The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department is looking for three men who entered San Francisco City Hall and a nearby school district building on Friday, claiming to be from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“Around 12pm today, three men dressed in DOGE shirts and MAGA hats entered various offices at San Francisco City Hall, demanding that employees turn over digital information related to alleged wasteful government spending and fraud,” SFSO said in a statement Friday. “The employees refused their requests, and called San Francisco sheriff’s deputies. Deputies immediately responded but the individuals had fled the building. The incident is currently under investigation; SFSO is reviewing surveillance and using other investigative tools to pursue leads. We do not believe the individuals requesting access to City files were representatives from DOGE.”
Around 12:40 p.m. the same day, three men matching the same description entered the San Francisco Unified administrative building on Van Ness and demanded similar documents, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Sources who spoke to the Chronicle said the men were wearing fake badges and were able to get past security.
Once inside the former school, the alleged DOGE staffers began harassing employees and threatening to have them fired. The men — believed to be in their early 20s — were recording the actions on their phones.
SFSO says it is investigating the second incident.
The unorthodox tactics of the real DOGE may have lent themselves to this kind of impersonation. The extragovernmental agency led by billionaire Elon Musk has been accused of “ransacking” government departments with little to no transparency or oversight. Young DOGE staffers have reportedly shown up at government offices unannounced, taken over computers and payment systems, and abruptly dismissed employees who refused to hand over sensitive information. The tactics have resulted in multiple lawsuits and criticism from Democratic lawmakers.