The large and influential social justice warrior community in the San Francisco Bay Area is reeling with the news of the death of one of their prominent members, 48-year-old Jennifer Angel.  Ms. Angel was the founder and owner of a well known bakery in Oakland, Angel Cakes, and was an outspoken and active proponent of left-wing causes, as acknowledged in a statement issued by family and friends following her death.

YouTube screen grab (cropped).

We know Jen would not want to continue the cycle of harm by bringing state-sanctioned violence to those involved in her death or to other members of Oakland’s rich community. 

As a long-time social movement activist and anarchist, Jen did not believe in state violence, carceral punishment, or incarceration as an effective or just solution to social violence and inequity. The outpouring of support and care for Jen, her family and friends, and the values she held dear is a resounding demonstration of the response to harm that Jen believed in: community members relying on one another, leading with love, centering the needs of the most vulnerable, and not resorting to vengeance and inflicting more harm. 

Jen believed in a world where everyone has the ability to live a dignified and joyful life and worked toward an ecologically sustainable and deeply participatory society in which all people have access to the things they need, decisions are made by those most directly affected by them, and all people are free and equal. 

The robbery that was to cost Jennifer Angel her life was described in the San Francisco Chronicle this way:

Angel Cakes owner Jennifer Angel was leaving her parking spot in the garage of the Wells Fargo on the 2000 block of Webster Street on Monday afternoon when a car pulled up in front of her and blocked her from leaving, her fiance, Ocean Mottley, told The Chronicle. A robber then broke her passenger side window and grabbed something from the car, after which Angel ran after the thieves, suspects, Mottley said.

In the process of trying to chase them down, Angel, 48, got caught in the door of the fleeing vehicle and was dragged more than 50 feet before falling in the middle of the street, hitting her head multiple several times [sic], Mottley said.

An ambulance arrived at the scene shortly after, but Angel was unable to respond to commands and was put into a medically induced coma at once she reached Highland Hospital, he added. 

The scene of the crime is an upscale district full of high-rise condos, office buildings, and Oakland's cathedral, and is a block away from Lake Merritt.  But evidently the affluence of the district attracted marauders looking for victims:

Image copyright © Google Maps.

No arrests have been made as Oakland Police continue to search for the assailants, and "Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $7,500 in reward money for information leading to the arrests of the suspects."

There is no way to know with certainty the background of the murder or murderers, but my understanding is that most violent crime is the work of a relatively small group of habitual offenders.  The fact that the assailants were cruising by, saw a potential victim, and struck suggests that this was the work of professionals, not a one-time caprice in the face of temptation.  I hope the perps are caught and punished, even if Ms. Angel would rather they not be incarcerated.  Other potential victims need to be protected.

In no way did Ms. Angel deserve her brutal murder.  And her family and friends deserve deep sympathy for their loss.  She almost certainly was kind and thoughtful in her personal life.  But that does not mean that the consequences of her political advocacy should be ignored.

Who, after all, is responsible when criminals who go unincarcerated commit more crimes and victimize other people as innocent as Jennifer Angel was?

The warriors for what they call "social justice" focus their energies on protecting victimizers, casting them as the real victims...of an unjust system.  But what of the real victims, such as people robbed, attacked, and even murdered?

I can only hope that some of Ms. Angel's compatriots in the SJW community will rethink their positions.  But honestly, I am not hopeful.

When will they ever learn?