SAN FRANCISCO — Closing arguments will begin on Monday in the trial of a tech consultant in the 2023 stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee in San Francisco, an event that shocked the broader tech community whose members mourned the loss of an entrepreneur they called charismatic and kind.
San Francisco prosecutors say Nima Momeni stabbed Lee three times after a dispute over his treatment toward Momeni’s sister, Khazar Momeni, with whom Lee was friends.
Defense attorneys say Lee, 43, was on a multi-day drug bender of cocaine and ketamine that made him agitated and violent, forcing Momeni to use his Krav Maga martial arts skills to fend off the paring knife Lee brandished in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023 after a “ bad joke.”
Momeni faces 26 years to life if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.
The trial, which began Oct. 14, has been emotionally taxing for family members of both men. Mahnaz Tayarani, mother of the defendant, has sat on one side of the court room while Lee’s father, brother and ex-wife sat on the other.
Surveillance video of Bob joking around on his final night and autopsy photos of his wounds have been difficult to view, said Lee’s brother, Timothy Oliver Lee. He dismissed Momeni’s explanation of events as a fabrication.
“Even if he was under the influence, he was still Bob. He was never aggressive. He was always a teddy bear and always a great guy,” he said.
Surveillance video shows the two men leaving the posh condo of Khazar Momeni around 2 a.m. and getting into Momeni’s BMW. Other surveillance then shows them getting out of the car in an isolated section of the city by the Bay Bridge.
Momeni testified he stopped his car after going over a pothole that caused Lee to spill the beer he was holding. Momeni said he then cracked a joke suggesting Lee should spend his last night visiting the city with family instead of trying to find a strip club to keep the party going.
That’s when Lee suddenly pulled a knife, Momeni said. He said Lee later walked away, showing no signs he was injured.
“I was scared for my life,” Momeni said in testimony that was at times rambling and contentious. “I had to defend myself.”
Lee was found staggering on a deserted downtown San Francisco street at 2:30 a.m., dripping a trail of blood and calling for help. He later died at a hospital.
Prosecutors say Momeni was furious with Lee after he introduced Khazar to a drug dealer who gave her GHB, known as a date-rape drug, hours before the stabbing. They say Momeni grilled Lee earlier in the evening about what might have happened to his sister at the drug dealer’s apartment.
Jurors were allowed to ask questions and, through San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alexandra Gordon, asked why Momeni did not call police, either after Lee’s knife attack or after Momeni realized Lee had been stabbed to death.
A knife recovered from the area where Lee was stabbed showed Momeni’s DNA on the handle, but the defense said the handle should have been tested for Lee’s fingerprints.
Lee’s death stunned the tech community as fellow executives and engineers penned tributes to his generosity and brilliance. He was chief product officer of cryptocurrency platform MobileCoin when he died.
First-year Geneva boys soccer coach Jamie Lee was pleased that his team showed a big improvement this fall.
The Eagles finished the season with a 7-11-2 record including winning in the first round of the postseason tournament.
Geneva improved from two wins the previous season and finished second in the Chagrin Valley Conference Lake Division with a 3-1 record.
Lee was rewarded for his efforts by being named the 2024 Ashtabula County Co-Coach of the Year, as voted on the coaches, with Grand Valley’s Rick Huffman.
Lee was happy, even though his fellow county coaches weren’t familar with him very well, they saw the difference he had helped make in the Eagles’ soccer program.
“A lot of the guys don’t know me from anybody, so to be nominated and then voted upon, it was super awesome, a super awesome feeling, to know that they noticed the difference that we made this year as far as the team goes,” Lee said.
“We were much more of a cohesive unit this year and the kids were in better spirits and overall just played better, so that fact that people noticed that means a lot to me.”
Lee said one of his team’s highlights was a battle against Kirtland, which ended in a 1-1 tie, after the Hornets pretty much had their way with the Eagles the previous season.
“It was a very tough battle that I wanted to do well in and we showed them that we really improved and basically we didn’t let them push us around and I was very proud of that,” Lee said.
He said junior Paxton Galliazzo led the team in points scored, and his goalkeeper, senior Kyle Hejduk, had 136 saves, with more than 300 for his career.
The Eagles had a roster of 18 players, including five seniors and four juniors, four sophomores, and five freshmen.
