SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Now we learn that the triple slayings of a father and two sons in San Francisco's Excelsior district June 22 were motivated by the killer's belief that his targets were in a rival gang. "They were targeted because of (seemingly) being Hispanic males," said Lt. Mike Stasko.
This incident has galvanized anger and protest around the country. The Minuteman Project, advocates for border protection, will be holding a rally in front of San Francisco City Hall tomorrow. They are demanding Mayor Newsom's resignation. They should be including the District Attorney Kamala Harris for their protest.
There is a sidebar to this story. On the afternoon the story broke, Newsom told a reporter, referring to the alleged killer, "this is the kind of person to whom the Supreme Court wants to give guns" (paraphrasing).
The mayor was agitated and bitter. The city's handgun ban had been recently ruled unconstitutional a week before. Aside from his insensitivity to the victims' family, the mayor's response was inaccurate. Possession of the fully automatic assault weapon used in the murders, an AK-47, is still banned, despite the Supreme Court ruling. The suspect was a convicted felon, prohibited from possessing any kind of a weapon.
The event has become political, but not in the way Newsom intended. It wasn't about guns. The killer should have never been on San Francisco streets or in this country had he and his administration complied with Federal regulations. It wasn't the Supreme Court that enabled the tragedy to occur. It was a failed sanctuary policy.
For me, this tragedy is personal. I was raised in the Excelsior District, where the murders occurred. The victims were mistaken for Hispanic gang members, instead they were Italian-Americans. The Excelsior has been a neighborhood of peaceful coexistence among dozens of ethnic communities. The neighborhood and city have changed.
Lawlessness is the norm in San Francisco. Ideology overrides basic municipal governance. It has now turned deadly with this tragic murder resulting from mistaken identity. Mistaken identity, mistaken blame.
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