On the same day the rape allegation was dropped against Graham Platner, which ended his Maine Senate run; there was another minor sexual misconduct scandal happening in the hub of progressive politics: San Francisco. Apparently, one of the candidates for a board of supervisors’ seat got a bit handsy with someone at a party.
Manny Yekutiel, owner of Manny’s Café, is running for a seat representing the Castro neighborhood. Yekutiel’s café has been visited by Democratic Party leaders, including former First Lady Jill Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Alex Padilla, and Gavin Newsom. According to the allegation, Yekutiel grabbed this man, Brad Chapin’s, testicles at a house party in 2020. The story has already cost Yekutiel some endorsements (via NY Post):
A well-connected San Francisco activist turned political candidate is facing an allegation that he groped an acquaintance at a party in 2020.
Manny Yekutiel, a cafe owner who’s hosted top Dems like Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom and former First Lady Jill Biden at his Mission District hotspot Manny’s Cafe, is facing the upsetting sexual assault claim as he campaigns to represent the famed Castro neighborhood on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Brad Chapin, a city gardener, alleged that Yekutiel brazenly accosted him at a house party in 2020 — grabbing his testicles before insulting his physique in claims first detailed by the San Francisco Standard.
Chapin alleged that a “sweating” Yekutiel approached him at a February 2020 party and painfully clenched his genitals “like an animal,” according to the report.
“He grabbed me, and I was trying to get away. He wouldn’t let me go,” Chapin told The Standard. “He stuck one of his hands down my pants and grabbed me and was squeezing me and intentionally causing pain.
“It was bizarre. He literally had me by the testicles. It was intentionally sexually demeaning,” he added.
[…]
Yekutiel, a Los Angeles native, gained fame as an influential Democratic organizer known for hosting political and civic discussions, phone banks, watch parties and other community events at his popular cafe.
The cafe became an essential stop for rising Democrats to help raise money and rally support in the progressive stronghold of San Francisco.
[…]
But a handful of those supporters, including Attorney General Rob Bonta, Supervisor Myrna Melgar and Rep. Lateefah Simon, rescinded their endorsements after Chapin’s allegation, The Standard reported.
Chapin is also a local activist. The police investigated this incident, but it went nowhere and was apparently dropped. Yekutiel has denied the incident in the strongest terms.
Yekutiel is running against Gary McCoy, a former top Nancy Pelosi aide.
