Visiting Czech Film Crew Can’t Report that San Fran Is Clean and Safe – Because Their Camera Equipment Is Stolen
Democrat San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s effort to dupe foreign media into thinking the city isn’t a feces-strewn, crime-ridden, homeless encampment hellhole was exposed Sunday when a Czech film crew was robbed of its camera equipment.
The camera crew was also robbed of the footage it took, depriving it of the ability to portray San Francisco to their viewers back home as a visitors’ paradise.
Mayor Breed and fellow Democrat California Governor Gavin Newsom had been boasting of how they had quickly cleaned up the city ahead of the arrival of international journalists, delegates and world leaders, such Communist China’s President Xi Jinping, for the APEC event.
“Municipal workers have been power-washing sidewalks, moving homeless people, and sprucing up buildings in its downtown core, all in hopes that visitors will see a positive side of the city,” Fortune reports.
But, that’s not reality for those who live and work in San Francisco – or even for local television crews, who have resorted to traveling with armed guards.
Unfortunately, the Czech film crew must not have been aware of the local custom, so they didn’t employ a security detail while visiting San Francisco.
Thus, the robbery of a foreign film crew appears to have pulled back the curtain, exposing the Potemkin Village that Breed and Newsom had created to deceive media from other countries.
"We don’t want anyone in our city to be a victim of any crime, whether they are a visitor or a resident," Mayor Breed’s Communications Director Jeff Creta declared, in a statement responding to the incident.
"Our police department is actively investigating this case, and we know that when an arrest is made, our district attorney has taken a strong position of aggressively prosecuting crimes like these," Creta promised.
Creta’s “like these” qualifier is important.
Ironically, there actually is a chance that, if caught, the thieves will be aggressively prosecuted – because the $18,000 value of the equipment and footage stolen exceeds San Francisco’s $950 threshold for legitimate prosecution.
As NBC Bay Area explains, shoplifting has surged since a 2021 law basically decriminalized retail theft:
“Under current state law, shoplifting merchandise valued under $950 is considered a misdemeanor and often not investigated.”
London Breed: ‘Things Aren’t as Bad’ in San Francisco as Viral Videos Show
San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that viral videos showing crime and homelessness in the streets of San Francisco were not accurate.
Anchor Martha Raddatz said, “I know it annoys you when people look at the city and say it’s either dangerous or crime-ridden or drugs are a huge problem, but you’ve got your own citizens saying the same thing. I think about 17% think the city’s on the right track.”
Breed said, “Well, San Francisco is doing a lot to help combat some of the challenges that we face. We are a major city. During the COVID pandemic, as you see, San Francisco shut down first, and we got a lot of attention. From a numbers perspective, when you look at homelessness in San Francisco, we have, since 2018, helped over 10,000 people exit homelessness in San Francisco. When you look at the data of what is happening with our crime numbers over the past five years, they are showing a decline, especially with car break-ins, burglaries, and other challenges that people are talking about. In comparison to other U.S. cities, San Francisco is really at the bottom. So I get that people feel that there are problems and there are concerns. They see the viral videos, and they think, oh, what’s going on in San Francisco?”
Raddatz said, “But those statistics are from people who live here. 17% think it’s on the right track. They live here.”
Breed said, “But it’s not always attributed just to the issues around crime, you know? It’s attributed to the issues around homelessness as well. It’s significant to really continue to do the work that we’re doing so that people cannot only see and feel the difference.”
She added, “When people are coming to San Francisco, they are surprised that things aren’t as bad as what they thought they were. Are things perfect in San Francisco? No, they’re not, but we continue to work aggressively at it in order to solve some of our most pressing problems.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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