Dean Preston resigns X after Elon Musk accused him of destroying San Francisco and his Democratic Socialists of America chapter claimed Hamas carnage would lead to ‘better world’
- Dean Preston is the only member of the Democratic Socialists of America on San Francisco’s 11-person board of supervisors.
- The DSA was strongly condemned for its pro-Palestine stance and failure to condemn the Hamas attack
- He initially made a public statement this week condemning attacks on civilians – but stopped short of speaking out against Hamas. He did condemn Hamas later in the week
A controversial progressive San Francisco lawmaker has left X, claiming he no longer feels safe after Elon Musk targeted him — but locals claim he remains genuinely outraged by his stance on the Israel massacre.
Dean Preston announced his plans to leave the social media site formerly known as Twitter earlier this week – blaming a personal attack by its billionaire owner for ousting him.
Musk and other San Franciscans say Preston’s progressive policies have contributed to the blight of the city, now a byword for open drug use, ram raids and violent crime.
But many critics believe Preston is using the Musk apology to deflect outrage over his Democrat Socialists of America party’s outrageous stance on the Israel massacre by Hamas. This resulted in the DSA effectively blaming the Jewish state for the massacre that killed more than 1,000.
The most outrageous part of their rope said: ‘Violent oppression inevitably breeds resistance. Socialists support the Palestinian people, and all people’s right to resist and fight for their own liberation. This weekend’s events are no different. Decolonization is the only path to peace.’
There is no suggestion that Preston himself was behind the tweets, although he is the most famous figurehead for the DSA in San Francisco.
Dean Preston announced Friday that he is leaving X, after Elon Musk called for him to be jailed over his policies on San Francisco. Preston, a member of the DSA, was also criticized this week for failing in his initial remarks to condemn Hamas
The DSA, whose members advocate for progressive policies and community-led policing, also supported pro-Palestine marches in the United States this week, particularly in New York.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, prominent DSA members of Congress, rejected the DSA’s position on the Hamas attack and their rhetoric about ‘occupation and apartheid’ and their calls for a ‘ceasefire’ with the terrorists judge.
In Michigan, Rep. Shri Thanedar officially renounced his DSA membership and said in a statement on Wednesday that he would not ‘associate with an organization unwilling to call out terrorism in all its forms.’
Preston, unlike Ocasio-Cortez, Bowman and Thanedar, did not address the DSA’s position, to the ire of some.
Noa Argamani was abducted by Hamas fighters on Saturday after being manhandled on a motorcycle and driven across the desert.
He initially made a public statement this week condemning attacks on civilians – but did not specifically speak out against the attacks by Hamas. He did condemn Hamas later in the week.
Friday he told The San Francisco Chronicle that he was in the process of deleting his account on X.
On September 22, Musk declared: “Dean Preston needs to be fired. He is probably the person most responsible for the destruction of San Francisco.’
Musk tweeted on September 29, in response to Preston’s plan to prevent armed security guards from drawing their weapons to protect property: ‘Dean Preston should go to jail.’
And on October 3, Musk added: ‘Dean Preston should be in jail for what he did to San Francisco.’
Preston said Friday he had had enough.
“It’s a reality check that this is not a safe or productive place to share my thoughts,” Preston said.
‘Twitter has been overwhelmed by trolls and disinformation since Musk took over. With the owner of the website calling for me to be jailed, it became clear that it was time to move to a new platform.’
Preston previously hit back at Musk’s criticism.
Preston called Musk a “billionaire fascist” in a statement on his website last month.
Preston isn’t the only San Francisco supervisor to leave X.
Supervisor Shamann Walton said last year he would leave the platform when Musk took over, and three other supervisors — Myrna Melgar, Hillary Ronen and Connie Chan — either deleted their accounts or stopped using them.