The San Francisco Pride weekend is in full swing, but a few violent incidents, including a shooting near an entrance in the Castro District, vandalism and two cases where state Sen. Scott Wiener said he was “harassed, threated and intimidated” brought on concerns.
That violence caught the attention of millions of people on social media, on a weekend when the world’s eyes were on the Bay Area for Pride and World Cup.
One of those incidents was posted on social media. The viral video showed a crowd during Friday’s Trans March shouting at congressional candidate Wiener, who eventually chased him away.
After having a day to process what happened, Wiener said he felt “harassed, threatened and intimidated.”
“But when folks are basically swarming around you, getting really close, and then touching you, and just trying to drive you out of the park physically, that’s not okay. That crosses a line,” he said.
Wiener said some people got physical with him, and for the first time in 22 years, he left the march because he didn’t feel safe.
“Which makes me really sad, because it’s the first Trans March I’ve ever missed since it started in 2004, but it would not have been safe for me or for my team,” he said.
Wiener said his staff was also accosted in a separate incident while attending a World Cup watch party Wednesday night in the Mission District.
“A guy who had previously harassed me, in a very antisemitic way, sort of cornered me, and blocked me and was getting very close to me and being very aggressive,” he said.
On Friday’s, the incident that occurred during the Trans March left to San Francisco police officers injured and five people under arrest.
SFPD released a statement, which in part read: “The SFPD always respects individuals First Amendment rights to protest; however, criminal activity will not be tolerated in San Francisco.”
Pride participants told NBC Bay Area they were aware of what happened but are not too worried.
“You can’t, and that kind of violence and threat of intimidation because if you stay away because you’re afraid something might happen they’ve already won,” San Francisco resident Sister Roma said.
“I love being here. I love seeing everybody, seeing everybody happy. This is what pride is about. It’s just about the beauty of being in community and just being together with people and feeling that love,” ally Jason said.
Wiener agreed with them and the SFPD.
He said he respected everyone’s rights to disagree and voice their own political views, but he noted that too often, people crossed the line into harassment, intimidation and bullying.
“We need to fight them, and stick up for each other, and that’s what Pride is about. It’s about celebrating the community and recommitting to the fight ahead,” he said.
Wiener said he would attend the main Pride weekend event–the San Francisco Pride Parade and Celebration–which was held on Sunday morning.