Geneva is expected to have a large number of returners next season.
Lee has been a club soccer coach for at least five years, so transitioning to coaching high school players was a bit different.
In club soccer, he said, the idea was to keep pushing forward as often as possible to try to get scoring opportunities.
With the high school team, patience to maintain possession of the ball was the key strategy because of how the team was constructed and players’ skills.
“Most of my team were all travel kids,” Lee said. “So getting them to switch that mindset from ‘hey let’s move the ball downfield, up the field’ to we need to hold the ball and maintain possession.”
He said it took some time to establish that mindset, but the resulting patience allowed his players more time to think and make a better path and smarter decisions.
“We didn’t do well against high-pressure teams, so when we would get challenged it would turn into a 50/50 and we would lose the ball,” Lee said.
“They got better as the season progressed and by the end, we were definitely playing much more patient ball, much better, smarter soccer,” Lee said. “It was definitely a progression.”
SAN FRANCISCO — A tech consultant charged with murder in Cash App founder Bob Lee’s stabbing death sparred with the lead prosecutor at trial Thursday, interrupting questions asked of him with his own questions as he was grilled on his testimony.
Nima Momeni, 40, had to be told several times by the judge to provide responsive answers.
He broke his public silence after 18 months when he took the witness stand Wednesday to explain how Lee was found staggering on a deserted downtown San Francisco street at 2:30 a.m. on April 4, 2023, dripping a trail of blood and calling for help. He later died at a hospital.
Momeni testified Lee, 43, suddenly pulled a knife on him after he cracked a “bad joke” suggesting Lee should spend his last night in the city with family instead of trying to visit a strip club. He said Lee later walked away, showing no signs he was injured.
His testimony stunned Lee’s father, brother and ex-wife, who have been a steadfast presence in the criminal trial. They say Lee was big-hearted and gentle, and close to his two children and ex-wife.
“What you have seen is Nima be aggressive on the stand, you’ve seen him just trying to take control of this room, his arrogance and his entitlement are on full display here,” said the victim’s brother, Timothy Oliver Lee, speaking with reporters outside the court room Thursday.
“This is insane,” he said. “All of this is ridiculous.”
The trial is in its fifth week. Momeni faces 26 years to life if convicted.
Lee’s death stunned the tech community as fellow executives and engineers penned tributes to the charismatic entrepreneur’s generosity and brilliance. He was chief product officer of cryptocurrency platform MobileCoin when he died.
Prosecutors say Momeni planned the April 4 attack after a dispute over his younger sister, Khazar Momeni, with whom Lee was friends. Momeni had picked up his sister from the home of a drug dealer introduced to her by Lee, and she said she may have been sexually assaulted after ingesting a date-rape drug called GHB.
They say Momeni was angry with Lee so he took a knife from his sister’s condo, and after the pair was kicked out of her place at 2 a.m., he drove Lee to a secluded area and stabbed him three times and then fled.
Omid Talai, the assistant district attorney, grilled Momeni on Thursday on details of exactly how the attack unfolded. He asked Momeni why he did not call police after the attack and learning Lee had died, and why he did not respond to his sister’s text asking where he had dropped off Lee.
Momeni said he did not learn of Lee’s death until the following day and was puzzled by his sister’s query. He said he thought Lee could have been stabbed by someone else shortly after he saw him walk off, unharmed.
In response to questions, Momeni said he didn’t know what the prosecutor was getting at, accused him of misrepresenting his statements and said he had already answered.
At one point, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alexandra Gordon said that the prosecutor had no obligation to provide him with a printout of the texts he was questioning him about or to put them on the multimedia screen.
“Gotcha,” said Momeni, dressed in a blue suit and tie. “Thank you for clarifying.”
Prosecutors have video showing Lee and Momeni leaving Khazar Momeni’s condo after 2 a.m. and driving off together in Momeni’s BMW. Video also shows the two men getting out of the car in an isolated spot by the Bay Bridge.
Prosecutors say that is where Momeni stabbed Lee, while the defense says that is where Lee attacked Momeni, erratic and aggressive from a multi-day bender of cocaine, ketamine and drinking.
