Horrific moment wedding photographer is wrestled to the ground and pistol-whipped by armed attackers
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Mobile phone footage captured the gruesome moment when a wedding photographer was wrestled to the ground and gun-punched by armed assailants in front of terrified newlyweds.
A video posted online shows two men in dark Nike sweatshirts, face masks and dark sweatpants approaching the unknown photographer in broad daylight at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco on Nov. 9.
It was just one of two attacks on wedding photographers that day at the Palace of Fine Arts, after a recent poll showed a majority of San Franciscans believe their city is going downhill, and a third plans to rebuild the city within three years. leave.
Wednesday’s video showed gunmen trying to take the photographer’s camera and equipment from his camera bag, but the would-be victim managed to hold on to his belongings.
At that point, the two men begin to threaten the photographer with their guns, one of which appears to have been modified for a longer clip.
The victim tries to run away, past the shocked groom in a light-colored suit with a red headscarf and his new wife, in a red dress, before falling to the floor.
The groom appeared to try to help the man as he lay on the ground, but the armed assailants soon returned, pinned him to the ground and beat him with their rifles before running off.
Shocking video shows the moment two men in dark clothing approach a photographer in broad daylight at the Palace of the Fine Arts in San Francisco
The unknown victim struggled to free his camera bag and equipment from the would-be thieves in front of the newlywed couple he was shooting
The groom appeared to be trying to help the victim after he ran away from his attackers and fell nearby
The assailants pinned the man down and pistol-whipped him before fleeing the scene
Another video from earlier in the day shows what appear to be the same attackers making off with a camera bag and getting into a white sedan before driving off.
Both videos were posted by the Instagram account SFSTREETS415, which claims to be “Asian hate crime reporters.”
Mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, pictured during an interview in February 2022. She is the 45th mayor of the city and county of San Francisco
They reported that the victim, from Dallas, Texas, was an Asian man. He told ABC 7 he flew into town for the day to take the couple’s engagement photos after they received their marriage certificate.
“I was just shocked,” he said, recounting how he “tried to protect the client’s memories” while “the bride cried all the time.”
The victim – who does not wish to be identified for security reasons – also says she will never work at the Center for Fine Arts again, and encourages couples not to hold photo shoots there anymore.
The Center for Fine Arts meanwhile described the attack as ‘a very scary situation’.
‘Crime in and around tourist destinations is increasing; we see our fair share of car break-ins and grabs,” general manager Jason Hoover told the San Francisco standard.
‘It is all our hope that the city will take a good look at effective solutions to prevent this type of crime.
“It’s detrimental to our business, but more importantly, creates a negative image and perception of SF.”
A police spokesman told the Standard: “At the moment, the investigation is analyzing evidence to positively identify the suspects.”
It was just one of two attacks on wedding photographers last Wednesday at the picturesque Palace of Fine Arts
Posting the video over the weekend, SFSTREETS415 called for action to hold the city’s waking politicians accountable for a 6.2 percent increase in crime.
According to statistics from the San Francisco Police Department, thefts are up 13.2 percent from last year, while robberies are up 5.4 percent and assaults are up 9.6 percent.
The city’s rape rate is also up a whopping 9.3 percent from last year, while the murder rate is up 2.1 percent from last year.
“San Francisco is a beautiful city, but a lawless city, and we must take action, because enough is enough,” SFSTREETS415 captions their video. “How many Asians and innocent, law-abiding citizens have yet to be killed and hurt?
“We at SFSTREETS415 need help getting the attention of those in power to make changes across the board,” they continued, suggesting starting with SFPD Chief Bill Scott and Mayor London Breed.
“The people of San Francisco are fed up with the attacks, violence and terrorism against innocent people.”
Crime in the iconic city is now up 6.2 percent from last year, mainly thanks to a 13.2 percent rise in thefts
Some residents revealed last month that they are now arming themselves with baseball bats and stun guns after a new rehab center lured violent addicts into a formerly peaceful neighborhood.
Residents of the SoMa neighborhood in northeastern San Francisco have said that since the opening of the SoMa RISE sobering center in June, “troublemakers” have plagued the neighborhood.
They told Fox News that far from curbing drug use, the center has done little more than attract heavy users to the neighborhood.
“They let their clients come out here and get high, go in and get sober, and then get high again,” Sackett told ABC7 of the facility that Mayor Breed’s office originally categorized as an “indoor safe space” for addicts to ‘get off the street.’
Officials are now said to be looking for other ways to deal with the growing drug problem on the streets of San Francisco – without sending drug users to jail.
San Franciscans in the SoMa neighborhood have begun carrying defensive weapons after a “sobering” drug clinic moved into the neighborhood. Pictured: Homeless people are seen in San Francisco in July
The SoMa RISE clinic opened in June and San Francisco Mayor London Breed characterized it as a place to raise addicts
A homeless drug addict injects fentanyl into his arm near City Hall in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district
Meanwhile, a recent study by the San Francisco Chronicle found that two-thirds of San Francisco residents say their city is going downhill.
A third also said they plan to leave the city within three years.
The survey of 1,653 adults found that 65 percent said the city was in decline, while 37 percent said they would move elsewhere in three years. No less than 84 percent of the over-65s say they intend to leave.
Respondents largely agreed on the city’s key issues: homelessness came first, followed by public safety and housing costs. Nearly 70 percent said they doubted those problems would improve over the next three years.
One respondent, Dae Echols, 53, told The Chronicle he was “tired of the city” and rising prices would probably force him to retire elsewhere. The average rent in San Francisco has risen to $3,750 per month.
“I only remember the hippie generation, and it was all about, take care of your friends, brotherly love. And that’s completely gone,” says Echols.
Other residents lashed out at Mayor London Breed, whose previous popularity for guiding the city through the pandemic appears to have waned amid widespread homelessness, property crime, the fentanyl epidemic and other woes.
About 35 percent said Breed had done a poor or very poor job over the past three years in making San Francisco a better place to live and work, while 42 percent said she had done a fair job and 23 percent had done an excellent or good job .
The inquiry was conducted following the recall of progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin, who was impeached in June over frustration with public safety in the deeply democratic city.