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Santa Ana mayor hired private security after receiving death threat

February 24, 2023

Three weeks into her new mayoral job, Valerie Amezcua received a death threat.

Worried for her safety, the new Santa Ana mayor hired private security to do a threat assessment and accompany her at home, City Hall and events for about two weeks.

Meanwhile, Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez said he’s also been the target of threatening behavior, ranging from a local blog asking how he should die to police officers allegedly parking their patrol cars outside his home.

Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua received a death threat, prompting her to hire private security guards for a couple of weeks in January. (Photo courtesy Courtney Lindberg Photography)

On Tuesday, the City Council agreed to pay Amezcua’s security tab, up to $1,500, and set up a process that could allow councilmembers to be compensated for such bills in the future.

“Being in (the) office these days is not for the faint of heart, and it comes with the good and the bad,” Amezcua said.

Amezcua, a retired Orange County probation supervisor, said she doesn’t feel safe.

“I would like to feel safe and secure as the mayor of Santa Ana, but that’s not possible with the current situation,” she said. “Hopefully, this will be the last death threat I receive.”

Amezcua was in her City Hall office on Jan. 3 when a death threat against her was phoned into the city manager’s office. Amezcua said she wasn’t immediately notified but was told of the call 24 hours later.

“My husband was furious,” Amezcua said in an interview.

“He said, ‘You were in the office. Why didn’t they share it with you? You walked to the car by yourself,’” she said.

“The chief didn’t call and say, ‘We can send an undercover officer and go with you until the threat is contained,’” she continued.

Instead, Amezcua hired a private firm that for three days involved security guards checking her home, the council chamber, parking areas and event locations, before and after her arrival. For about two weeks, a security guard stayed in front of her house or accompanied her every day, taking 12-hour shifts, she said. No one has been arrested, as of Friday, for phoning in that threat.

The cost for the private firm was about $1,000. And Amezcua asked the city to reimburse her.

To do that, the council needed to adopt a resolution and take a public vote — since expenses like these are not already covered under existing reimbursement criteria, like travel and office expenses — and the council did just that on Tuesday night.

But City Attorney Sonia Carvalho warned councilmembers that if they want to pay upfront for expenses that fall outside current policy, they do so at their “own risk.” Under Santa Ana’s charter, they can only be reimbursed for items such as security if the council approves the expense via a resolution, she said. So no future reimbursement is guaranteed, she explained, and it’s up to the council to approve it each time.

Meanwhile, Amezcua hinted that a proposal from the police department is in the works “to protect the council and mayor.”

Hernandez, a councilmember since 2020, said he’s seen threats come from different quarters.

Last year, a city representative intervened and asked a local blogger to take down a poll that asked readers how Hernandez should die.

And Hernandez said earlier that summer both he and a relative were also threatened. That threat prompted the city to put out a statement vowing to investigate threats and denounce “any person or organization that uses anonymous websites and social media posts to intimidate or threaten the City’s employees or elected officials.”

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“The City Council wants to make it absolutely clear that it will not tolerate threats against public officials and employees of the City of Santa Ana,” the statement said.

Hernandez also accused Santa Ana police of harassing him ever since the death of his cousin, Brandon Lopez, who was killed by Anaheim police during a standoff in Santa Ana on Sept. 28, 2021, involving both police departments.

Hernandez, along with other family members, was at the site when Lopez was fatally shot. Hernandez immediately called what happened a murder at the hands of police. In July, Lopez’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana.

Hernandez has taken other stances calling out police for alleged wrongdoing, including officers playing copyrighted Disney music to avoid being videotaped near the councilmember’s home last year.

For over a year, Hernandez said, officers have taken to parking their patrol cars outside his home, sometimes blocking his driveway. Hernandez shared photos and video showing police cars parked outside his home.

“The public can see I’ve had increased interactions with police in my neighborhood,” Hernandez said. “I feel this is an attempt to threaten me, to silence me and to intimidate me.”

“My message to them: ‘This doesn’t stop me from doing the honorable thing, fighting for justice and peace,’” he said.

A Santa Ana police spokesperson said the department “is unaware of any verifiable information or instances of harassment involving Santa Ana Police Officers toward Councilman Hernandez.”

“If our Department becomes aware of any alleged misconduct involving any of our officers, we have policies to ensure we investigate the alleged misconduct,” said Sgt. Maria Lopez.

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