Mayor Daniel Lurie is not particularly helping San Francisco\u2019s image at the moment, as he posted a false claim that SF protesters were chanting \u201cTax the Jews\u201d at a Wednesday event, even though video from the scene debunks the claim.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an old often misattributed<\/a> but very clever quote that “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can put on its pants,\u201d which is particularly true in the era of Twitter. Mayor Daniel Lurie gave San Francisco an unfortunate taste of that maxim on Wednesday afternoon, and he\u2019s left the lie up lingering, with a false claim that makes our city look pretty damn bad. <\/p>\n At an event this afternoon, a group of individuals that were chanting “tax the rich” began to shout “tax the Jews.” This was an event I put on with Supervisor Mahmood, labor leaders, and dozens of workers to announce a plan that creates more jobs for those workers and housing for\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Daniel Lurie \u4e39\u5c3c\u723e\u00b7\u7f85\u5049 (@DanielLurie) February 25, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n What we see in Lurie\u2019s tweet above looks pretty reprehensible. \u201cAt an event this afternoon, a group of individuals that were chanting \u2018tax the rich\u2019 began to shout \u2018tax the Jews,\u2019” Lurie claimed on Twitter<\/a> Wednesday afternoon. While video has since come forward debunking this claim, it was retweeted hundreds of times, including by the likes of Governor Gavin Newsom<\/a>, Tom Steyer<\/a>, Rep. Eric Swalwell<\/a>, Reps. Ro Khanna<\/a>, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan<\/a>, state Senator Scott Wiener<\/a> and CNN analyst David Axelrod<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the New York Post\u2019s new right-wing propaganda machine the California Post is blaring \u201cVile antisemitic chant breaks out at San Francisco press conference<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0The international Jewish media is following suit<\/a>.<\/p>\n Except it\u2019s not true. Mission Local has the breakdown<\/a> that Lurie\u2019s claim, presented without any evidence, shows that no “group of individuals\u201d ever made such a chant. Instead, a random, solitary woman known for her mentally unstable outbursts, who was not associated with some assembled protesters outside the event, yelled \u201cTax the Israel!” and “Tax the Jews\u201d alongside the protesters for several moments before she was forced to move along. <\/p>\n This is verified in the video above<\/a> from the SF Standard\u2019s Gabe Grechsler. To set the scene, Lurie is attending a press conference announcing legislation that would slash taxes on real estate development. As such, members of the SF Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are there chanting \u201cTax the Rich,” which is hardly an uncommon or anti-Semitic chant. <\/p>\n 4 protesters told me the woman was a passer-by who ambled up & started saying “weird shit” \u2014 construction workers onsite say she was known to them & was mentally ill<\/p>\n crowd told her to stop, she eventually left, the whole episode lasted 5-10 minuteshttps:\/\/t.co\/3z7enedVe9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Joe Rivano Barros (@jrivanob) February 26, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n The crazy lady comes along and briefly joins in with \u201cTax the Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen two minutes in, she starts saying weird shit,\u201d DSA SF protester Matthew Pancia (who is Jewish) told Mission Local. \u201cShe started saying \u2018Tax Israel,\u2019 \u2018Tax the Jews,\u2019 and immediately I was like \u2018No, no, no, not that one, don\u2019t say that \u2014 I\u2019m a Jew, I don\u2019t think you should say that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n According to Pancia, a construction worker told him, \u201cWe know her, this lady comes out and just yells shit at us.\u201d <\/p>\n Further video taken of the same woman shows she kept up on her anti-Semitic rant. <\/p>\n San Francisco – keffiyeh clad woman walks around screaming “Shame on Jews” … “tax on Israel”.<\/p>\n Near\/at Larkin and Sutter Streets – she appears to be local to the area. Recognize her? pic.twitter.com\/fHoZIviqeU<\/a><\/p>\n