Skip to main content

Police stop work at Twitter HQ in crime-ridden San Francisco over permit 'misunderstanding'

San Francisco police stopped workers from removing lettering on a sign outside Twitter's headquarters less than 24 hours after CEO Elon Musk announced the company's rebrand to "X Corp."

Police stopped workers from removing the iconic Twitter lettering outside the company's headquarters in downtown San Francisco on Monday in what officers now say was a "misunderstanding."

On Monday, billionaire CEO Elon Musk announced Twitter would be rebranding to "X," unveiling a new logo for the company and promising to change how users interact on the platform. Work crews were seen at Twitter HQ in Market Square using a cherry picker to take down the @ symbol and lettering that spells "Twitter" on the corner of the building. 

But police officers responded to the scene and brought the work to a halt in apparent confusion over whether the workers had the proper permits for the removal process, KTVU FOX 2 reported. Building security was on the scene and attempted to reclaim the letters from a work truck. 

"It was just a misunderstanding. The security, the business, and the building didn't talk to each other," an officer told KTVU.

TWITTER REBRAND IS 'NOT SIMPLY A COMPANY RENAMING ITSELF' AS PLATFORM ADDS NEW FEATURES, MUSK SAYS

Following an investigation, San Francisco police confirmed that no crime had taken place and said the incident did not fall under police jurisdiction, the outlet reported. 

FOX Business has reached out to the San Francisco Police Department and to X for comment but did not receive responses before publication. 

The City of San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection (DBI) told KTVU they received two complaints regarding work on the sign and were waiting for guidance from City Planning on whether a permit was needed to alter or copy an existing sign. 

"Removing or relocating the sign would require a building permit," a DBI spokesperson said. 

‘PROBLEMS HAVE ESCAPED’: CRIME IN THIS LIBERAL CITY IS NOW SPREADING TO ONE OF THE RICHEST NEIGHBORHOODS IN US

Removing or relocating property from CVS stores or parked vehicles is also against the law, though San Francisco law enforcement has yet to put a stop to a spike in robberies, larceny, assaults and motor vehicle thefts recorded this year. Brazen crimes, including a recent string of armed robberies targeting women with children last month in a nice San Francisco neighborhood, have shocked residents.

X Corp's new logo was displayed on its building Monday night, though the "er" in "Twitter" was not yet taken down from the sign. 

In a tweet sent Monday, Musk wrote that Twitter "was acquired by X Corp both to ensure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for X, the everything app." 

ELON MUSK SUGGESTS TWEETS WILL NOW BE CALLED ‘X’S' AMID REBRAND

"This is not simply a company renaming itself, but doing the same thing," he added.

Twitter limited posts to 140 characters until 2017, when it doubled the limit to 280. After Musk took over the company, paying Twitter Blue subscribers could share longer posts, which started with a limit of 4,000 characters but has since increased to 10,000. Twitter Blue users can now also post two-hour videos, such as full-length sporting events, to the platform – a feature not available before. 

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

"The Twitter name made sense when it was just 140 character messages going back and forth – like birds tweeting – but now you can post almost anything, including several hours of video," Musk wrote in his post on Monday.

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino wrote in a series of tweets that the new logo represents "the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services and opportunities."

FOX Business' Landon Mion and Jon Michael Raash contributed to this report.

Data & News supplied by www.cloudquote.io
Stock quotes supplied by Barchart
Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes.
By accessing this page, you agree to the following
Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.