Two radical members of the Santa Ana Police Oversight Commission are using social media to actively solicit the filing of complaints against Santa Ana police officers – complaints which they would then adjudicate as commissioners. Their actions call into question their ability to give any Santa Ana police officer a fair and impartial hearing.
On May 15, the Santa Ana Police Department, along with sheriff’s deputies and police from other Orange County cities, responded to a mutual aid request from the UC Irvine Police Department. The student radicals who had, for the past two weeks, illegally occupied public property to create an anti-Israel encampment had escalated their tactics and occupied the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall, barricading themselves inside. This is a deliberate tactic recommended by radical groups involved in supporting and coordinating anti-Israel protests and encampments at campuses across the country.
The U.S. Constitution protects the right to peaceably assemble, not engage in illegal mob actions. It is the only constitutional right accompanied by an adjective.
Law enforcement successfully cleared the encampment and removed anti-Israel protestors from occupied buildings in a methodical operation. 47 people were arrested.
Yesterday, Commissioners Amalia Mejia and Carlos Perea posted a statement soliciting their complaints against Santa Ana police officers who assisted in clearing the encampment. Mejia, a UCI graduate student, participated in the protest.
“If you witnessed SAPD engaging in use of force at the UC Irvine demonstration please file a complaint,” wrote Mejia, including a link to the online complaint form.
Santa Ana City Councilman Ben Vasquez, who appointed Perea to the Oversight Commission, expressed his support for Mejia and Perea.
“Whatever you need,” wrote Vasquez, a leftist police critic and Ethnic Studies teacher with the Santa Ana Unified School District.
Mejia was appointed by Councilman Johnathan Hernandez, an often strident critic of law enforcement. According to her Statement of Economic Interests, Mejia has no reportable income.
Mejia ran for city council in Ward 4 in 2022 against Phil Bacerra, and was soundly defeated.
Perea is a radical political activist and illegal immigrant whose focus is “building the political power of undocumented, working-class immigrant communities in Orange County.” who heads the Harbor Institute, a left-wing non-profit that opposes the deportation of illegal immigrants. He is married to fellow radical activist Tracy La, the head of VietRise and a member of the Harbor Institute Advisory Board. La is a member of the Santa Ana Rental Housing Board and is spearheading an November ballot initiative that would give the right to vote in Santa Ana city elections to foreigners who do not have the legal right to be in the United States.
Perea also does not disclose any income on his Statement of Economic Interests.
The Police Oversight Commission is charged with “independent investigations of, analysis, and recommendations on police practices, police misconduct, officer-involved shootings, and other serious uses of force.”
The ordinance establishing the Police Oversight Commission states that commissioners ought to be “fair and impartial.”
If any anti-Israel protestors (or other member of the public) take Mejia and Perea up on their offer, they will be called upon to provide a “fair and impartial” hearing of a complaint they specifically solicited.
Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua said the actions of Mejia and Perea undermine public safety.
“Mejia and Perea are shopping for complaints against Santa Ana police officers. How can they possibly be fair and impartial, as the law requires them to be?” she said.
“This kind of rhetoric undermines the ability of our officers to effectively do their jobs, causing them to second-guess themselves on the job – making themselves and the public less safe, not to mention placing the city in legal jeopardy,” Amezcua continued. “I think Mejia and Perea need to have a serious conversation with the City Attorney and be re-educated about their proper roles as police oversight commissioners.”
OC Independent reached out to Councilmembers Hernandez and Vazquez via e-mail with questions about their respective appointees behavior. This article will be updated with their responses, when and if they choose to respond.
