SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Salesforce’s annual Dreamforce event kicked off in San Francisco on Tuesday amid ongoing fallout from CEO Marc Benioff calling for the National Guard to be deployed to the city. The billionaire Salesforce founder told the New York Times that federal forces could help reduce crime in the city ahead of Dreamforce this week.
“We don’t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I’m all for it,” Benioff told the Times.
Benioff’s comments sparked a backlash from city officials, with Mayor Daniel Lurie’s spokesman saying public safety is the administration’s “number one priority” and touting plans to increase police numbers.
San Francisco District Attorney Brock Jenkins said federal troops are not welcome in the city, telling KRON4 that “what we don’t need is President Trump’s chaos invited into our city.”
On Tuesday, Erin Ollis, senior vice president of strategic events at Salesforce, declined to directly answer a question about Benioff’s comment.
“We are really proud of the partnership we have with the City of San Francisco and the Mayor’s Office. We work closely all year together to put on this amazing event and are focused on having an exceptional, safe and wonderful event this week and we can’t wait to share that with all of our attendees,” KRON4’s Ulysse Lowell Tran said. (Watch the dialogue in the video player above).
Benioff’s comments about the National Guard aren’t the only thing he’s said publicly that has landed him in hot water recently. Last month, the CEO, a San Francisco native, raised eyebrows when he appeared to boast that artificial intelligence had enabled him to eliminate 4,000 jobs.
A Salesforce spokesperson later told KRON4 that several affected employees had been transferred to other regions.
Benioff sought to walk back his comments about the National Guard, saying they were related to the lack of police in the city. After the violent reactions to his statements this week… Benioff Salesforce announced it will invest $15 billion in San Francisco over the next five years, including $1 million to support larger hiring bonuses for new police officers.
Salesforce is the largest private employer in San Francisco.