A press conference held by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie was disrupted by protesters who screamed an antisemitic chant, "tax the Jews," the New York Post reported.
The disruption occurred during a press event to promote Lurie's proposed tax reform legislation. Members of the Democratic Socialists of America’s San Francisco chapter began shouting "tax the rich" before the chants took on an explicitly antisemitic character.
In a video from the incident, a woman among the protesters was heard screaming, "tax Israel and "tax the Jews."
A witness told the New York Post that the antisemitic chants lasted for about two minutes.
Lurie condemned the incident and stated: "At an event this afternoon, a group of individuals that were chanting 'tax the rich' began to shout 'tax the Jews.' This was an event I put on with Supervisor Mahmood, labor leaders, and dozens of workers to announce a plan that creates more jobs for those workers and housing for San Franciscans."
"Suggesting that Jews are wealthy is a tired trope, and targeting our community at an event focused on creating economic opportunity for San Franciscans is decidedly antisemitic. I will never accept hate directed at the Jewish community or any community in our city. Those are not San Francisco values-we’re better than that," he said.
The DSA San Francisco chapter denied that the woman who was filmed making the antisemitic chants was affiliated with them despite being at their protest.
On October 8, 2023, the day after the October 7 massacre, the Democratic Socialists of America held a rally in Manhattan in celebration of the massacre. Celebrants chanted “700," which was the confirmed death toll from the massacre at the time, as well as numerous other antisemitic and genocidal slogans.