Mayor Daniel Lurie has finally spoken out against President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to send the National Guard into San Francisco.
Trump has for months now talked about how he wants to send federal troops into the city, and he reiterated as much in a Fox News interview Sunday, saying “I think they want us in San Francisco.”
Lurie responded a day later, saying in a news release Monday that violent crime is at its lowest levels since the 1950s and that the city’s police department already works with federal law enforcement to target open-air drug markets.
“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,” Lurie said.
However, the mayor said he invites “stronger coordination” between the San Francisco Police Department and federal law enforcement, including the FBI, DEA, ATF, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, to disrupt drug markets.
Since assuming office in January, Lurie has stayed mostly silent about Trump’s critiques of San Francisco and actions by his administration, including escalating raids and arrests in the city by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
When Salesforce founder Marc Benioff made headlines in recent weeks by endorsing Trump’s call for federal troops in San Francisco, the mayor responded by saying he trusts local law enforcement to handle crime in the city. But Lurie’s remarks this week marked his most direct response yet to Trump’s threats.
Other Democratic officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have vociferously attacked the president’s rhetoric about federalizing law enforcement in blue states and cities.
“Our message to the courts is clear — Trump is putting our members of the military on the front lines of a completely unlawful activation against American communities,” Newsom said. “We won’t stand for it and we implore the courts to affirm states’ sovereign rights to handle any public safety matters at home.”
Also on Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a brief (opens in new tab) backing Illinois in its court battle against Trump deploying National Guard troops to Chicago.
On the same day in a separate case, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined in a 2-1 ruling (opens in new tab) that Trump could send National Guard troops to Oregon because “state and local law enforcement have been unable or unwilling to assist the government’s efforts to protect federal personnel and property” at an ICE facility in Portland.
San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder, who represents San Francisco'’s Mission District, said she will make a motion on Tuesday to compel Lurie to come before the Board of Supervisors and explain what plans he has in place in the event Trump deploys federal troops to the city.
Progressive organizers have already announced a tentative protest schedule (opens in new tab) for if and when federal troops enter the city. It will include a same-day rally and march at Embarcadero at 5 p.m. and vigils at local libraries the following day.
The effort is being led by Bay Resistance and supported by Indivisible SF, one of the groups behind the No Kings rallies.
Further details about the upcoming protest have yet to be announced.
“There are no plans other to show that we are not giving up,” Indivisible SF spokesperson Liliana Soroceanu said. “And of course it will be peaceful.”