A knife recovered from the area where Lee was stabbed showed Momeni’s DNA on the handle, but the defense said the handle should have been tested for fingerprints, namely Lee’s.
Momeni said he and Lee were on friendly terms when they left his sister’s condo, but prosecutors say the defendant grilled the entrepreneur earlier in the evening about what might have happened to his sister at the drug dealer’s apartment.
The prosecutor pointed out multiple times Thursday that Momeni was questioning him the way he grilled Lee.
Nima Momeni was 14 when his mother, Mahnaz Tayarani, took him and Khazar to the U.S., fleeing Iran and a husband who had inflicted years of abuse and violence on the family, she wrote in a letter submitted to the court in support of her son’s pre-trial release.
She has sat on one side of the courtroom while Lee’s family members sit on the other.
Sports Illustrated have unveiled their latest batch of swimsuit models – with Team USA Olympic heroes Suni Lee and Gabby Thomas among the athletes starring in the famous magazine next year.
Along with two-time Olympic skiing champion Eileen Gu and women’s world No. 1 golf star Nelly Korda, Lee and Thomas have been added to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit roster ahead of its 2025 issue, which is set to be released in May.
The four female sports icons all stunned in a series of racy photos for the magazine, with Lee and Korda opting for brown and white bikinis while Thomas and Gu modeled orange and red swimsuits respectively.
‘We are thrilled to launch our shoot season for the 2025 issue with an extraordinary lineup of powerful female athletes,’ said Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Editor In Chief MJ Day.
‘This remarkable group, featuring Olympic medalists, world champions, and record holders, embodies the next generation of all-stars poised to transform the world of sports. They defy stereotypes and champion equality, inspiring young girls to envision themselves as both athletes and leaders.
Suni Lee is among the female athletes starring in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit’s 2025 issue
Olympic champions Gabby Thomas (left) and Eileen Gu (right) are also added to the roster
‘At SI Swimsuit, we’ve always celebrated the future of women, and there’s no better way to honor these remarkable achievements than by featuring them on the pages of our issue.’
Both Lee and Thomas enjoyed a successful Olympic Games in Paris with Team USA over the summer.
Gymnastics star Suni, who recently revealed she had a breakdown the night before the Games, added three more medals to her collection after claiming bronze in the all-around and uneven bars events, as well as gold in the team final.
Thomas, meanwhile, became a champion Olympic sprinter for the first time after sweeping up gold medals in the 200m event and the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
Korda is currently the top-ranked female golfer in the world after winning 14 LPGA tournaments to date.
Earlier this year the American became only the third woman in LPGA Tour history to claim five consecutive victories.
As for Gu, she holds the record for the most freestyle skiing World Cup titles in history after winning 15 in her illustrious career.
The China star won two gold medals at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, while also getting her hands on a silver at what remains her only Games to date.
Women’s world No 1 golf star Nelly Korda is another new addition to SI Swimsuit for 2025
All four athletes carried out their SI Swimsuit photoshoots over in sunny Boca Raton, Florida.
In one clip shared by the magazine, Gu could be seen typing away on a laptop while getting her hair curled.
‘I just picked my looks for the day so I’m really excited,’ Thomas said in another video as she stood in front of a rack of swimsuits.
Lee also shared a picture of her photoshoot on Instagram and was left in disbelief, writing as the caption: ‘Is this real life???’
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Suni Lee, Gabby Thomas, Nelly Korda and Eileen Gu among new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models as athletes stun in racy photos
The 2024 high school swim season is slowly coming to an end. And Addison Lee, despite his high school career ending soon, hasn’t slowed down.
Lee, and a handful of other Gulf Breeze swimmers, just got back from the Region 1-3A meet in Gainesville. Lee is expected to be at the FHSAA Class 3A State Meet in Ocala. Results won’t be posted until the end of the weekend.
He has had a strong postseason, starting with a pair of first-place finishes at the Santa Rosa County Championships (that event is what pushed Lee to win Athlete of the Week). At the meet, in the 200-yard individual medley, Lee posted a time of 2 minutes, 4.51 seconds; following that up, he claimed the county crown in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1 minutes, 1.72 seconds. Lee was also part of the winning 200-yard medley (1:44.90) and 400-yard freestyle (3:29.78) relays.
