Foundering
How the Murder of Bob Lee Fueled Tech’s Rightward Swing
The 2023 murder of a tech executive seemed to fit neatly into narratives about street crime in liberal cities, until it didn’t.
Illustration: Marie Mohanna for Bloomberg Businessweek
There were no witnesses to Bob Lee’s final minutes of consciousness, only a patchwork of video and audio recordings. In a tape of the call he made to 911 early on the morning of April 4, 2023, his voice sounded eerily matter-of-fact, almost blunt: “Help. Help. Help. Help. Someone stabbed me. Help me, please.”
On the tape we hear the 911 operator: “Sir, we have help going to you. Where are you?”