Protesters cut short questioning of San Francisco mayor over drug crisis
Protesters cut short a rare outdoor meeting of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Tuesday where the board president had planned to question Mayor London Breed over the city's drug crisis
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Protesters cut short a rare outdoor meeting of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Tuesday where the board president had planned to question Mayor London Breed on her administration's response to the crisis of brazen open-air drug dealing.
Board President Aaron Peskin moved the first part of the board's weekly meeting to a plaza in the troubled Tenderloin neighborhood near City Hall, where rampant dealing and drug use take place. He asked the mayor if she would commit to setting up an emergency operations center and coordinate departments to shut down “public drug dealing” in open sites such as in the plaza within 90 days.
But heckling and chants of “no more cops” from the large crowd were so loud that Peskin moved the meeting back to City Hall before the mayor could answer. Breed did not answer Peskin’s question directly after the meeting reconvened indoors.
The fentanyl crisis has hit all of California, including San Francisco. In April, Gov. Gavin Newsom sent in the California Highway Patrol and California National Guard to help crack down on drug traffickers in the city as overdose deaths have soared.
Breed has clashed with members of the board who say more police and arrests are not the way to solve the city's drug crisis. She declared a three-month emergency over the drug crisis in the Tenderloin in 2021, and nearly a year later vowed another crackdown on drugs in the low-income neighborhood, but little has changed. Breed has said that using drugs in public is not acceptable and repeat offenders need to accept help.
“We can’t keep speaking out of both sides of our mouth. On the one hand, we want change and we want to hold people accountable,” Breed said before the meeting was moved. “And on the other hand, we’re willing to let people get away with murder.”
Peskin said it was not a matter of resources, but coordination. He said the problem is not a new one, “but it is one that has become so visible that many San Franciscans do not feel safe.”
San Francisco's downtown core, of which the U.N. Plaza is part of, has not bounced back from the pandemic as other cities have. Tech employees have opted to work remotely, reducing foot traffic that supported downtown shops.
After supervisors left U.N. Plaza, a person threw a brick at a group of high school students carrying flags for the meeting.
It was not immediately known if the person was arrested or if anyone was injured.
The mayor appears at board meetings once a month to answer questions from supervisors.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.