Lee claimed a pair of third-place finishes at the District 1-3A meet, as well, which is much larger now, featuring teams from the Tallahassee area.
For his efforts, Lee won the PNJ Athlete of the Week award for the week of Oct. 14-19, earning 53.02% of the poll’s votes on PNJ.com. Each weekly winner is awarded a one-of-a-kind PNJ Athlete of the Week shirt provided by BSN SPORTS.
Here’s a quick question-and-answer session with Lee after speaking with PNJ sports reporter Ben Grieco.
Q & A with Gulf Breeze swimmer Addison Lee
PNJ: Your senior season is wrapping up now that we’re in the postseason. Is it weird to be near the end of your high school swimming career?
Addison Lee: “It feels really strange. Freshman year felt really long. It feels like it’s sped up so fast. Every year feels shorter than the year before it.”
PNJ: Have you been able embrace different moments of your senior year, knowing it’s your last ride?
AL: “It’s really weird going through things for the last time. I’ve really enjoyed the team this year. I’ve tried to go to everything swim team related.”
PNJ: In the pool, do you feel like you’ve accomplished what you’ve wanted to so far?
AL: Just at the last meet (at regionals), I accomplished two goals I’ve had for awhile, which was going under a minute in the 100-yard breaststroke and under two minutes in the 200-yard individual medley. I got those done.”
PNJ: The week you won Athlete of the Week, you won twice at the Santa Rosa County championships. Is there anything special about that meet in particular?
AL: “It’s a really high-energy, fun meet. It’s not districts or regionals, but it’s fun to have all the people you know from the county racing each other. It’s a really fun meet.”
PNJ: Is it a good tune-up for the postseason?
AL: “It’s a good meet. Obviously we’re all racing really fast, because we want to win the county championship.”
PNJ: You also had some top finishes at the District 1-3A meet. What’s that like?
AL: “Especially considering how fast our district has been recently, it was good to get a feel for the high-intensity racing, wearing the tech suits and everything. Just getting geared up for regionals and states.”
PNJ: Did the district meet feel any different given how big the district is now, with schools out near Tallahassee coming to Pensacola?
AL: “It definitely felt different than it did in previous years, because of how many teams have been relocated. It’s so much faster. Our district is kind of like how regionals felt last year, and our region felt like how state did last year. It’s so competitive now and fast.”
PNJ: You just got back from regionals in Gainesville. Anything stand out for you at regionals?
AL: “I was really happy with our 400-yard freestyle relay. We got in the top eight, so we might go to state in that, too. I was happy with the relays, for sure.”
PNJ: Did the region feel that much bigger, even with the expanded district?
AL: “It definitely did. A lot of the top teams in the state championship are in our region now, so it’s really competitive.”
PNJ: What does it mean to go back to state this year, as well?
AL: “I was kind of expecting it this year. But it’s nice to know I’ll probably be going back again. State is good competition and a fast meet.”
PNJ: Now that the season is ending, do you have any goals to swim in college?
AL: “I’m looking at some colleges for swimming. I might end up swimming club for someone like Auburn. But I’m looking at some Division II schools for swimming as well.”
PNJ: Now for some quick ones, do you have any pre-race or pre-meet superstitions or traditions?
AL: “Not necessarily. Sometimes I’ll have some energy-boosters, like caffeine sports beans. … Generally, I’ll try to eat a carb-heavy meal before.”
PNJ: That leads me to my next question: any personal favorite pre-meet meal?
AL: “It’s usually mac and cheese, that’s a favorite. Just carbs and cheese.”
PNJ: Do you listen to any sort of music before a race?
AL: “I don’t really have a hype song or anything. I just go up there and race.”
PNJ: You mentioned that you swim the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke. If you had to swim any “off-event,” what would you choose?
AL: “I’d probably go for the 500-yard freestyle. I really like that event. … A lot of people don’t agree with me, but I think it’s a fun event.”
PNJ: Any major swim influences that you follow?
AL: “I follow Léon Marchand and Caeleb Dressel. There’s a kid who’s really fast in breaststroke that I follow, Josh Bey. Generally, a lot of really fast swimmers, I’ll follow them.”
Academy Award-winning director Spike Lee has long been lauded for his films exploring tough topics like race relations and other issues facing the Black community in the United States.
