California Democrat refuses to tour junkie hot zone in his own district
California Senator Scott Wiener declined to tour a junkie hot spot in his very own district.
The Democrat, who represents San Francisco, was stopped by ABC7 News Bay Area Sunday while the outlet checked out Mission Street to report on illegal street vending.
After arriving, the reporter quickly realized a bigger issue plaguing the community - rampant open drug use on the streets.
During the segment, Wiener openly talked about the 'violence' illegal street vending brings to the area, but when they asked if he wanted to join them on a walk down the drug-infested street, he refused.
The reporter asked Wiener: 'Would you like to see with us to see what's going on there?'
Wiener, who appeared to stumble on his words, responded: 'What? Uh, I'm here regularly so I'm aware of what's going on and it's bad.'
Although the senator declined joining the news outlet, the reporter said they 'didn't hesitate' to check it out for themselves.
Video showed several people laying on the pavement as paramedics made their rounds after three wellness calls were made to the fire department in less than five minutes, the outlet reported.
Locals in the neighborhood said they frequently call 911, as one man said: 'I just thought they might be dead.'
Video showed several people laying on the pavement as paramedics made their rounds after three wellness calls were made to the fire department in less than five minutes
Francisco Grande, another resident, compared the scene to 'a third-world county.'
'It's very bad right now, it looks terrible. I don't know why the authorities don't do anything,' he added.
The outlet not only asked Wiener about the issue, but also contacted District nine Supervisor Jackie Fielder to comment on the growing issue. She did not respond.
Soon after ABC 7 left the scene, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie drove by the area to see the chaos for himself.
He then went on to tell a crowd at the Bay Area-Silicon Valley Summit: 'And there were hundreds of people gathered at 5pm. I made some calls, and by 8pm it was clear.
'We are sending a message that if you are on our streets, we want to get you help, but the streets are no longer the option,' Lurie added.
Before declining to join the outlet, Wiener spoke about his new bill, which would allow Bay Area police officers to cite illegal vendors.
'This is for folks who are selling goods that have been placed on a list of commonly stolen goods, who don't have a permit and don't have proof of purchase,' he explained.
'Then, the police will be able to cite them and on the third offense, they can get a misdemeanor.'
The reporter then mentioned that not a single person was arrested for using drugs on the street, to which Wiener said: 'I can't speak for why they don't make a particular arrest for drugs. I know there have been more drug arrests recently.'
In March, there were 140 drug-related arrests within 300 meters of Mission Street and the BART station, according to San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) incident reports seen by the outlet.
'We're receptive to the resident and business owners that are telling us this, and we are citing and arresting people for drug use or for their warrants,' Robert Rueca, a spokesperson with SFPD, said.
'We've done this more in the last few months than we have ever.'
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