now lives.

He died in hospital after suffering at least two stab wounds, but little else is known about his killing.

The video – first revealed by DailyMail.com – showed him begging a taxi driver for help and stumbling around outside an apartment building.

Meanwhile, one of downtown San Francisco’s largest supermarkets was forced to close just a year after it opened due to widespread drug use, theft and aggressive behavior towards employees.

Organic food giant Whole Foods opened a new “flagship” location on Trinity Place in the city’s Tenderloin area in March 2022, hoping to revive visitor numbers after two years of draconian COVID restrictions have severely impacted businesses in the area had.

But a spokesman for Whole Foods said the store was closed last night due to staff safety concerns.

“We are only closing our Trinity location for now,” the spokesman said in a statement. “If we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members in store, we will consider reopening our Trinity location.”