{"id":44665,"date":"2025-10-22T13:23:34","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T20:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=44665"},"modified":"2025-10-22T13:23:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T20:23:35","slug":"national-guard-cant-close-san-franciscos-drug-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/10\/22\/national-guard-cant-close-san-franciscos-drug-markets\/","title":{"rendered":"National Guard Can\u2019t Close San Francisco\u2019s Drug Markets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by\u00a0Randy Shaw<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0October 20, 2025 (BeyondChron.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc Benioff<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc Benioff\u2019s urging Trump to send the National Guard to San Francisco overlooked a key fact: Governor Newsom sent the National Guard to the city in 2023 and it failed to reduce drug activities. The National Guard supposedly provided strategic assistance but did not arrest dealers. Nor did it protect sidewalks as many hoped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsom acted after touring the Tenderloin and hearing people\u2019s complaints (JJ Smith\u2019s video of Newsom\u2019s tour went viral). The mayor supported Newsom\u2019s action. In contrast, Trump\u2019s planned use of the National Guard is opposed by city leaders, including Mayor Lurie and District Attorney Jenkins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s misuse of the National Guard has nothing to do with increasing public safety. In fact, it was reported<\/a> last week that \u201ca video the White House circulated to portray Chicago as violent and chaotic used footage of drug busts, arrests and deportation raids in Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Nebraska.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If public safety were really the goal, troops would be sent to the many red states with higher crime rates than Democratic-run  cities, including San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s misuse of the National Guard was well known to Benioff.  The Salesforce head now bears responsibility for the National Guard\u2019s harassment of hard working San Francisco residents should troops arrive. His subsequent retraction of his call<\/a> came far too late and is unlikely to impact Trump\u2019s thinking (it does show the power of resistance).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Guard in SF<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

COVID dramatically expanded sidewalk drug activities in the Tenderloin. Many of us urged the city to find additional resources to protect the neighborhood  I wrote a lot of stories about this and urged Governor Newsom to send in the National Guard and other outside help. When it happened I wrote<\/a>, \u201cMany of us were elated by the news. We had worked hard to convince Newsom that the SFPD could not close drug markets on its own and our efforts finally paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I described the impact of the National Guard soon after it arrived. (\u201cHas CHP and National Guard Reduced SF Drug Dealing?,<\/a> May 16, 2023). The California Highway Patrol made a huge, positive difference. A positive impact that continues to this day. Sidewalk drug activities in the Tenderloin were much worse before the CHP arrived in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Guard offered \u201clogistical help.\u201d It was never clear what it was doing to reduce drug activities. At the time few thought of the National Guard as an occupying political force. They were typically used to address floods, fires and other natural emergencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fears that the National Guard would be shooting at Tenderloin residents in a modern version of what happened at Kent State were misplaced. Also misplaced was my belief that the National Guard could make a meaningful difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why San Francisco?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cities targeted by Trump\u2019s use of the National Guard\u2014-Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Washington D.C.\u2014all have black mayors and large black or Latino populations. San Francisco doesn\u2019t fit this pattern. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve assumed Trump was more likely to send troops to Oakland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Trump likes attention. And he knows that sending troops to San Francisco will bring a high-profile response. That\u2019s probably why he also tried to send troops to Portland, which has a white mayor and few blacks or Latinos. A federal judge blocked that move but today the Ninth Circuit ruled that Trump can deploy the Oregon National Guard to guard an ICE facility in Portland. Texas National Guard troops remained blocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same legal response could block troops from arriving in San Francisco. But we can\u2019t take anything for granted. The Supreme Court could give Trump power to send troops to any cities he wants; that\u2019s the likely ruling if a case reaches them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Big Picture<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

National Guard missions in Democratic cities gets a lot of media. Deservedly so. But what about Trump\u2019s defunding congressionally approved spending in Democratic cities? Or claims by his team that those protesting at No Kings events are antifa agents who hate America?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karoline Leavitt, Trump\u2019s press secretary, said last week<\/a> that \u201cThe Democratic Party\u2019s main constituency is made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals.\u201d J.D. Vance sought<\/a> \u201cto downplay the revelation that leaders of a group called the Young Republicans<\/a> exchanged hundreds of racist, sexist text messages \u2013 including one in which rape was called \u2018epic\u2019, and another in which someone wrote \u2018I love Hitler \u2013 as youthful indiscretions.\u201d The ages of 8 of the 11 heard on the tape ranged from 24-35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are even more troubling signs that the United States is now under authoritarian control. It\u2019s the historic triumph of the Confederacy, whose racist values Trump espouses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the racist agenda underlying Benioff\u2019s call for the National Guard to come to San Francisco. And subsequent to Benioff\u2019s call it was learned that on August 26 Salesforce offered its help<\/a> to expedite hiring for Trump\u2019s vicious and racist ICE mass deportation strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I haven\u2019t heard Salesforce withdrawing that offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a reputation killer in Benioff\u2019s longtime home city of San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought he was a better man that that. So did longtime Benioff ally, Ron Conway, who said<\/a> \u201cIt saddens me immensely to say that with your recent comments, and failure to understand their impact, I now barely recognize the person I have so long admired.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, Benioff is not alone. Many once well respected people and companies have chosen to align with or avoid challenging Trump\u2019s plans to be a dictator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinclair Lewis<\/a> was right. It can happen here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Shaw<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<I>Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s new book is the revised and updated, The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco. His prior books include Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Posts<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Randy Shaw\u00a0on\u00a0October 20, 2025 (BeyondChron.org) Marc Benioff Marc Benioff\u2019s urging Trump to send the National Guard to San Francisco overlooked a key fact: Governor Newsom sent the National Guard to the city in 2023 and it failed to reduce drug activities. The National Guard supposedly provided strategic assistance but did… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44665"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44665"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44666,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44665\/revisions\/44666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}