- San Francisco's DA is calling out Elon Musk for a tweet he made about Bob Lee's death.
- Musk tweeted "violent crime in SF is horrific" following the fatal stabbing of the 43-year-old Cash App founder last week.
San Francisco's district attorney says Elon Musk made a "reckless and irresponsible" statement over the recent death of tech executive Bob Lee.
The San Francisco Police Department said in a press conference on Thursday that a suspect, 38-year-old Nima Momeni, has been arrested following Lee's fatal stabbing last week. The 43-year-old was the founder of Cash App and former CTO of Square; at the time of his death, he was working as the chief product officer of another fintech company, MobileCoin.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said during the press conference that there is evidence that Momeni knew Lee.
She also addressed a tweet from Elon Musk over Lee's death.
"Very sorry to hear that. Many people I know have been severely assaulted," Musk had tweeted about Lee's death last week. "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?" he asked, tagging Jenkins in the tweet.
In the press conference Thursday, Jenkins said Musk's tweet "spreads misinformation at a time when the police are trying to solve a very difficult case."
"While we are not going to release any additional facts at this time, I must point out that reckless and irresponsible statements like those contained in Mr. Musk's tweet that assumes incorrect circumstances about Mr. Lee's death serve to mislead the world in their perception of San Francisco and also negatively impact the pursuit of justice for victims of crimes as it spreads misinformation at a time when the police are trying to solve a very difficult case," Jenkins said in the conference. "Since this incident happened, since waking up to Elon Musk's tweet, my office has worked hard to tell people not to make assumptions about this case, about the facts of this case."
Several tech executives expressed shock and shared their condolences when the news broke last week.
Jack Dorsey, who cofounded Twitter, said Lee's death was "heartbreaking." Lee was the CTO of Square, Dorsey's fintech company, from 2010 to 2014.
"It's real. Getting calls," Dorsey wrote on Nostr. "Bob was instrumental to Square and Cash App."
Several tech executives and VCs who commented on Lee's death via Twitter shared concerns about crime and safety in San Francisco, and others had speculated that he'd been killed in a random attack.
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.