The two-time Oscar winner debuted when he wrote, produced and directed 1986’s She’s Gotta Have It. A few years later he earned a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination when he wrote, produced and directed the highly acclaimed Do The Right Thing. He won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman.
Despite his highly successful career in Hollywood, Lee is also well known for his love of the NBA‘s New York Knicks, where he can almost always be seen courtside. He also played a key role in helping boost the popularity of Michael Jordan and Nike’s Air Jordan brand, in which Lee’s self-portrayed character from his first film, Mars Blackmon, took a prominent role in a series of famous commercials exclaiming the key factor in Jordan’s success has “gotta be the shoes.”
The long-lasting partnership between Lee and Jordan led to the NBA great helping to play a key funding role in the production of Lee’s highly-acclaimed film Malcolm X in 1992.
In celebration of his art and efforts promoting racial equality through his films, Lee on October 17 was among the honorees at the 33rd annual Freedom Award held by the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, along with lawyer and Howard professor Sherrilyn Ifill and civil rights activist Xernona Clayton, who once traveled on speaking tours with Coretta Scott King and helped organize marches with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Held at the Orpheum on legendary Beale Street, the award honors those who have made strides in elevating and leading the charge on civil rights issues. Built at the site of the historic Lorraine Motel, where King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, the National Civil Rights Museum describes the award as among the “nation’s most prestigious honors,” with past recipients including popstars Usher and Stevie Wonder, former President Jimmy Carter and former Georgia State lawmaker Stacey Abrams.
On the red carpet for the event, Lee signed Air Jordans, took photos with fellow Morehouse College alumni and cracked jokes with members of the NBA‘s Memphis Grizzlies before entering the venue.
“Spike is an integral member of the Jordan family and someone who, like Michael and the Jordan Brand, represents greatness and inspires others to do the same,” said Sarah Mensah, president of Jordan Brand, the event’s presenting sponsor.
Occurring just days before one of the contentious 2024 presidential election, the symposium was filled with political energy.
Ifill and Clayton implored the crowd to push for a “new American democracy” and for a brighter future, while Lee urged the crowd to support Vice President Kamala Harris while taking shots at the racial rhetoric of former President Donald Trump.
Ahead of the ceremony, hosted by rapper MC Lyte, Newsweek sat down with the acclaimed director to talk New York sports, the coming election, the legacy of Malcolm X and his history of bold predictions.
Director Spike Lee signs a sneaker on the red carpet of the Freedom Award ceremony, presented by the National Civil Rights Museum. Director Spike Lee signs a sneaker on the red carpet of the Freedom Award ceremony, presented by the National Civil Rights Museum. Courtesy of the National Civil Rights Museum/Brandon Dill
Spike Lee: What’s up, baby? How you doing? What’s your name?
Newsweek: Devin Robertson.
SL: What’s up, baby? Coming in with the fresh Jordans. Fresh Jordans. Hit me with the freshness, huh? Yeah, you said. You said you had to leave the dirty Spiz’ikes back home. All love, all love. And every time I come to Memphis. All love, all love.
NW: So, how are you feeling as a New York sports fan? You got the Liberty going into Game 3 [of the WNBA Finals]. You got the Yankees going into Game 2 [of the ALCS].
SL: No, we won Game 2 last night. Aaron Judge hit home at two. We’ll leave football out of it.
The Knicks. Let me piece some game to you. This ring right here, this is a ring from the 1972-’73 world championship New York Knicks. That’s the last time we won. We have two championships, ’69-’70 and the ’72-’73 team. It was all 50 years. But this year, F-I-Y-A–fire “orange and blue skies.” You know, I got the copyright? I got to talk to [ESPN pundit] Stephen A ’cause I got that. I copyrighted that. Yeah. Pat Riley copyrighted “threepeat.” Yeah, go ahead. So “orange and blue skies” is copyrighted.
NW: With the sports team, is it different when the expectations are high, or is it—
SL: Look, we. We haven’t won. I just told you, we haven’t won over five decades. That’s 50 years. Been to the finals twice, lost to Houston. We were up 3-2, lost Games 6 and 7. And then we lost against San Antonio.
