Tech titan associated with Android, Cash App stabbed to death in San Francisco

Tech titan associated with Android, Cash App stabbed to death in San Francisco



An influential member of the tech industry has died after a horrific stabbing in San Francisco, California.

Around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, San Francisco police responded to a call about an attack on Main Street in SoMa, an entertainment and financial district on the city's east side. When officers arrived, they found a man "suffering from apparent stab wounds." The man was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

The victim was later identified as tech titan Bob Lee, known on social media as Crazy Bob. He was just 43 years old. According to SFPD, no suspect has been arrested in the case, which remains under investigation.

During his relatively short life, Lee was closely associated with some of the biggest names in Big Tech. He first established himself at Google, where he helped develop a core library at Android. Lee then began working with Square, now known as Block, a mobile digital payment device. In 2013, when he was in his early 30s, Lee founded Cash App, another virtual payment application associated with Block. In 2021, Cash App reported a gross profit of $1.8 billion.

Josh Goldbard, the CEO of MobileCoin, where Lee had been working when he died, issued a statement about his death. "Bob was a dynamo, a force of nature. Bob was the genuine article. He was made for the world that is being born right now, he was a child of dreams, and whatever he imagined, no matter how crazy, he made real," the statement read in part.

Others inside and outside the tech community expressed their grief about Lee's unfortunate passing.

"Heartbreaking," said former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. "Bob was instrumental to Square and Cash App."

"So sad to hear of @crazybob’s untimely passing. I first met him in summer 2006 — he didn’t care that I was only 14 and we talked tech / geeked out about programming..." wrote Figma CEO Dylan Field. "It’s so hard to believe he is gone."

Others, including Twitter's new CEO, Elon Musk, have pointed to local soft-on-crime policies as an underlying cause of Lee's early, violent death.

"Very sorry to hear [about Lee,]" Musk tweeted. "Many people I know have been severely assaulted. Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately. Is the city taking stronger action to incarcerate repeat violent offenders @BrookeJenkinsSF?"

\u201c@jakeshieldsajj Very sorry to hear that. Many people I know have been severely assaulted.\n\nViolent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately.\n\nIs the city taking stronger action to incarcerate repeat violent offenders @BrookeJenkinsSF?\u201d
— Jake Shields (@Jake Shields) 1680663706

"He was in the ‘good’ part of the city and appeared to have been targeted in a random mugging/attack," wrote UFC/MMA fighter Jake Shields, Lee's friend.

"I don’t know how to fix what’s wrong, but I know something isn’t working in our grey city," Goldbard of MobileCoin continued. "Bob left this world too soon."

Lee is survived by at least two daughters. It is unclear whether he was married.

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San Francisco gallery owner who sprayed homeless person with a hose has been arrested and charged with battery



The man who sprayed a homeless person with a hose outside of his business in San Francisco was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery after a massive public outcry.

71-year-old Collier Gwin is seen in the video posted to TikTok arguing with the homeless person before using a water hose to spray the person on Jan. 9. He owns an antique gallery in the financial district.

Homeless advocates excoriated Gwin and demanded that law enforcement authorities charge the man in order to dissuade others from treating homeless people poorly. Jennifer Friedenbach, the executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, told KNTV-TV that the homeless person's name is Q.

"We're talking about black trans homeless person who also suffers from mental health issues," she said.

On Wednesday, after nine days of outrage, Gwin was arrested and booked into the San Francisco County Jail on $2,500 bail.

He had previously defended his actions in an interview with KNTV by claiming that the homeless person was mentally ill and that police were unable to solve the problem.

“There’s absolutely nothing that can be done. They’ll take her to a shelter, and they will turn her out in two days,” he said at the time. “They will take her to the hospital. They will release her within a day.”

He also said that he had received threats over the video.

Some critics pointed their ire at the wrong business because the video showed the name of a restaurant called Barbarossa Lounge that sits next to Gwin's studio. The owner of the lounge made it clear that they had nothing to do with the water incident.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins commented about the charge against Gwin on Twitter.

"The alleged battery of an unhoused member of our community is completely unacceptable. Mr. Gwin will face appropriate consequences for his actions," she tweeted.

The alleged battery of an unhoused member of our community is completely unacceptable. Mr. Gwin will face appropriate consequences for his actions. Likewise, the vandalism at Foster Gwin gallery is also completely unacceptable and must stop - two wrongs do not make a right.
— Brooke Jenkins 謝安宜 (@BrookeJenkinsSF) January 19, 2023

"Likewise, the vandalism at Foster Gwin gallery is also completely unacceptable and must stop - two wrongs do not make a right," she concluded.

Here's more about the arrest of the business owner:

San Francisco Business Owner Arrested After Caught Spraying Unhoused Person With Hosewww.youtube.com

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Woke protesters storm and disrupt debate, chant against San Francisco's new district attorney who's up for reelection — and she walks out of room



Woke protesters stormed and disrupted a debate between three San Francisco district attorney candidates Thursday — but aimed their vitriol at Brook Jenkins, who currently sits in the DA's chair.

Holding signs and chanting "No Justice! No peace!" in a venue at San Francisco State University, KTVU-TV reported that the demonstrators even walked on the stage where Jenkins sat with the other candidates, Joe Alioto Veronese and John Hamasaki.

Protesters held signs with the names of two men shot and killed by San Francisco police, the station said.

KTVU said Jenkins departed the stage a few minutes after the protesters arrived.

\u201cIt\u2019s infuriating to see @BrookeJenkinsSF walk out of a debate when youth activists demanded her to respond to her anti-youth / anti-BIPOC policies & actions. \ud83d\ude21\ud83d\ude24\n\nWe need a DA who isn\u2019t afraid to listen to young people & uphold true justice for all. \u270a\ud83c\udffc @HamasakiLaw @joeavero\u201d
— Joshua Rudy Ochoa \ud83c\udf39\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Joshua Rudy Ochoa \ud83c\udf39\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1666317031

The station said Hamasaki and Veronese stayed.

What has Jenkins been up to?

Jenkins — who quit her job in former DA Chesa Boudin's office in 2021 to join the recall effort against him — was appointed DA by San Francisco Mayor London Breed in July. The special election she's running in will determine who will complete Boudin’s term through 2023.

After taking office Jenkins fired 15 staffers who worked for Boudin, the city's controversial progressive DA who was ousted in an historic recall election last month.

"Today, I made difficult, but important changes to my management team and staff that will help advance my vision to restore a sense of safety in San Francisco by holding serious and repeat offenders accountable and implementing smart criminal justice reforms," Jenkins said in a statement at the time, according to SFGate.

Boudin — a socialist who's the son of violent radicals — was elected in 2019 amid a national wave of progressive prosecutors running for office and promising to stop tough-on-crime policies they said disproportionately affected minorities.

Several key progressives such as Vice President Kamala Harris and socialist U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) supported Boudin's candidacy. Radical anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour claimed she cried tears of joy after Boudin won.

Within his first two days in office, Boudin fired seven tough-on-crime prosecutors. He also vowed to not prosecute cases involving quality-of-life crimes, such as public camping, prostitution, public urination, and blocking a sidewalk.

But Boudin's soft-on-crime approach left the city's overwhelmingly liberal voting base with bad tastes in their mouths: They overwhelmingly supported Boudin's recall by a vote of 60% to 40%.