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California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D), who earlier this month advanced to the November general election to succeed former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said on Saturday that he was “harassed, threatened, and physically intimidated” while attending a march for transgender rights in San Francisco a day earlier.
“As I walked through Dolores Park to participate in a trans-led Pride Shabbat service in connection with the trans march, a group of people began screaming at me, ran up to me, surrounded me, and began harassing me, both verbally and physically, including physical contact,” Weiner wrote in a lengthy statement shared on the social platform X.
A video circulating online showed Weiner walking through the park surrounded by a group of individuals shouting profanities, making obscene gestures and accusing him of “betray[ing] queers” with his stance on Gaza. According to Weiner’s campaign website, he supports Palestinian statehood and describes the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza as genocide.
“You stopped being queer the moment you started supporting Israel, you piece of s—,” one person can be heard yelling in the background of the video, which has racked up more than 6 million views.
Wiener, who is Jewish and openly gay, also claimed that the group of people made comments about his “Israeli handlers,” among other statements he described as “inaccurate, extreme, and vile.”
“They were so physically and verbally aggressive that it was impossible for me to safely remain in the park,” he wrote. “As a result, I left the park and, for the very first time, did not participate in the trans march.”
The Democratic state senator said Friday’s incident followed a separate incident at a popular San Francisco dive bar in which he was “accosted” while watching a World Cup match.
Wiener said the man, who had allegedly confronted him several years ago, “screamed abuse” at him and his staff before being ejecting from the bar.
“I have no objection whatsoever to anyone disagreeing with me, opposing me, or protesting me. All of that is core to democracy,” Weiner wrote. “But when opposition and disagreement transition to harassment, including cornering me, touching me, or trying to physically bully me out of a public event, that crosses a line.”
Weiner is facing San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan in the race to succeed Rep. Pelosi in the House. The pair advanced to a November runoff for the retiring lawmaker’s seat following the June 2 primary.
He is seen as a key player in the “Yes in My Backyard” push for increased housing development, a stance that has put him at odds with some farther-left members of the Democratic Party.
Wiener also faced backlash for hesitating to call the war in Gaza a “genocide” during a congressional candidate forum earlier this year. He later reversed course, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“For many Jews, associating the word genocide with the Jewish state of Israel is deeply painful and frankly traumatic, but despite that pain and that trauma, we all have eyes … and we all have ears,” he said in a video on X. “To me, the Israeli government has tried to destroy Gaza and to push Palestinians out, and that qualifies as genocide.”
Israel has become an ideological flashpoint among Democrats, becoming somewhat of a litmus test in primary races across the country between democratic socialists and more moderate members of the party.
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