Cash App founder Bob Lee stabbed to death after argument about suspect's sister

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cash-app-founder-bob-lee-was-stabbed-death-argument-suspects-sister-co-rcna79741

by RockyMcNuts • 3 years ago

124 123 3 years ago

jeffbee2• 3 years ago

Someone claimed this on Reddit a week ago but nobody took them seriously and the remark was deleted by the mods.

Interesting. I imagine they had to remove it - you just wouldn't know if there was any truth to it and could put the guy in the public eye incorrectly.

gkoberger3• 3 years ago

I started the r/sf subreddit 15 years ago (but don't currently moderate it). Yeah, that post was completely unsubstantiated, and was removed by Automod. I re-approved it, although the comment in question does contain misinformation and might have just been a coincidence.

(Yeah, I know, the r/SF subreddit is rough... it's always hard to run a subreddit where the only thing that people have in common is proximity. SF is my favorite place in the world, but it has many real problems. The mods consistently try to find a balance where it's not just an anti-SF crime-ridden sub, but also not censored or hiding real problems.)

NoboruWataya• 3 years ago

it's always hard to run a subreddit where the only thing that people have in common is proximity.

I don't mod any city/country subreddit, but I frequent several, and they are basically all awful. I keep visiting them for the rare gems of useful information, but 99% of the posts are complaints about crime or the cost of living, photos of the same five tourist attractions, or meta posts complaining about the aforementioned.

mike_d3• 3 years ago

find a balance where it's not just an anti-SF crime-ridden sub

The good ol' see no evil hear no evil approach to dealing with problems. I don't expect a subreddit to solve the larger problems of the city, but crafting the narrative to downplay it isn't really helping either.

You're spot on, the only thing that binds the users is proximity. They all pretty much universally want a place to bitch about current issues, not to maintain a positive image for tourists.

moralestapia• 3 years ago

might have just been a coincidence

???

Come on, man.

LastTrain• 3 years ago

Well without any substantiating evidence it should have been removed - how were the mods supposed to know it was a lucky guess?

Bukhmanizer• 3 years ago

This is one of these cases that seemed to perfectly fit a narrative that likely not many people ( including myself) would have thought to dispute it.

koofdoof• 3 years ago

The section about Berkeley having "no record of graduation or attendance" for Nima is interesting. What a mysterious figure.

bradleyjg• 3 years ago

This seems to happen semi regularly. Congressman Santos, for example.

peanuty1• 3 years ago

In a similar vein, Elizabeth Warren claimed to be Native American although DNA testing showed she had a statistically insignificant amount of Native American DNA.

bloqs• 3 years ago

I guess you bounce between employers until you find one who doesnt background check and has a culture of appearances over all else

jliptzin2• 3 years ago

A good filter too if you want to fly under the radar and collect a paycheck without doing much work

the_mar4• 3 years ago

As a person with a degree from a UK university that got married and changed her last name, never have I ever passed a background check for university education. Couple of companies asked me for a copy of my diploma, I just kindly reminded them that I am old and I moved many countries since graduation

paxys• 3 years ago

This is way more common than people realize. Anyone can claim to graduate from anywhere. If top company executives and congressmen have been caught lying about their degrees, you can be sure that a large chunk of the regular population does it as well.

ratg132• 3 years ago

Easiest thing to do is just claim a degree from an accredited university that is now closed.

Even if someone did try and check, there’s nobody working to verify the records.

strikelaserclaw• 3 years ago

Its easy to fake and gives you street cred in the valley. VCs look at that and go "ah this is a company worth looking into"

alephnerd• 3 years ago

I definetly feel dirty after having taken part in discussions around this on HN.

Why are very emotional but also non-tech related stories being posted on HN.

It's all flamebait (and I've been suckered into contributing to it)

mistermann2• 3 years ago

Practicing one's logic and epistemology in domains other than computing is good practice, and maybe good for the world since these shortcomings are involved in the majority of problems on Earth. Heck, if it was more common maybe a life could have been saved in this case!

DonHopkins• 3 years ago

Not when your logic and epistemology and bullshit.

jjeaff• 3 years ago

I think one tech founder stabbing another tech founder in the world's tech hub is definitely a tech related story.

klyrs2• 3 years ago

The original popular theory, which some feel ashamed of, was not as tech-related.

adaml_623• 3 years ago

Why? Because we're human. It's part of the human experience to want to talk

JohnBooty6• 3 years ago

I live a long, long way away from SF but for better or worse, it is an epicenter of the tech industry. Things that happen there can have a tangible effect on our industry. So I am begrudgingly okay with it.

I of course do not defend the uninformed speculation. But I also can empathize with the frustration and fear that SF residents must feel at times.

aworks• 3 years ago

Appreciate the empathy towards SF residents.

