California Gov. Gavin Newsom boasted about work to “clean up” San Francisco ahead of the APEC summit – hours before a Czech television crew covering the summit was robbed of their cameras at gunpoint.
The 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group will hold its annual meeting in the city on Tuesday and Wednesday. Among the 20,000 participants are Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, China’s president.
Newsom said work had been done to improve security in the crime-ridden city, where robberies were up 13.7 percent from last year and businesses were fleeing an empty downtown.
“I know people say, ‘Oh, they’re just cleaning up here because all these fancy leaders are coming to town,'” Newsom said late last week.
Gavin Newsom once again doubled down on his San Francisco cleanup for Xi:
“If you have people over to your house, you’re going to clean the house.” pic.twitter.com/8kkaBkga7w
– End Wakefulness (@EndWokeness) November 13, 2023
President Joe Biden will meet Xi Jinping for the first time in over a year at the Moscone Center in the South of Market neighborhood
The area outside the building was considered the largest of any open-air drug market in the city after it suddenly sprung up earlier this year. There are usually between 50 and 100 traders on the street every day, mostly undeterred and in broad daylight
“That’s true because it’s true – but it’s also true that we had discussions months and months before APEC.”
He added: “By definition you have people in your house, you’re going to clean the house.”
“We have 21 world leaders; Tens of thousands of people come from all over the world.
“What an opportunity to showcase the most extraordinary place in the world: San Francisco.”
But on Sunday evening, a Czech television crew covering the summit was stopped at gunpoint and robbed of their equipment.
Bohumil Vostal and his colleagues were filming in front of the well-known bookstore “City Lights” at 5 p.m. on Sunday when three masked men attacked them.
“They walked up to my cameraman and pointed a gun at his stomach and one at my head,” Vostal told The San Francisco Chronicle.
Vostal said the equipment was worth $18,000 – and they also lost a day’s worth of footage.
Milan Nosek, a journalist from the Czech Republic, carries a camera on Columbus Avenue in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. Nosek and the team of television journalists he was with were robbed of their camera and other equipment while covering the APEC summit
Bohumil Vostal and his colleagues were robbed in San Francisco on Sunday at 5 p.m
The cleanup left several crime hotspots virtually unrecognizable, leaving many wondering why similar efforts hadn’t been undertaken before
San Francisco officers are seen interacting with an encampment resident during their cleanup on Saturday
“I’m one of the many people who read Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’ and I was so looking forward to visiting your city,” he said, saying they had had a fantastic day up until then.
Vostal and his crew had captured footage of the Painted Ladies at Alamo Square; interviewed gallerist Jonathan Carver Moore; and met with community leaders in the transgender district near South of Market and the Tenderloin, he told the newspaper.
Vostal’s cameraman went to Best Buy to purchase replacement equipment, and on Monday morning, San Francisco Mayor London Breed met with Vostal to apologize.
“All the people in San Francisco almost blame themselves, as if they were sorry for something they didn’t do,” he said.
The city is prepared for protests, and on Sunday activists angry about corporate profits, environmental violations, poor working conditions and the Israel-Hamas war marched through downtown San Francisco.
More protests are expected throughout the summit.
Chief Bill Scott of the San Francisco Police Department said he expected several protests per day, although it was uncertain how many would materialize. He warned against criminal behavior.
“People are welcome to exercise their constitutional rights in San Francisco, but we do not tolerate people committing acts of violence, destruction of property or other crimes,” Scott said. “We will make arrests if necessary.”
Pro-Palestine and anti-capitalist demonstrators loudly protested against APEC on Sunday
Some protesters denounced Xi as a dictator and called for Tibet’s release, adding: “Your time is up!”
Demonstrators hold placards during the “No to APEC” protest on the sidelines of the conference
San Francisco has a long history of loud and violent protests, as well as trade talks. In 1999, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets during a World Trade Organization conference in Seattle.
Protesters managed to delay the start of that conference and drew global attention as overwhelming police fired tear gas and plastic bullets and arrested hundreds of people.
Due to mass protests, Chile withdrew as APEC host in 2019.
Last year, when Thailand hosted the summit in Bangkok, pro-democracy protesters questioned the legitimacy of the Thai prime minister. Police fired rubber bullets at the crowd, wounding several protesters and a Portal journalist.