California official criticized for showing to name on gangs to intervene in immigration raids
LOS ANGELES — The vice mayor of a small Southern California metropolis is underneath fireplace after showing to name on avenue gangs to prepare within the face of immigration sweeps by federal brokers in and round Los Angeles.
In a video put up on social media that has since been deleted, Cynthia Gonzalez, vice mayor of Cudahy, referenced two well-known avenue gangs and questioned why gang members weren’t protesting or talking up concerning the immigration raids. She mentioned atypical residents are those on the streets protesting the presence of federal brokers.
“You guys tag all the things up, claiming hood, and now that your hood’s being invaded by the largest gang there’s, there ain’t a peep out of you,” Gonzalez mentioned.
She referenced “18th Road” and “Florence,” two notorious avenue gangs, and gave the impression to be talking on to their members. She mentioned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers are “working amok all up in your streets.”
“We’re on the market preventing our turf, defending our turf, defending our folks and, like, the place you at?” she mentioned.
The Division of Homeland Safety known as Gonzalez’s feedback “despicable” and mentioned the remarks will contribute to rising assaults in opposition to federal ICE brokers.
“She requires felony gangs — together with the vicious 18th avenue gang — to commit violence in opposition to our courageous U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement regulation enforcement,” the division mentioned in a put up on X that included Gonzalez’s video. “Secretary Noem has been clear: When you assault a federal officer, you can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the regulation.”
The Los Angeles Instances reported that the police union, formally often called the Los Angeles Police Protecting League, known as for the vice mayor’s resignation and attainable prosecution.
“What Ms. Gonzalez urged and taunted these particular gangs to do in her social media put up places cops and different regulation enforcement professionals at better threat. Her actions are deplorable and doubtlessly unlawful. She ought to resign and he or she needs to be prosecuted if what she known as for broke the regulation,” the union mentioned.
Gonzalez didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The video comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has aggressively stepped up immigration arrests within the Los Angeles space in latest weeks. Brokers from ICE, in addition to Border Patrol, have been seen arresting and detaining folks at their workplaces, and Trump has deployed the Nationwide Guard and Marines to guard federal buildings and guard officers making arrests.
The remarks seem to interrupt with main California officers — together with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass — who’ve urged residents to peacefully train their First Modification rights.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Central District of California, which incorporates Los Angeles County, declined to remark when requested if Gonzalez was underneath investigation.
In line with her biography on the town’s web site, Gonzalez grew up in close by Huntington Park, the daughter of immigrant mother and father. She has two daughters.
She acquired a bachelor’s diploma from the College of California, Santa Barbara. She later earned two grasp’s levels in schooling from the College of California, Los Angeles, the place she additionally earned an academic management doctorate, the web site mentioned.
Gonzalez has labored for the Los Angeles Unified Faculty District as a trainer and college principal within the LA space and is at the moment the director of pilot faculties assist and innovation, the biography mentioned.
It says Gonzalez “is enthusiastic about creating wholesome and secure communities that enable college students and households to steer wholesome and significant lives.”
The college district mentioned in an emailed assertion, “As of June 1, 2025, Cynthia Gonzales has been on a depart of absence. We’re conscious of the state of affairs and are wanting into it in accordance with district coverage. Nevertheless, because of the confidentiality of personnel issues, we’re unable to additional touch upon this.”
The town of Cudahy mentioned in a press release Tuesday that it was conscious of the video.
“The feedback made by the Vice Mayor replicate her private views and don’t characterize the views or official place of the Metropolis of Cudahy,” the assertion learn. “The Metropolis won’t be offering additional remark.”
In line with county data, Gonzalez was elected in 2022 with 880 votes. Municipal elections in California are nonpartisan — social gathering labels don’t seem on the poll.
Cudahy is a Los Angeles suburb that’s house to 22,000 residents, about 10 miles (16.09 kilometers) south of downtown LA. In line with the U.S. Census knowledge, 97% of residents are Hispanic or Latino.