Shoppers at a grocery store in San Francisco were appalled when a man defecated in one of the store’s aisles over the weekend.
Photos and video of the incident show a man defecating inside a Safeway store in the city’s Marina District with an open roll of toilet paper lying on the ground next to him.
The episode highlights a growing epidemic in San Francisco of people, oftentimes homeless, openly defecating in public. Local authorities have responded to more than 25,000 feces-related complaints this year alone, according to KRON4.
“This is a national embarrassment,” local supervisor Matt Haney told the station.”It is also [in] many communities a disgusting, public health crisis. No one should be able to walk about and see poop smeared all over the place. No one should live in these conditions. It is not funny.”
To combat the crisis, the city has a designated “poop patrol,” which receives about 65 calls per day, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The district is represented by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a fact some Twitter users pointed out as news of the incident gained traction online.
John Dennis, a conservative running against Pelosi, was one of them.
“Cleanup in Aisle 3! Thank you Nancy Pelosi,” Dennis wrote. “I publicly warned in 2018 that if we let people violate our streets the homeless problem would get worse.”
Cleanup in Aisle 3! Thank you Nancy Pelosi.
I publicly warned in 2018 that if we let people violate our streets the homeless problem would get worse.
The answer: Arrest, then offer a choice. Jail or rehab.
Just got this photo. A homeless man defecating in our local Safeway. pic.twitter.com/4mrpzDNA9T
— John Dennis for Congress (@RealJohnDennis) December 15, 2019
.@LondonBreed here’s a pic of a man on drugs taking a poo in aisle 10 of @Safeway Marina Sunday morning in #SF. Why is this okay? @KTVU @kpix @kron @KGOdesk @sfchronicle pic.twitter.com/4ef4S6Qs8n
— Deborah Kan (@debkhk) December 15, 2019
