--- title: "San Francisco District Attorney Takes Aim at Elon Musk Over Murder Allegations" description: "Musk's \"reckless and irresponsible statements\" about crime in San Francisco only spread misinformation, according to District Attorney Brooke Jenkins." date: "2023-04-14" modified: "2023-04-14" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/san-francisco-district-attorney-takes-aim-elon-musk-murder" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "crime" - "elon musk" - "san francisco" - "silicon valley" --- # San Francisco District Attorney Takes Aim at Elon Musk Over Murder Allegations ![Musk's "reckless and irresponsible statements" about crime in San Francisco only spread misinformation, according to District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.]() *\Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images\* Cash App cofounder Bob Lee [was found stabbed to death]() in a deserted part of downtown San Francisco in the early morning hours of April 4. The incident, which received huge amounts of media attention, led Silicon Valley leaders to come out in force, decrying the state of violent crime in the city. Some tech execs [started pointing fingers](), arguing that homelessness had spiraled out of control and that the rich were being unfairly targeted. "Many people I know have been severely assaulted," Twitter CEO Elon Musk, who has already [made himself immensely unpopular]() in the city, [chimed in](). Musk went as far as to blame law enforcement for not doing enough. "Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately," he added. But, as it turns out, Lee was likely not the victim of a random attack by a homeless person. In fact, the San Francisco Police Department [arrested a suspect]() on Thursday, a man and fellow tech exec Lee not only knew personally but may have been in a car with just hours before his murder. In other words, Musk was way out of line with his reaction, angering some authorities. During the SFPD's announcement about their arrest on Thursday, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins didn't mince words. Musk's "reckless and irresponsible statements," which "assumed incorrect circumstances about Mr. Lee's death," only "serve to mislead the world in their perceptions of San Francisco and also negatively impact the pursuit of justice for victims of crime as it spreads misinformation at a time when the police are trying to solve a very difficult case," she said. In fact, she said, the Twitter CEO's unnecessary comments ended up hindering the police's operations. "Since this incident happened, since waking up to Elon Musk's tweet, my office has worked hard to actually tell people not to make assumptions about this case," Jenkins said. "We knew nothing about the facts of this case immediately after it happened." The topics of crime and homelessness in San Francisco have been particularly contentious as of late, with some startups [starting to take an interest in local politics]() to address the issue. Musk himself [recently claimed]() in a rare live interview with the *BBC* earlier this week that "we tried to turn \[Twitter HQ\] into a homeless shelter and the building management, building owner rejected it." When pressed about what those plans were, however, Musks didn't have much of an answer, indicating that perhaps not a lot of thought had gone into the initiative. "I don’t know, we could just let people stay there," he told the *BBC*. "It's nice... They can bring their stuff, bring their tent, whatever." **More on the incident:** *[Murdered Tech CEO May Have Been Stabbed to Death by Tech Exec He Knew]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()