I'd say the epicenter of the tech industry is to the south of San Francisco: Silicon Valley/Santa Clara County/San Mateo County e.g. Google, Apple, Facebook, Sand Hill Road.

perardi• 3 years ago

Does it make you feel better to further contribute to the flames by commenting here?

dang9• 3 years ago

Please don't cross into personal attack.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

buffington• 3 years ago

Bob Lee was highly influential to the tech community, whether you realize it or not, whether you live in the SF area or not. It's relevant.

victor90002• 3 years ago

Honestly, you might be learning the wrong lesson from this experience.

opportune2• 3 years ago

I like that HN allows for bay-area related discussions of a higher quality than other websites, but I can see why that would be annoying for people who aren’t Bay Area residents.

Still, YC is in the Bay Area, as is Silicon Valley. It’s a huge influence in the tech and entrepreneurship world.

formvoltron• 3 years ago

goes to show some people are complete nut jobs. Best to go slow with most people until they have proven themselves to be non-deranged. And if they are crazy, then just avoid. I wonder if Bob could have just avoided this guy.

the_mar4• 3 years ago

It’s not like he invited him over to his house. How much slower can you go than talking on a sidewalk?

JohnBooty6• 3 years ago

The linked article says that according to camera footage, Bob Lee (apparently willingly?) got into a car with Momeni.

    Later that night, a surveillance camera recorded Lee 
    and Momeni getting into Momeni's white BMW outside his 
    sister's apartment. Additional footage obtained by 
    police shows the BMW heading to a "dark and secluded 
    area" near downtown San Francisco.
    
    The two men are later seen standing together on a 
    sidewalk for a few minutes before Momeni apparently 
    stabs Lee. Momeni then tossed the knife, got back 
    in his car and sped away.

BeetleB3• 3 years ago

goes to show some people are complete nut jobs. Best to go slow with most people until they have proven themselves to be non-deranged.

For a moment I thought you were referring to all the commenters who thought this was a "SF going lawless" story.

kelp3• 3 years ago

Just because this story isn't evidence of SF being lawless doesn't mean SF isn't lawless.

Yes, many many people jumped to some terrible conclusions about SF because of this story. And by American standards SF isn't bad with violent crime.

But also the streetscape and property crime in SF are terrible.

Both can be true.

grupthink2• 3 years ago

All these people are playing with fire. Nima was jailed twice: 1) DUI 2) illegally selling switch blades. Nima's sister (married) had an affair with Bob Lee (also married).

almost_usual• 3 years ago

Bob was divorced.

Whatarethese• 3 years ago

I was led to believe by crazies that it was the skyrocketing homeless population.

bblpeter• 3 years ago

No, just that SF is full of crime.

dang9• 3 years ago

Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for.

If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.

euiq• 3 years ago

What a wild ride! We went from "family man stabbed by crazy homeless person" to drama involving a plastic surgeon's Iranian wife and her overprotective brother.

practice9• 3 years ago

overprotective brother

more like crazy

ratg132• 3 years ago

Story has a little bit of everything, even Musk dropping in pretending he knows the answers to this one too.

kelp3• 3 years ago

He does seem to have a pathological case of thinking he knows the answer to everything, and then being quite wrong very frequently.

simplotek2• 3 years ago

Musk dropping in pretending he knows the answers to this one too.

This is Musk's baseline. Nothing special about this case in that regard.

dereg• 3 years ago

The reactions to this are confounding. This is not a ride, this is a tragedy. So what that some people were wrong on the internet? There are children still without a father today.

pessimizer2• 3 years ago

This is a bizarre defense. Talking absolute nonsense about the crime isn't going to give the children their father back.

-----

edit: imagine citing the suffering of fatherless children as a reason not to criticize people who lied about how their father died.

"There's so much suffering in the world today; how will putting me in jail help?"

pcthrowaway• 3 years ago

Regardless of your feelings about it, this is quite the sensation, in the news headline sense.

Tragedy often makes "sensational" news, I think that's all GP was trying to say. I'd be very impressed if you've never read a sensational headline that involves a tragedy and been amazed at how the unfolding story defied your expectations and kept you on the edge of your seat.

jliptzin2• 3 years ago

What goes through this guy’s head? Did he honestly think he’d get away with it? Kill someone and go to jail the rest of your life because your adult sister might have done drugs?

victor90002• 3 years ago

"When keeping it real goes wrong" is a timeless classic

bobobob420• 3 years ago

culture related...don't ask for more info or you will get banned on the internet

deathanatos• 3 years ago

This news site has an embedded copy of the complaint: https://www.fox4news.com/news/alleged-bob-lee-killer-drove-v...

clueless• 3 years ago

Interesting that based on the text message from the sister, she knew who the murderer was as soon as the news of the murder came out, but presumably she did not come out to give up her brother. Wonder if she could get into trouble?

