Los Angeles County, California – Cynthia Gonzalez, the vice mayor of Cudahy, a small city in southeast Los Angeles County, is facing growing scrutiny over a social media video in which she appeared to call on street gangs to mobilize in response to recent immigration enforcement actions.
In the now-deleted video, Gonzalez invoked gang affiliations while expressing frustration over what she described as a lack of visible resistance from Los Angeles street gangs in the face of immigration raids. “I want to know where all the cholos are at in Los Angeles,” she said. “You guys are always tagging everything up, claiming hood, and now that your hood’s being invaded by the biggest gang there is, there ain’t a peep out of you.”
Referring to federal immigration agents as “the biggest gang there is,” Gonzalez’s message appeared to contrast their activity with the silence of local gang members, questioning why they were not showing the same territorial defense they often express in other contexts. “We’re out there fighting our turf, protecting our turf, protecting our people and, like, where you at?” she added. At one point in the video, Gonzalez referenced 18th Street, a gang with decades-long roots in Los Angeles and a reputation as one of the most powerful street gangs in the country…