Politics prof says Pearsall shooting will impact San Francisco mayoral race
SAN FRANCISCO -- The shooting of 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall during an attempted robbery in San Francisco's Union Square occurred in the midst of a hotly contested mayoral race.
"I think it's a very serious inflection point because it relates to the most pressing issue on the docket for everyone: public safety," said James Taylor, a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco.
He said this will have major implications on the race but will impact one candidate more than the others.
"This does not bode well for London Breed as the incumbent because she's in power and this happened on her watch. Of course, she had nothing to do with it but, as the person in charge, there's a blessing and a curse that comes with incumbency," he said.
In her first news conference after the shooting on Saturday, Mayor London Breed made a statement to the community.
"I'm confident that our district attorney Brook Jenkins will take the necessary action to prosecute this case. This is how we hold people accountable in San Francisco. Robberies and any violence like this will not be tolerated in our city," Breed said. "We know San Francisco has a lower violent crime rate than most major cities in this country but statistics don't matter when incidents like this occur. What matters is supporting the victim and holding those accountable who break our laws and endanger the lives of others."
In the hours after the shooting, one of Breed's challengers, Mark Farrell, quickly took to X with a post taking aim at Breed:
"Our city has suffered from a tragic series of gun shootings: a Galileo High student shot while Breed partied in Chicago; a young girl in Crocker-Amazon with life-threatening wounds and now 49ers first-round draft pick Ricky Pearsall struck with gunfire during an attempted robbery in Union Square. Enough is enough. If we want public safety in San Francisco, then we need change in City Hall."
Another challenger, Daniel Lurie, published this statement to Instagram:
"My heart goes out to Ricky Pearsall, the San Francisco 49er who was shot in Union Square, and the entire 49er family. I am praying for Ricky's quick and full recovery. No one — whether they live, work, or visit our beloved city — should ever have to fear for their safety in San Francisco. This senseless violence must end."
"These campaigns will reiterate the issue of public safety again and again now because this is going to be on the back of everyone's minds -- even as we all move forward," Taylor said.
On the national level, Taylor believes the incident won't do Kamala Harris any favors, either.
"It just reiterates the problems of San Francisco to people who don't live here," he said. "Trump is going to harp on this beginning today and not going to let up on it anytime soon."
He believes the Trump campaign will lean into this incident, since Harris hails from the Bay Area and built her political career in California.
"Mayor Breed and Vice President Harris – they have to wear this incident on their campaigns going forward because it already feeds into the narrative that San Francisco is in decline and that San Francisco is not safe," he said.
Persall was released from the hospital on Sunday, and the 49ers organization said he is recovering from a bullet wound to the chest.