Nobody knows for sure if Donald Trump is really going to send the National Guard into San Francisco. He probably doesn’t even know himself, since he changes his mind minute by minute.
But if the feds arrive to terrorize this city, I fear that the Lurie Administration is not ready.
At Question Time today, Sup. Jackie Fielder asked Mayor Daniel Lurie what he was doing to prepare for a situation where San Francisco is essentially occupied by armed federal troops. What happens in the Mission if “people aren’t going to work, parents don’t send their kids to school, people don’t go to the doctor? I could be a shutdown the likes of which we haven’t seen since COVID.”
She asked: “What is your administration doing to prepare to protect the civil rights and civil liberties in the event that federal forces come to San Francisco?”
Lurie repeated what he already said in a remarkably weak statement earlier today:
Our local law enforcement already has longstanding partnerships with state and federal law enforcement to shut down open-air drug markets through our Drug Market Agency Coordination Center. To continue getting fentanyl off the street, we would welcome stronger coordination with the FBI, DEA, ATF, and U.S. Attorney to execute targeted operations, arrest drug dealers, and disrupt drug markets and multinational cartels. I trust our police officers, sheriff’s deputies, and district attorney to work together to keep our city safe—and with the right coordinated support from our state and federal partners they will have the tools to advance this critical work.
I am deeply grateful to the members of our military for their service to our country, but the National Guard does not have the authority to arrest drug dealers—and sending them to San Francisco will do nothing to get fentanyl off the streets or make our city safer.
He said his office was “constantly monitoring federal intervention” and that a task force was meeting regularly. He said that SFPD, by longstanding policy, can’t engage in civil immigration enforcement. He said, over and over again, that his top priority is “keeping San Francisco safe.”
Fair enough—but in his press statement, and in his remarks today, he left out two important words: Trump and Sanctuary.
He never mentioned the president who wants to turn his city into an armed camp. He never mentioned the term “Sanctuary City,” which represents a direct challenge to Trump’s attack on immigrants.
He never said how he or his staff would keep immigrants “safe” from ICE or the National Guard.
Lurie played no role in the No Kings demonstrations. He has carefully avoided any direct criticism of Trump. I get that he may be trying to stay under the radar—but it’s way too late for that.
If National Guard troops arrive in the streets, San Franciscans are going to be looking to Lurie for leadership. So far, it’s not there.