But this year, expectations, New York City and Knick Nation are like sky-high. Now we got KAT too. Sorry Donte [DiVincenzo] had to go, but Minnesota’s not making that deal unless Donte was part of it. So, I feel we had the best point guard. Unless you say Steph [Curry] is a–You say Steph is your one or two?
NW: You know, it depends, because Draymond [Green] does a lot of the facilitating on that. And, you know, Steph is always moving without the ball. I would put him as more of a two.
SL: All right, so you just said it. My brother just said Steph is a two. So that means Jalen Brunson is the best point guard in the National Basketball Association. What?
And I know you got a guy here in Memphis. Peace and love. I will make no arguments, peace and love. But the people know it’s Brunson.
NW: So, as one of this year’s Freedom Award honorees, how would you like people to reflect on your contributions to promoting justice and equality?
SL: I think it’s really, in the films I’ve done, those are stories I’ve told, and a lot of those films have themes and messages that reflect what’s going on at that time when the film came out. Even still today, you have, you watched this past summer, June 30 was the 35th anniversary of Do The Right Thing. If you look at that film, I mean, you look at Ray Raheem, you don’t think about George Floyd? I wrote that script, came out ’89, wrote it in ’88. We’re talking about gentrification, global warming, a whole bunch of stuff.
It’s like I had a crystal ball. And that’s why my friends sometimes call me “Negro-damus.” (laughs) Come on, you give me some. Give me some “Negro-damus.” You predict this s*** before this s*** happens.
NW: And still relevant to these to this day, next year is going to be the 100th anniversary of Malcolm X’s birth.
SL: May 19
NW: And the 33rd anniversary of your film. I was just wondering if you could reflect on—
SL: Oh, yeah, look, none of that would be possible [without] Denzel Washington, that performance he gave will live forever. I think one of the best performances in a biopic that’s ever been done. A lot of obstacles, but we had, you could say, Allah was with us. We made that through.
We made that film through hell and high water. And also, I mean, that film went through various permutations. I mean, like 30, 40. You know, years to get that film made. So, uh, it almost killed me, though. We got it done.
Spike Lee watches the Freedom Award ceremony hosted by MC Lyte. Spike Lee watches the Freedom Award ceremony hosted by MC Lyte. Courtesy of the National Civil Rights Museum/Brandon Dill
NW: That’s incredible because the story about the funding of that movie is like the stuff of Black legends.
SL: Yes. I had Warner Bros. not want the film to be 3 hours. So, they put the gun to my head and said, ‘if you’re not gonna cut the film, then we’re gonna get the film to just give it off to the bond company.’ They took the bond company, took the film over, and I had already put a million dollars. So, then they fired all, the entire production team got fired, registered letter, and I was stuck. And then it hit me because I became a student of Malcolm in doing this film. I read the autobiography of Malcolm X in junior high school. And that’s a book, that’s the most important book I’ve ever read. And I read that every year. And these two things kept coming in my mind. Self-reliance, self-determination.
I say, you know what? I know some Black folks got some cash, and I only, I got their phone numbers. But the tricky thing was, is that it was, they would not be, per se, getting an investment in the film to get money back. It was not a tax, it was just a gift. So, I made my list and Black folks came through and we were able to continue postproduction.
And then at Malcolm X’s birthday, I gave a press conference at the Schomburg library in Harlem, 135th street and Lenox, and told the world that these individuals gave us money.
And that was Malcolm’s birthday. February. No, no, it wasn’t. It wasn’t Malcolm’s birthday. Anyway, then once they made the announcement, the studio came back and, you know, started financing the film again.
But I was, there was some very dark days, you know, when they just fired production crew because, you know, we imposed production.
Funny story, though. So, we show. The first time the two presidents on Warner Bros. saw the film was the day of the L.A. uprising. I mean, you got me. The day L.A. is burning down is the day we show the first cut of Malcolm X.
So, to their credit, they stayed throughout that, and that cut was four hours. But, uh, I did not want that. They wanted me to cut the film to two hours. I wasn’t doing that. You know, that’s what happened.
NW: People are still drawing from Do The Right Thing.
SL: And I…I’ve been very proud of representing the culture.
The culture. And that’s where my soul is, my presence, who I am, the culture. And, you know, our stuff’s very specific, but loved all over the world.
