Far-left agitator arrested for allegedly throwing brick at San Fransisco mayor during speech against open-air drug markets

The Mayor of San Francisco attempted to give a press conference on Tuesday at a plaza in the city which is notorious for open-air drug dealing but was met with extreme hostility from far-left protesters, which resulted in law enforcement making an arrest and shutting down the event due to violence.

Democrat Mayor London Breed and the board of directors were unveiling new plans to address San Francisco's "humanitarian crisis", otherwise known as the homeless crisis, when far-left protesters surrounded the Mayor as she began her speech and started to disrupt, which included bouts of screaming, shouting, and booing, according to KRON 4 News.



Standing behind the podium at the United Nations Plaza, Mayor Breed proclaimed that the city has been tolerating "illegal, out-of-control behavior for far too long." However, the Mayor's comments failed to sit right with the crowd and the disruption escalated.

Board supervisor Aaron Peskin took over the microphone and attempted to discuss the open-air drug use that has created an unsafe environment for residents living in San Francisco, but didn't last long before police were forced to shut down the meeting which lasted less than ten minutes, according to the outlet.

"Many San Franciscans do not feel safe," Peskin said. "Brazen drug dealing and deteriorating street conditions have exacerbated a humanitarian crisis on our streets."

Shortly after Peskin's remarks, a far-left protester in the crowd allegedly hurled a brick which nearly hit a child, the San Francisco Police Department said.

The woman was arrested and taken away in handcuffs by police officers, an incident that was captured on video.

As tensions amongst the crowd increased, SFPD were forced to shut down the event due to safety concerns. When the Mayor and board of supervisors made their exit, shouting continued to ring out from the crowd, the outlet reports.

Despite the historic increase in criminal activity that has eviscerated the streets of San Francisco, which has resulted in both residents and businesses fleeing the golden city, not all lawmakers agreed with the Mayor's messaging on Tuesday.

Dean Preston, the city's socialist district 5 supervisor, called the Mayor's plans to start holding criminals accountable for public drug use "cruel" and "counterproductive."

"We have been informed that the Mayor's Administration is preparing to start arresting people for public drug use," Preston said on Twitter. "Arresting people for drug addiction is not 'moderate' nor 'commonsense.' It's reactionary, cruel, and counterproductive."

Earlier this month, Preston said that he planned to introduce legislation that would prohibit private security guards from using firearms. Preston made the announcement after a security guard, who is black, shot and killed a robber, who was also black, in San Francisco a few weeks ago.

As for Mayor Breed and the board of supervisors, they decided to finish the duration of the meeting indoors via livestream, the outlet reports.

Despite the city's efforts in addressing the homeless crisis over the past several years, which includes providing housing, drug addiction treatment, and a universal income, Mayor Breed explained that these policies aren't working and called on the city to work towards effective solutions.

"Compassion is killing people. We have to change what is happening on the streets. It's too easy getting drugs, they are dying under our watch, we have to do better," Breed said.

"I was born and raised in this city. I am putting everything on the line. I am doing this job without fear of losing it. San Francisco claims to be so compassionate and liberal. People are growing up in the midst of this chaos. What about them? We have tried over, and over again, and what we are doing is not working. Are we going to collaborate and work toward solutions? Or are we going to let the same old thing happen over, and over, and over again?" the Mayor asked.

According to KRON 4 News, Mayor Breed is planning on introducing a pilot program as part of the upcoming budget proposal that would allow law enforcement to make arrests for open-air drug use.

"The city is developing a pilot program to address situations when someone is so far under the influence of drugs that they may pose a danger to themselves or others," a spokesperson for the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management told KRON4 on Tuesday.
 

Before the Mayor and board of supervisors were forced to leave UN Plaza, Peskin was about to announce that he had issued a letter to Mayor Breed on Monday demanding San Francisco shut down all open-air drug markets within the next 90 days, and said that the Mayor needs to open an Emergency Operations Center to address the crisis.

Peskin explained that residents no longer feel safe in the city and questioned how enforcement will impact areas outside of UN Plaza, concerned that the vagrants will bring crime along with them.

"If police push the open-air drug market out of UN Plaza, Where will it go? We know where it will go — to places like the BART stations at 16th and Mission and 24th and Mission," Peskin wrote.

"The BART police need to know that and be prepared. We know it is already going deeper into the Tenderloin and South of Market — which means the University of California police (who patrol around UC College of the Law) and Federal Protective Services (who patrol around the federal buildings) should be alerted, ready and in sync with our local agencies. The mayor needs to provide this coordination."

"The Mayor's Office needs to open a Emergency Operations Center to coordinate agencies responding to all of these hot spots around the city," Peskin said. "The board of supervisors will provide oversight and accountability."

The proposal comes as small businesses and corporations flee the city due to the vast increase in crime at the hands of failed progressive policies. In recent months, Nordstroms, WholeFoods, and T-Mobile all have announced their departures, citing rampant retail theft, violence from homeless vagrants, and loss of foot traffic as residents refuse to shop in the once-beloved city.