San Francisco is a beautiful city. I have been there many times over the years. It is where I spent the first evening with the lovely young woman who would become my wife. It is a place we looked forward to visit. It is also a place I will never visit again.
The “City by the Bay” has always been a bit of a walk on the wild side. Alternate, and sometimes bizarre lifestyles were tolerated in San Francisco long before anywhere else in this country. In a strange way, that was part of it’s attraction to many. Kind of a Yin-Yang, Beauty and the Beast situation. You could look the other way at the increasing numbers of panhandlers and vagrants, who urinated in the streets and defecated in the parks. You could cringe at the transvestite with a 5 o’clock shadow, because you had the amazing cultural diversity crammed into just a few square miles. Chinatown, Japantown, enclaves of Filipinos, Mexicans and more. A United Nations of food and products to sample and enjoy. The world brought to your doorstep.
However, the seedy side of the city continued to grow. The vagrants who were formerly mostly confined to the “tenderloin” district flowed into all the tourist areas of the city. Even in the business district, the odor of human feces and urine was not uncommon. The gay population exploded. Somewhat subdued by the “Aids” epidemic in that community during the 80s and 90s, the gay bars with their “Glory Holes” were back with a vengeance. You no longer had to go to Finocchio’s to see men dressed as women. They were right there on the street next to you.
San Francisco was among the first cities to declare itself a “sanctuary” for those who had entered our country illegally. The City government refused to cooperate with federal law enforcement by informing them that they were holding individuals arrested for crimes in their venue. So, on July 1, 2015, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, an illegal alien from Mexico who had 7 felony convictions and had been previously deported 5 times, fired the shot from a handgun which killed Kate Steinle, a beautiful young woman who was enjoying a day in the city with her family.
Zarate had been detained by San Francisco authorities because of an outstanding felony warrant for his arrest, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had issued a “detainer” request for Sanchez, asking that he be turned over to them instead of being released. San Francisco authorities ignored that request and released him on April 15, 2015. Less than 3 months later, Kate Steinle was killed by an individual who had no right to be in this country in the first place.
Placed on trial for murder, yesterday, November 30, 2017, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was found not guilty by a San Francisco jury. He was not even found guilty of a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. He was convicted of illegal procession of a handgun. Barely a slap on the wrist. Remember, this is no DACA “Dreamer”. This is a man who has been convicted of drug related felonies in several states, and probably Mexico as well. This is a career criminal, and the authorities in San Francisco welcomed him with open arms.
So that’s it San Francisco. That cuts it. I will never spend another day in your city. Your values have become too perverted and distorted for me to stomach. I hope others will react this way as well. There are many other beautiful cities in this country to visit for a vacation, convention or business meeting. Choose one of them. San Francisco finally fell off the edge.