As San Francisco continues to reel from skyrocketing homelessness and crime, one Afghan immigrant said that his experience as a small business owner in the city has, in many ways, been worse than the conditions he faced while living in Afghanistan.
The immigrant, who goes by Zaid in a Fox News article, said he has had over $100,000 worth of merchandise stolen by various gangs from his store, Cigarettes R Cheaper, and that none of them have been apprehended by law enforcement.
“The politicians need to get a grip on this because it’s worse than Afghanistan or Iraq,” he said. “At least in Afghanistan, the Taliban will cut your hand off, and people are afraid to commit such a crime.”
“They know the police won’t do anything,” Zaid added, saying that the criminals could run free in his store for up to 20 minutes.
'San Francisco needs to get a grip on the city, it's become worse than Afghanistan or Iraq'
-Zaid, an Afghani immigrantThis is his store, being robbed of a $100k~#Reparations #GrabandGo pic.twitter.com/7DhtgL7o6o
— TruthInBytes (@HipIsEdo) June 2, 2023
Zaid said that runaway crime in the city has hollowed out its once vibrant shopping centers and restaurants, causing people to leave and others to look for other places to shop and eat.
“We have drugs issue, we have homeless issue, and on top of this, these idiots come in here and take whatever they want,” Zaid said. “The city has gone downhill, especially the last two years since COVID; I’ve never seen it worse. People are afraid to come shopping here because they are either going to get robbed or someone will break into their car.”
Videos on social media commonly depict violent crime and smash-and-grab robberies out in the open, as well as a rampant homelessness problem where dozens of hundreds of homeless people camp out on public sidewalks.
What happened to San Francisco?pic.twitter.com/8JrCSr8xQW
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 28, 2023
While the city is chock full of homeless people, storefronts and office spaces that used to house luxury stores and some of the world’s pre-eminent tech companies sit empty.
A video posted on Saturday shows a street with scores of high-end office buildings and storefronts that are closed, with very few people populating the downtown area.
Vacancies "Soar" in Downtown San Francisco.
Store closures are hitting San Francisco as office vacancies and fears of crime are on the rise. Currently 30% unleased, prior to the BLM/Antifa riots in 2020-current it was 4%.
Stevie Wonder could see this coming. pic.twitter.com/vMSAoOxKGp
— Dane (@UltraDane) June 3, 2023
The issue is compounded by soft-on-crime prosecutors and police forces in big cities that are critically understaffed as less and less people show interest in the profession.
Robberies and other violent crimes, as well as property crimes, have skyrocketed in recent years.
San Francisco.
"We’re seeing a rise in violent juvenile crime. At the same time, robberies in SF are up more than 17%, and the severity of the attacks is increasing too. All this while SFPD braces for potentially losing up to 120 officers in June." pic.twitter.com/Z47e3Za6WU— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) June 4, 2023
Last month, Nordstrom announced it was closing both of its brick-and-mortar stores in downtown San Francisco after a series of smash-and-grab robberies.
Whole Foods also announced that they were closing a location in San Francisco, which one city councilman attributed to increased crime and drug use near the location.
“We are closing our Trinity location only for the time being,” a spokesperson for Whole Foods said in a statement to the San Francisco Standard. “If we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members in the store, we will evaluate a reopening of our Trinity location.”
Zaid, too, said he may have to shut down his store due to crime in the city.
“We might have to shut it down,” Zaid said. “Our safety is more important than making a living in this city.”
Other stories you may want to read:
