A string of San Francisco supervisors are enacting their brand of justice after receiving death threats following a controversial tweet from Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan. According to SFist, Tan's now-deleted late-night Twitter rant directed a "Die slow motherf*ers" at several city supervisors, which has since resulted in death threat mailers.

In a looming shadow of fear, the supervisors took tangible steps, with Supervisor Aaron Peskin and Connie Chan filing police reports. Supervisor Ahsha Safaí announcing his intention to do the same at a Board of Supervisors meeting, reported by The Standard. Tan, known for preemptively blocking critics and stirring the Twitter pot, apologized for his Tupac-themed outburst. Still, the damage was done, prompting Peskin, one of the tweet targets, to draw the line at what he called "incitements to violence and death" in a public statement.

Tan's tweet caused a visceral reaction from the supervisors and seemed to inspire threatening behaviors from others. Dean Preston received a death threat mailed to his home, and Peskin reported a similar incident, blurring the lines of free expression and personal safety in the political arena. Despite their alarms, public relations consultant and spokesperson for Tan, Sam Singer, described the supervisors' police report as "political theater." Tan expressed regret, declaring there's "no place, no excuse and no reason for this type of speech and charged language in the discourse."

The political implications of the original tweet seep into the upcoming 2024 elections, with Tan's behavior potentially affecting the influence of the political advocacy group GrowSF, which he is on the board of, as it was pointed out by a bewildered Supervisor Walton on Instagram; his shock reflecting the undercurrents of concern that rally around the integrity of political debate and its possible descent into violence, particularly in an era where history reminds us of the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, yet Safaí said "they’re coming for all of us" in a charged statement at a Board of Supervisors meeting.

Amidst this turmoil, Chan linked the recent threats to previous altercations with Forrest Liu, a campaign staffer for her political rival Marjan Philhour, intensifying concerns over a pattern of aggressive interactions. Chan's police incident report highlighted Tan's support for Philhour's campaign while referencing a 2023 report against Liu for alleged physical threats. Philhour has maintained ignorance of any wrongful conduct by her staff, assuring that any suspected crimes "would be promptly and properly reported to the police."