Johnie• 3 years ago

The police already knew by looking at surveillance cameras.

Here is the full complaint: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23777761-momeni-char...

pessimizer2• 3 years ago

Pretty terrible example to use for the lawlessness of SF. Everybody involved is wealthy, and the attack was totally personal. I knew there was a reason why I suddenly stopped hearing about the stabbing; it isn't politically useful for that SF crowd anymore.

olliej2• 3 years ago

oh yeah, it was super clear when the hyperventilating was coming solely from one sector of the SF populace, which happens to be the same subset that keeps make questionable claims about pretty much all the SF crime and homelessness issues, while also saying that the only solution is mass incarceration. When it's something like SFGate/the chronicle using the story as a talking point you have to assume that it's just "omg this crime impacted a rich person for a change".

gotoeleven• 3 years ago

Maybe that whole foods wouldnt have closed if it was just rich guys stabbing each other by the arugula.

joemazerino3• 3 years ago

Weird anecdote but okay? My original comment on the stabbing story did wonder if it was targeted or random. Either way, passerby's walking past Lee gasping his last breaths for help is indicative of the civil rot happening in our cities.

The only thing worse than evil men is the indifference of good men.

WrtCdEvrydy• 3 years ago

passerby's walking past Lee gasping his last breaths for help is indicative of the civil rot happening in our cities.

This happens all the time... wanna see something fun, walk around your city saying "hi" to everyone and see how often you get a "hi" back.

dang9• 3 years ago

passerby's walking past Lee gasping his last breaths for help is indicative of the civil rot happening in our cities

We don't know what was happening in those cases. For example, we don't know those passers-by did or didn't actually see. Let's not make the same mistake all over again of projecting a pre-existing narrative onto a paucity of facts. (I don't mean to pick on you personally. We all do this, of course.)

Edit: FWIW, there's a long history of belief about bystander apathy which hasn't held up under scrutiny. Related:

Surveillance cameras debunk the bystander effect - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20417986 - July 2019 (161 comments)

Killer of Kitty Genovese Dies in Prison (Origin of “Bystander Effect”) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11430051 - April 2016 (3 comments)

dang9• 3 years ago

This was discussed thoroughly yesterday. I suggest we don't rehash the same thing. It's a guaranteed flamewar and now also just a repetition.

Arrest made in SF killing of Bob Lee – alleged killer also worked in tech - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35555525 - April 2023 (1161 comments)

Edit: When the original thread was happening after Bob Lee was killed (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35448899), I considered pinning a comment to the top of the thread reminding commenters that none of us had any knowledge of what had happened and asking them not to have a flamewar between pre-existing narratives. I decided not to because I didn't want to overly interfere, but I regret that now.

BenSahar• 3 years ago

It's a bit funny how you refused to moderate when the dominant narrative aligned with the one Garry Tan has been trying to push.

simplotek2• 3 years ago

Pretty terrible example to use for the lawlessness of SF. Everybody involved is wealthy, and the attack was totally personal.

The fact that a person was stabbed and killed on the street and the killer felt he could get away with it is kind of a good example of "the lawlessness" you're trying to downplay. This doesn't depend on the socio-economic status of the stabbing victim, or the attacker.

kyleee• 3 years ago

We don’t have any idea if the killer thought he could get away with it. Sounds like a crazy guy and I suspect he was in a rage and may well have similarly killed Lee if they happened to be in any other location other than SF as well

majikaja• 3 years ago

Why can't tech people be a part of the lawlessness?

Criminals all the way up.

mosseater• 3 years ago

I mean, the person who is saying this stands accused of murdering him. I would take everything she says with a grain of salt.

olliej2• 3 years ago

Wait, so this isn't actually because of the "explosion" of crime in SF, and is in fact just a completely usual example of one person murdering another person they know? As happens in almost all murders? And that the only difference is it involves a bunch of rich tech people? gasp

dang9• 3 years ago

Can you please not post flamewar comments? It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for.

If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.

ipaddr• 3 years ago

The explosion of crime is the caused by the city instructing police not to enforce property crimes and others. You can steal, assault, set on fire, spit on and use the bart as a bathroom. From 2019 to 2021 there was a 36% increase in murders.

The people who are most affected are immigrant small business store owners. Rich tech people fled SF for places that can hold bigger campuses

starkparker• 3 years ago

NBC Bay Area posted the court documents: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23777761/momeni-charg...

Cash App founder Bob Lee stabbed to death after argument about suspect's sister

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