San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is taking heat for his apathetic-seeming response to an assault on a member of his security detail — as the attacker behind the brutal body slam is revealed to have never faced charges over an arrest for suspicion of murder.
San Francisco police apprehended two suspects, Tony Phillips and Abraham Simon, after the bloody skirmish Thursday near the troubled Tenderloin neighborhood.
In a video obtained by Mission Local, Lurie is shown, hands in pockets, briefly observing the scuffle between his security guard and Phillips before he simply “peaced out” of the chaotic scene, one X user observed.
A person can be heard at the end of the video saying, “Where did the mayor go?”
“Watch how the Mayor just sort of walks off while his own security detail member gets mogged by a criddler. What a complete coward,” wrote an X user called Greg Koenig.
“The mayor doesn’t even try and help his employee which is such an insight to his operating system,” another critic weighed in.
Mark Fabela posted a video of a 2024 scuffle involving San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s security detail, in which the mayor looked on as his guard was pummeled.
“Two mayors. Two fights. Same leadership style: stand there and watch.”
A source familiar with the Thursday incident said the mayor was walking away to fetch another member of the detail for backup.
The incident broke out when Lurie asked people crowding the street to move, according to Mission Local.
Things quickly took a turn when one man began “talking gibberish,” the officer said.
When the officer stepped in and ordered the man to move along, the suspect initially backed off — then came at him
The two tussled and the officer was eventually slammed to the ground.
Phillips was handcuffed at the scene and repeatedly shouted, “F–k you!” as officers arrested him. The second suspect tried to run but was apprehended.