San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins walks out as woke protesters disrupt election debate
San Francisco’s tough-on-crime district attorney walked out of a debate after woke protesters stormed the forum and began jeering the city’s incumbent.
DA Brooke Jenkins had been on stage at San Francisco State University for roughly 20 minutes on Thursday, facing off against district attorney challengers John Hamasaki and Joe Alioto Veronese ahead of November’s election, when dozens of activists flooded the room, KTVU reported.
The activists began shouting, “No justice, no peace!” and “Keita O’Neil! Sean Moore!” according to video recordings of the event, the latter referring to black men who died from shootings by San Francisco police officers.
Jenkins left soon after the protests began and did not return, Mission Local reported.
San Francisco saw a surge in crime under Jenkins’ progressive predecessor, Chesa Boudin, who was elected in 2019 on the promise of criminal justice reform.
So far this year, San Francisco has seen crime jump more than 7% this year compared to the same period in 2021, data show. Larceny theft, assault and rape are leading the way, at 15.4%, 11.6% and 8.9%, respectively.
The city instead experienced surges in shoplifting and broad daylight drug dealings, leading more than 61 percent of residents voted in a June recall election to oust Boudin and his soft-on-crime policies.
This past July, Mayor London Breed named Jenkins, who had previously worked in Boudin’s office as an assistant district attorney prosecutor and campaigned against her former boss, as its new district attorney.
Jenkins promised to bring order back to the city, including enforcing drug crime laws and cracking down on anti-Asian attacks. After assuming office, she asked staffers to review every unclosed plea offer to determine which should be withdrawn. Just a few days later, she fired 15 staffers she inherited from her predecessor.
Jenkins campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
