Two different groups of protesters showed up Saturday afternoon at state Sen. Scott Wiener’s annual “Pumpkin Carving and Legislative Updates” gathering in San Francisco, disrupting an event intended mostly for children and families.
About one hour into the three-hour event, a group of about 50 demonstrators arrived at the Noe Valley Courts, a park where the festivity was being held, holding banners and Palestinian flags. They reportedly began yelling chants toward the attendees, with some targeting Wiener directly.
In a video provided by Wiener’s staff, protesters can be heard shouting, “Wiener, Wiener whaddya say? How many kids have you killed today?” and “Intifada! Intifada!”
The video also shows one protester walking into the park and handing out flyers to attendees — flyers that appeared to contain a scavenger hunt and a word-search puzzle for children.
“Scott Wiener is using his role as a U.S. politician to ensure the deaths of kids who could be carving pumpkins,” reads part of the flyer.
A progressive who represents California’s 11th Senate District (all of San Francisco City & County and the northern tip of San Mateo County), Wiener has been outspoken about the rise in anti-Israel animosity in the Bay Area and supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A group named Gay Shame took credit for developing the flyers and organizing the demonstration. According to its website, Gay Shame has been organizing local protests since 2001 and is “committed to a trans/queer extravaganza that brings direct action to spectacular levels of confrontation.” Among the banners carried by protesters was one that said “Queers 4 Intifada.”
Wiener’s annual event hosted families from Noe Valley and other San Francisco neighborhoods. Around 300 people attended, including Mayor London Breed, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and San Francisco Unified School District board member Phil Kim, according to Wiener’s team.
Wiener has been targeted previously by protesters during the past year, a video montage posted by the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area shows.
Still, Saturday’s protest stood out to the senator, who co-chairs the California Legislative Jewish Caucus.
“This was different, because it wasn’t just targeting me. It was targeting an entire event, mostly children and their parents carving pumpkins,” Wiener told J. “It was vile in a different way.”
“I’m not going to tell people how to protest,” Wiener added. “[But] there are certain things that cross the line. There are a hundred different ways that you can protest the war without engaging in harassment, or screwing with a children’s pumpkin carving.”
In a post on the social media site X that also included video of the incident, JCRC Bay Area said it was “deeply concerned by this increasing radicalization that could lead to vandalism, violence or worse.”
In a statement emailed to J., the organization added: “JCRC is appalled that anti-Israel agitators would target a family-friendly pumpkin carving event hosted by a Jewish state senator to spew hateful, violent rhetoric in response to the situation in the Middle East. Targeting a Jewish elected official who has no role in international affairs –– and not their colleagues with the same views –– is textbook antisemitism.”
The group marched away from the park after about 30 minutes.
However, those demonstrators were quickly replaced by a different, smaller group protesting Wiener’s advocacy work around transgender rights, the senator’s team told J.
About 15 people were dressed in dinosaur costumes and held signs prepared by “Detrans Awareness,” a group that advocates for the “gender-confused” and promotes transgender individuals who have opted to detransition.
The signs included slogans such as “Stop telling gay girls they’re trans boys,” “Listen to the detransitioners” and “Democrats against puberty blockers.”
In a conversation with J., Wiener referred to the group as anti-trans protesters and claimed their actions amounted to a “moral panic.” Wiener said the second group of demonstrators left after 30 to 45 minutes.