Simi Valley councilman criticized for Facebook posts about George Floyd protests
Erin Rode
The Simi Valley Democratic Club is calling for Simi Valley Councilman Mike Judge to resign after a series of Facebook posts he shared this week about the George Floyd protests.
On his personal page Monday, Judge shared a post about spraying rioters with hoses attached to septic tank trucks. He later shared an email exchange with Mikiiya Foster, a black teenager who is organizing a protest in Simi Valley on Saturday.
In that exchange, he asked Foster to call off the protest and stated that he hasn't seen examples of peaceful protests for Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes during an arrest.
Judge, who is white, also said Foster's perception that racism occurs in the city stems from the city's role in the 1992 trial of the white police officers who beat black motorist Rodney King.
"People obviously have an impression of my city of Simi Valley, and it's just so false. I explained the Rodney King thing to her because I think that's where a lot of young people get a lot of their impression of Simi Valley as racist from. . . the whole perception of Simi Valley is based on that trial," he said in an interview with The Star.
In her email, Foster invited Judge, who as elected to the City Council in November 2010, to attend and speak at the protest. Judge, also a 30-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, declined the invitation.
'Mobilize the septic tank trucks'
On his personal page on Monday, Judge shared an image with the words, "Wanna stop the riots? Mobilize the septic tank trucks, put a pressure cannon on em... hose em down.... the end."
Judge captioned the post with, "This is brilliant, it will also enforce the mask rule!"
Judge said although he didn't create the original post about the septic tank trucks, he shared another person's post and added "a joke" about wearing masks.
"I thought it was funny, but other people didn't, what can I say?" Judge said.
"We condemn the post very strongly. It's outrageous and as an elected official it's an egregious violation of our public trust," said Lori Sherden of the Simi Valley Democratic Club. "And as an LAPD officer, he's clearly setting a very bad tone and is completely tone deaf to the environment that we're in right now."
Judge said the post does not conflict with his City Council duties or the City Council's Code of Ethics, which tells council members to avoid and discourage divisive conduct, because he posted it on his personal page. He recently changed the privacy on the septic tank post so only his friends could see it.
"If you're asking me to be apologetic about talking about rioters, I've been a police officer for 30 years, you're never going to get me to be apologetic about rioters," he said. "There’s nothing in that post at all that degrades the memory of George Floyd, and nothing that degrades the action of peaceful protesters. It does say that rioters are wrong, and wear your mask."
Mayor Keith Mashburn said the post was in line with "Mike's sense of humor."
"However, it was a very inappropriate time and he didn't make it perfectly clear that it was humor," he said. "I think he goofed, and it's a shame, but these are the kinds of goofs he just shouldn't make while in a public office."
Judge's response to protest organizer
Foster, an 18-year-old Simi Valley resident and recent graduate of the High School at Moorpark College, is one of the organizers of Saturday's protest.
In Judge's response to Foster's email, he said he was "hard pressed to find one example of a truly peaceful protest," and that "almost all of the protest to date, have turned to violence and destruction."
He also asked Foster to "reconsider this protest march, and call it off."
Foster said she was "disappointed" by the response and noted there have been multiple peaceful protests in Simi Valley and elsewhere this week.
The protest is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday at Cochran Street and Sycamore Drive. Social media posts advertising the protest have repeatedly emphasized that it will be peaceful, and Foster said she has done "everything in my power" to ensure the event is peaceful.
Judge told The Star he has seen peaceful protests this week in Simi Valley but the difference between those and the upcoming protest is that this one has had a week to gain attention.
"I pray that it does stay peaceful but my experience has been that they usually don't," he said. "So yes, I would like to see it called off, but I completely support the right to have a peaceful protest, and we're going to have everything in our power to facilitate a peaceful protest."
Mashburn also noted recent peaceful protests in Simi Valley.
"I think what Mike was saying is that we'd be better off with no protest, no rally, nothing like that because there's potential for others to take over the rally and turn into something more along the lines of doing damage," he said noting that the official city position is that the city wants to help protesters have a safe demonstration.
Judge posted the full exchange with Foster on both his personal and public Facebook pages without her permission. The exchange included Foster's full name, prompting backlash and threats from those opposed to the protest, although Foster noted she had received backlash even before Judge's post.
Judge said he posted the exchange for transparency. He also said that since she used his city email address, the email was a public record and that her name was already out on social media as one of the protest organizers.
Protest organizer says experiences are personal
In her email, Foster wrote that she is "very concerned with the perceived state of racism in the city."
Judge responded by explaining Simi Valley's role in the 1992 trial of four white police officers who were charged with using excessive force while arresting black motorist Rodney King in Los Angeles. The trial was held in Simi Valley, and the jury acquitted the officers, sparking the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
But Foster said her comment about racism in Simi Valley was driven more by her personal experiences than the King trial.
"My family and I have experienced discrimination at various times, from name-calling in elementary school to being followed in stores, and now I'm organizing a peaceful rally for unity in this community and I'm getting online threats. Racism has been very prevalent for us during our time here," she said.
When asked whether it was possible that Foster could have personally felt racism in Simi Valley, Judge said:
"I believe wholeheartedly that she perceives [racism] from the stories being pushed out by the left about the Rodney King trial. That's where that perception comes from, in my opinion. If she was a victim of racism I am more than happy to hear that and have the police department investigate it fully because that will not be tolerated here."
"I just hate when people put us in a pigeonhole like that and say this happens here when it doesn't. It's just a lie. A complete and utter lie," he said.
According to Judge, systemic racism is not an issue in Simi Valley. He said he has never witnessed an incident where someone was mistreated because of their race, he can't think of examples of "the city or the system holding people down due to race," and there aren't many police reports about racist incidents in the city.
"I'm just saying I've never seen it, we don’t have tons of reports about it in our police department, so why is it being hidden?" he asked. "If somebody is being chased through the streets because of the color of the skin how come they're not reporting it to our police department?"
While Foster is familiar with the history of King, she said her comments were about more than just that incident.
"I think it is important to know that this movement is not just about Rodney King or George Floyd. It is about every black life that has been taken due to the systemic oppression of people of color in America," she said.
Foster said comments like Judge's discredit her own personal experiences.
"As a white male he openly discredits a black woman's experience with racism instead of coming from a place of understanding and empathy, and I think him completely discounting my experiences and those of my family and friends who are also people of color really shows his lack of consideration to all community members and his inability to be inclusive and promote solidarity," she said.
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Judge became mayor pro tem in December after the City Council voted to skip council member Ruth Luevanos' turn for the rotating position. Luevanos, who is Latina, has alleged that Judge and other council members subjected her to a hostile work environment because of her race. A report commissioned by the city later cleared the council members of the allegations.
Erin Rode covers housing, real estate and development for The Star. Reach her at erin.rode@vcstar.com or 805-437-0312.