Today at Market & Castro, I had one of the scariest experiences I’ve had in SF. My friend and I had just finished breakfast and were walking out of a café at the intersection when a man in a red hoodie approached us, muttered things, and we avoided him. We thought that was it. As we kept walking toward the intersection, he came back around and suddenly started throwing punches at us. I stepped back, told him to back off, and we walked away quickly. But it escalated. He went to the gas station on the corner, came back with a squeegee, and started chasing us down the street, swinging and shouting racial slurs, profiling both of us. While I was running, I called 911. Still on the phone, I found a nearby store to run into. The Variety Store owners were amazing, helped us, and let us wait inside while I stayed on the call. But here’s the part that really shook me: we waited over 30 minutes and nobody showed up. Think about that. A man had just attacked us, was armed with an object, was hurling hate speech, and was still roaming the block. And the police never came. We couldn’t leave the store safely. In the end, I had to call an Uber just to get half a block to my car. My friend also called an Uber just to make it a single block to his apartment. And look I’m privileged enough to afford that escape. But what about the people who can’t? Who are forced to walk past someone like this, knowing no help came even after calling 911? This is not how public safety is supposed to work. People shouldn’t be left trapped in a store, hoping the person doesn’t come back, because officers never arrive. @DanielLurie how can SF claim it’s making streets safer when situations like this are ignored? People are at risk, and it’s impossible to feel safe when 911 calls don’t bring help.