'Awash' in Crime?

Not San Francisco

In the early morning hours of April 4th in San Francisco, someone murdered well-known tech executive Bob Lee.

Almost immediately, the media headlines erupted: “San Francisco is awash in violent crime.”

That the data indicated otherwise didn’t stop the well-known criminologist and expert in all matters, Elon Musk, from tweeting: “Many people I know have been severely assaulted. Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately.”

Even though it is commonplace these days for such tragedies to be politicized, this was extraordinary. Then again, in San Francisco just last year, right-wing forces succeeded in getting the progressive D.A. Chesa Boudin recalled for supposedly being “soft on crime.”

Meanwhile, in the Lee case, police investigators were making progress but kept quiet about two important clues they had discovered. Lee had been stabbed multiple times before he staggered to his death — likely indicating the killer knew his victim — and they had recovered the murder weapon.

Yesterday, the police made an arrest. The suspect is another tech exec, named Nima Momeni, who knew Lee and had been with him in a car when they got into an argument that ended with Lee getting stabbed. Lee also reportedly knew Momeni’s sister.

More questions remain in the case, including the possible motive and reason for their argument.

But none of those details will prove that San Francisco is awash in violent crime.

Because it isn’t.

LINKS:

• Arrest made in SF killing of Bob Lee — tech exec’s alleged killer also worked in tech (Mission Local)

• Bob Lee murder – news: Cash App founder’s possible ties to accused killer Nima Momeni revealed after arrest (Indepredent) — San Francisco DA slams Elon Musk as ‘reckless and irresponsible’ after tech executive arrested for Bob Lee murder (Independent)

• Ukraine war: Pentagon leaks reveal Russian infighting over death toll (BBC)

• FBI arrests suspect in connection with intelligence leaks (CNN)

• Documents leaker worked on military base, friend says (WP)

• It Has Finally Become Clear What Elon Musk Wants Twitter to Be (Slate)

• There's a "morale crisis" at Meta (Axios)

• Court preserves access to abortion pill but tightens rules (AP)

• Appeals court refuses to decide if Trump can be shielded from rape accuser’s defamation suit (NBC)

• Special counsel focuses on Trump fundraising off false election claims (WP)

• New legislation from House Republicans aims to prevent local district attorneys from pursuing charges against former presidents, in yet another show of support for Donald Trump, who faces the possibility of criminal charges in Georgia and was arraigned in Manhattan last week. [HuffPost]

• The Problem America Cannot Fix — The public supports many sensible gun measures, but flaws in our democracy make us unable to adopt them. (Atlantic)

• E.P.A. Lays Out Rules to Turbocharge Sales of Electric Cars and Trucks (NYT)

• What Kind of Mind Does ChatGPT Have? (New Yorker)

• Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on jumping into the generative A.I. race with new cloud service (CNBC)

• Scientists Broke a Major Computer Design Barrier — And It Could Change Tech As We Know It (Inverse)

• The Dangerous Rise of ‘Front-Yard Politics’ (Atlantic)

• Taliban share rare, months-old audio from reclusive leader (AP)

• North Korea fired what might be a new model of ballistic missile, triggering a scare in northern Japan, where residents were told to take cover, though there turned out to be no danger. (Reuters)

• Japan’s population drops by half a million in 2022 (CNN)

• Lonely Cry for Action as China Locks Up Japanese Citizens on Spy Charges (NYT)

• China eyes building base on the moon using lunar soil (The Hill)

• Russia's most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny is grappling with a mystery ailment in jail that could be some sort of slow acting poison, as he has lost 8 kg in weight in just over two weeks, his spokeswoman said. (Reuters)

• Wild creature — considered extinct in Wales for 400 years — found destroying a garden (Miami Herald)

• Taking a lesson in evolutionary adaptation from octopus, squid (Harvard Gazette)

• Noom Guarantees Refund For Customers Who Fail At Developing Full-Fledged Eating Disorder In 2 Months (The Onion)