Progressive SF Clubs Destroyed a Muslim Candidate—Then Covered It Up

A Brown Muslim progressive candidate was destroyed by his own allies using unverified allegations from a woman with a documented history of fabricating harassment claims—and when the lies were exposed, they simply pivoted to new attacks without ever apologizing.

How Paid Operatives Weaponized #MeToo Against a Pelosi Challenger

In 2020, Shahid Buttar became the first Democrat since 1987 to face Nancy Pelosi in a general election. He earned 22.4% of the vote—more than any Pelosi challenger since she assumed her seat, and the first to pass 20% since 1990. His message was resonating with progressive Democrats.

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@garrytan While at Google, Fitzgerald says he paid “think tanks” 6 figures for favorable studies. He’s responsible for creating the racist campaign against @ShahidForChange using embargoed press releases that he paid far left media to print. ⬇️ https://t.co/Nz9VOxxPhY https://t.co/rGz5EYSc5l

💥Susan Dyer Reynolds🗞️ @SusanDReynolds January 26, 2026

According to Susan Dyer Reynolds, Fitzgerald—formerly at Google—paid think tanks six figures for favorable studies and funded far-left media to run embargoed hit pieces against Buttar. The original sexual assault allegations came from Elizabeth Croydon, who claimed harassment occurred over 20 years ago. The Intercept couldn’t corroborate her claims and found sources questioning her credibility.

What followed was even more damning: blogger Jaqueline Anne Thompson published a 6-part series documenting Croydon’s victims. Over two dozen people came forward claiming to have been targeted by Croydon’s lies and harassment. One victim, Stacey Haines, said Croydon stole her personal story about celibacy—and her experience of harassment—to fabricate claims against Buttar.

The Progressive Clubs That Ate Their Own

DSA-SF, the SFBerniecrats, and the Harvey Milk Club all pulled their endorsements of Buttar without performing basic fact-checking. When the allegations collapsed, they didn’t apologize. They simply pivoted to claiming Buttar was a “bad boss.”

Patricia Brooks, a Bernie supporter and sexual assault survivor, tried to testify at the SFBerniecrats hearing about Buttar. She was called a “harasser” and told to “get a life” by then-Chairman Brandon Harami, who deleted her post from a public forum. “They don’t care about survivors,” Brooks said. “They don’t care about anything. It’s just a political game for them.”

Gloria Berry, Chair of the SF Democratic County Central Committee’s Black Lives Matter Committee, called it out bluntly: “The Democratic Socialists of America San Francisco are about to ruin the political career of a Brown Muslim man based on no evidence at all because a bunch of mediocre Karens complained he was mean to them.”

‘The Worst Racism I’ve Ever Encountered’

Buttar himself said this was “the worst racism I’ve ever encountered"—and this is a Muslim immigrant speaking about supposedly progressive San Francisco. The smear campaign succeeded in its goal: protecting establishment incumbent Pelosi from a legitimate progressive challenger.

According to the Marina Times investigation, Brooks noted that Croydon "used her white lesbian status to mobilize LGBT club leadership toward racism.” The pattern continues in SF politics—Asian elders have paid the price for these culture war games, and kids have lost educational opportunities.

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Unfortunately we're in for years more of stabbing our own eyes out, destroying our own city over national culture war debates Asian elders paid the price. Our kids couldn't get good educations. SF is a swinging pendulum, and the way it's going, it's not good.

Garry Tan @garrytan January 26, 2026

Why Normal People Stopped Engaging

This is exactly why SF politics became a cesspool that drove normal people away. Paid operatives “could say or do anything” without accountability.

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If you wonder why SF politics got so bad, it's that paid operatives could say or do anything and it became such a cesspool very few normal people felt like they could or should engage But that's why speaking up and paying attention worked and SF for a moment was getting better https://t.co/X2OoL2e0BG [Quoting @SusanDReynolds]: @garrytan While at Google, Fitzgerald says he paid “think tanks” 6 figures for favorable studies. He’s responsible for creating the racist campaign against @ShahidForChange using embargoed press releases that he paid far left media to print. ⬇️ https://t.co/Nz9VOxxPhY https://t.co/rGz5EYSc5l

Garry Tan @garrytan January 26, 2026

Citizen engagement and attention helped SF improve “for a moment"—the post-pandemic political revolution that recalled failed leaders showed what’s possible when people pay attention. But now the pendulum is swinging back. One-third of downtown is still empty, and hard-left groups are breaking Prop M deals that were supposed to provide relief for struggling businesses.

The Buttar case is a blueprint for how political operatives can manufacture narratives and destroy candidates—but it’s also a warning about what happens when citizens disengage. SF proved that paying attention and speaking up works. The question is whether enough people will stay engaged as the pendulum swings back.

Follow @garrytan for more.