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A Southern California city councillor who portrayed national headlines and public backlash after posting a video of Tiktok appeared to appeal to street gangs to stand up to the federal immigration sweep. She said she was “satirical.”
Cudahy Deputy Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez apologized at a city council meeting Tuesday night after a period of public comment.
“The message wasn’t about violence,” she said. “It was about ordinary people… When I asked the people mentioned in our video, the others mentioned in my video that I mentioned in my video, when I asked them about the harm and violence that was inflicted on our community, I claimed ownership of our city and mentioned in my video in my video.”
“The people who inserted stories of violence into my videos weaponized it in a way that was completely inconsistent with my life’s work,” she continued.
In the video she defeated since, the councillor said: “I want to know where all Choros are in Los Angeles… you guys tag everything and insist on the hood.
“The ones who are protesting and speaking out are others that aren’t about gang life,” she said. “We’re fighting the lawn, protecting the lawn, protecting our people, and where are you?”
The video, revealed later last month, appears to suggest that it invites gang members to “help and organize,” and encourages street gang leaders to “keep F-members orderly.” Gonzalez also mentioned two violent street gangs in Los Angeles, Florencia 13th and 18th Avenue. Both gangs have a known history of killing police officers.
Several speakers — most of them appear to be residents of other cities — denounced the video during Tuesday’s meeting.
“You can argue that comments by the Deputy Mayor do not represent the city of Cadahee for all intents and purposes, but that’s really true,” said Brian Heyman of Downey. “We respect elected officials and hold them to a higher standard. Gang members cannot put out videos that suggest they are chasing another so-called gangster, ice member. It is completely irresponsible to make such a comment.”
Such comments “ratcheted up rage and fear, and as a result many customs enforcers were attacked,” he said.
Gonzalez said a “short satirical tictoc video” was made in her own time and posted to her personal social media accounts.
“We don’t believe that violence by people is never before, the solution to any of our problems,” she said Tuesday. “I would like to apologise to city staff, council members and my community for bringing unnecessary attention to our city, paying attention from the pain our community is experiencing.
“I also want to acknowledge all of your stress and anxiety. From receiving emails you dislike to threats to everything else, it’s not entirely known,” she added. “But I also want to assert my right to constitutionally protected freedom of speech, and I promise to move forward in a more responsible and still powerful way with my voice.”
It is unclear when the video was made, but after a Fox News reporter cited an unknown source, he said it spread like Wildfire on social media, sparking a federal investigation into politicians.
An FBI spokesperson told the Times in June that he could not confirm or deny that the deputy mayor was investigating in accordance with agency policies.
This week’s apology Gonzalez’s lawyers are in a piggy bank of voices in a statement released the day after the video created a national headline and sparked public outrage.
Her attorney, Damien J. Martinez, wrote in a statement that councillors are challenging the Latino community to join thousands of Angelenos against the ongoing immigration enforcement business.
“Importantly, Dr. Gonzalez encouraged no one to engage in violence,” he writes. “The proposal that she claimed violence is decisively false and has no merit.”
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