NW: I get what you’re saying.
SL: You know what time it is.
NW: If you don’t mind us getting a little bit more serious.
SL: No, I’m with you, man. Whatever you want to do.
NW: Election time is coming up. You’ve been outspoken about telling everybody to get out. You were at the DNC [Democratic National Convention] earlier.
SL: Chicago. Yeah.
NW: What do you think are some of the most pressing issues and why do you feel it’s so important to share that message?
SL: Right now. Well, I’m just glad my brother [former President Barack Obama], he’s on the road. He’s really out there campaigning for a sister vice president [Harris], and he’s been really hammering. I mean, he’s really focused on Black men. Brothers, don’t go for the okie doke. Register to vote. And let’s get our sister in the White House. If you think that this guy [Trump] has done stuff for Black people, all I got to say is, “crack is whack.”
I’m not trying to be funny. This guy has never done nothing for Black folks, but him and his father were building buildings in New York City. Black folks couldn’t get in them. Don’t go for the okie doke. And definitely don’t go for the three S’s. Shenanigans, subterfuge. And the last one is a killer—skulduggery.
Don’t go for the okie doke. I mean, I don’t know how in your right mind you could think that. Let me finish to. Can I finish, please? All right. I don’t know. I don’t know how these young brothers in their right minds could think that this guy has, in his heart, what’s best for you.
Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Support our sister. Let’s make her the first woman to be president of the United States, the first woman of color. And also don’t get tripped up that her mother’s Indian. A lot of us. Come on now. And we, you know, we go by the one drop rule. She’s Black. Peace and love. We good to wrap it up, my brother?
NW: I appreciate you.
SL: Thank you. Thank you.
Now, another thing I’d like to say. Behind me are two brothers. Young brothers. I see you got a team. And that makes me feel good that the young brothers out there doing their own thing and, you know, gotta keep this s*** going. So, the young generation. Young generation. Come on now. You know, myself, people for me have paved the paths for you guys. Get the handoff. We can’t fumble it, though. No fumbles. Put the work in. Put the work in.
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SAN FRANCISCO — The murder trial of a tech consultant in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee begins Monday, a year and a half after the widely admired entrepreneur was found staggering on a deserted downtown San Francisco street seeking help.
Lee’s death at age 43 stunned the tech community, and fellow executives and engineers penned tributes to his generosity and brilliance. Lee was chief product officer of cryptocurrency platform MobileCoin when he died. He was a father to two children.
Prosecutors say Nima Momeni, 40, planned the April 4 attack after a dispute over his younger sister, Khazar, with whom Lee was friends. They say Momeni took a knife from his sister’s condo, drove Lee to a secluded area and stabbed him three times, then fled.
Defense lawyers disagree, and they say that Lee, high on drugs, attacked Momeni.
“Our theory is that Bob had the knife, and that Nima acted in self defense,” attorney Saam Zangeneh said.
He said his client is eager to tell his side of the story, but they haven’t decided whether Momeni will testify in his defense.
Momeni, who lives in nearby Emeryville, California, has been in custody since his arrest days after Lee died at a San Francisco hospital. Momeni’s mother has been a steadfast presence at court hearings, and he is close to his sister.
Prosecutors have said in court documents that a friend of Lee’s told homicide investigators they had been drinking with Momeni’s sister the day before the stabbing. The friend said Momeni later questioned Lee about whether his sister was doing drugs or otherwise engaging in inappropriate behavior, and Lee said she had not.
Surveillance video of Lee’s final night shows him entering the posh Millennium Tower downtown, where Momeni’s sister lives with her husband, a prominent San Francisco plastic surgeon.
Video then shows Lee and Momeni leaving the building together after 2 a.m. and driving off in Momeni’s car. Lee was found around 2:30 a.m. in the Rincon Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, which has tech offices and condominiums but little activity in the early morning hours.
Police recovered a knife with a 4-inch (10-centimeter) blade at the scene. Prosecutors said tests showed Momeni’s DNA on the weapon’s handle and Lee’s DNA on the bloody blade. But the defense said police should have tested the handle for fingerprints, namely Lee’s.
Momeni, who has pleaded not guilty, faces 26 years to life if convicted.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alexandra Gordon has told jurors the trial could last until mid-December.
