All posts tagged: Diegos

The deepest fears of San Diego’s religious communities were realized in Islamic Center shooting

The deepest fears of San Diego’s religious communities were realized in Islamic Center shooting

Published by Sam Flores

SAN DIEGO — As an elementary school student at the Islamic Center of San Diego in the early aughts, Sarah Youssef said she doesn’t remember there being guards on patrol or gates keeping out danger. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. But Youssef, now a college freshman who leads a local gun violence prevention group, said she remembers when the center hired Amin Abdullah to guard the facility. Many were comforted by his presence but also concerned about what it signified. Years later, community members’ — and Abdullah’s — deepest fears came to pass. Two shooters attempted to storm the Islamic Center earlier this week. Along with Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha, who managed the center’s store, and community member Nadir Awad thwarted their attack but sacrificed themselves. Their quick actions on Monday were praised as sheer heroism that may have saved dozens of lives, with about 140 children and teachers within the center’s walls. Two women cry as they leave a reunification center following the shooting at …

San Diego’s Tragic Lesson About Terrorism

San Diego’s Tragic Lesson About Terrorism

Published by Sam Flores

Yesterday in California, the physical world and the world of free-floating grievance and ideological bluster met once again, when two teenagers attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego, killing a security guard and two others, before taking their own lives. The attack is being investigated as a hate crime; according to police, the words hate speech had been scrawled on one of the weapons, and a suicide note left by one of the attackers contained discussions of racial pride. The incident exemplifies an all-too-common form of terrorism: attacks by people who have easy access to weapons and a desire to use violence to make a statement. Some of these attacks come from the left, or from people with inscrutable worldviews. In recent years far-right extremism has proved more frequent and more deadly than the left-wing version. The killings in San Diego took place amid the documented increase in anti-Muslim incidents in the United States since October 7, 2023. Read: The Trump counterterrorism strategy makes America more vulnerable This reality is not reflected in the latest …

First-Ever Parking Fees at San Diego’s Balboa Park Draw Anger

First-Ever Parking Fees at San Diego’s Balboa Park Draw Anger

Published by Sam Flores

For decades, parking lots at San Diego’s Balboa Park were packed, with lines of drivers snaking through lanes in search of a rare open spot. Last Saturday there were plenty of open spaces, and on Wednesday several lots were half empty, while people lined up behind kiosks to pay newly imposed parking fees. This month San Diego city imposed the first parking fees for the century-old cultural site, provoking confusion and contempt. Museums reported that visitation dropped 20% immediately, vandals defaced the meters and San Diego County mayors urged the city to reverse the unpopular policy. “The negative impacts paid parking on Balboa Park have been immediate and they have been measurable,” Jessica Hanson York, executive director of the Mingei Museum and president of the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, which represents the park’s museums, said at a press conference Wednesday. “Our visitors are feeling it and our cultural institutions and our museums are feeling it across the park.” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria has said the parking fees will provide stable revenue for the park …

14 things to do in North Park, San Diego’s liveliest hipster haven

14 things to do in North Park, San Diego’s liveliest hipster haven

Published by Sam Flores

At Lovesong Coffee, the bold and beautiful gather to sip caffeinated concoctions and peck at laptops in a space as bright and minimal as a stage set. A few blocks away at sleek ramen restaurant Underbelly, a well-tattooed young customer sits at the bar in snug jeans and a crop top displaying the words: “I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison.” Meanwhile, workers put the finishing touches on the LaFayette Hotel, a lavishly redesigned midcentury landmark reopening tomorrow with several on-site restaurants and bars. One room looks like a Parisian salon, another like a ’40s diner, another like an old Mexican church, the light filtered through stained-glass windows. “This is either going to be something really special,” says co-owner Arsalun Tafazoli, “or one of the biggest flameouts in San Diego hospitality history.” This neighborhood, Angelenos, might be the liveliest corner of San Diego that you’ve never heard of, a place with more beer, more resilience and less parking than you’d suspect. To get in on the action, head north of Balboa …