Neighbors Say Activists Who Vandalize Mayor’s Home Also Made Death Threats

We heard about the vandalism, but not the death threats.

It happened late Friday night, when some people broke off from a Black Lives Matter protest to tag up San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s home with messages decrying state violence in the wake of yet another police shooting.

The local demonstration was one of many organized throughout the nation in response to a Kenosha, Wisconsin, cop shooting and paralyzing a Black man named Jacob Blake.

At about 10:30pm, a breakaway faction of San Jose protesters journeyed on foot from City Hall to Liccardo’s house by Backesto Park.

Masked members of the group spray-painted the one-story abode Liccardo shares with wife Jessica Garcia-Kohl with various phrases, including “fuck 12” (a numerical byword for cops) and “San Jose will be free soon.”

They also burned a flag out front and pelted the home with paintballs—all in apparent backlash to the mayor’s distaste for defunding police.

Luckily for Liccardo, he wasn’t home at the time. And when he did show up later that night, so did a bunch of neighbors who helped him scrub off the expletives.

The vandalism made a bunch of headlines and prompted mixed reaction in the community, with some condemning the violation of personal space and others defending it as language of the unheard.

Amid all that hullabaloo, neighbors took to social media to address an issue that wasn’t mentioned in the news: that the vandals threatened more than just the mayor’s property.

“There are people on the streets yelling for us to stay in our homes before they burn them down and shoot us!” one of Liccardo’s neighbors, Erica Vega, wrote in a private Facebook group. “So for all you … wanting to Uber or walk down our block to come see the ‘action/show’ think again. This is disgusting!”

Through his spokeswoman, Rachel Davis, Liccardo condemned the tactics.

“Whether by threatening neighbors or smashing storefronts of immigrant-owned small businesses, acts of intimidation undermine the aspirations of thousands of San Joseans who marched in the streets or our city against ... systemic racism and brutality,” the mayor said. “A few rogue actors must not be allowed to distract us from the spirit of the Black Lives Matter movement.”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-San Jose) echoed Liccardo’s denunciation.

“This is morally wrong and must be condemned unequivocally,” he tweeted. “There must be accountability. This kind of his type of vandalism of ⁦[Liccardo’s] home undermines social justice efforts and everything Gandhi, King, and Mandela preached.”

But the mayor’s response to the graffiti stoked tensions that have been building between the city and defund-police advocates. Particularly his reference in a since-deleted tweet to protesters who engage in tactics such as vandalism as “menacing thugs,” which critics called out as racially charged language.

“Feel free to re-define the [Black Lives Matter] movement as including menacing thugs if you like, but our community doesn’t support that,” he wrote.

Though he took that specific tweet down, Liccardo back-and-forth with critics over the incident continued even through late-in-the-day Tuesday.

Send a tip to The Fly

The Fly is the valley’s longest running political column, written by Metro Silicon Valley staff, to provide a behind-the-scenes look at local politics. Fly accepts anonymous tips.

29 Comments

  1. What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr’s cause has ever been stilled by his assassin’s bullet. No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero, and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of the people.–RFK

    The only way we stop this madness is to end the reign of Trump and seek, as Robert Kennedy did, to heal the wounds of this nation through compassion, love and peace.

    The Mayor is not the cause of our problems. The insidious hate comes from Trump and his servile minions. Do not forget who the real enemy is and that violence only enables them.

  2. — “Whether by threatening neighbors or smashing storefronts of immigrant-owned small businesses, acts of intimidation undermine the aspirations of thousands of San Joseans who marched in the streets or our city against … systemic racism and brutality,” the mayor said.

    Note the who’s who of the mayor’s concern: his neighbors, immigrant business owners, and protesters. Missing: the rest of us. Class warfare politics as practiced by a media-promoted, progressive mediocrity from the privileged streets of Saratoga.

  3. The only elected official I am aware of who has condemned this is Congressman Ro Khanna, and this didn’t even happen in Khanna’s congressional district. Mayor Liccardo’s ten San Jose city council colleagues all failed to tweet condemnation of the violence, as have each of the five county supervisors. As far as I know, Mayor Liccardo’s own congressperson, Zoe Lofgren, has failed to publicly condemn the violence. As I stated previously, any local elected official who refuses to publicly condemn the violence should resign as unfit for public office.

    Likewise, San Jose’s woke pro sports teams, the Sharks and the Earthquakes, although having pledged fealty to Black Lives Matter, have not condemned the violence carried out in its name. Earthquakes captain Chris Wondolowski said last week that sports and politics are intertwined but he has said nothing about the attack on the mayor’s home. I was promised by Earthquakes team management that a public statement of condemnation of the violence would issue if authorized by Mayor Liccardo, and the mayor personally told me on Sunday that he would authorize one from the Earthquakes and would so inform its management. Yet, nearly a week after the incident none has been forthcoming despite my inquiry on Monday with team management. I have today cancelled my Quakes season tickets for 2020 and relinquished my reservation of seats for 2021. I will no longer support the team until it publicly tweets condemnation of the violence.

  4. >“Feel free to re-define the [Black Lives Matter] movement as including menacing thugs if you like, but our community doesn’t support that,” he wrote.

    If I can properly parse Sam’s opaque formulation, he seems to be trying to say that the “menacing thugs” who vandalized his house and terrified his neighbors cannot be [re-]defined as “ the [Black Lives Matter] movement”.

    Well, if they’re NOT Black Lives Matter, then WHO are they?

    I’m sure that Sam Liccardo and the SJPD and the FBI and the District Attorney and the Attorney General and the U.S. Justice Department ALL know who the thugs are.

    If he identified the “menacing thugs”, it would be immediately obvious that they are interested, at some level, in defeating Donald Trump, suppressing non-Democrat voters, and electing Democrat partisans.

    I.e. — they’re “ex-officio” Democrat campaign workers.

  5. The majority of these comments give me hope! Thank you for speaking out against violence! I was beginning to doubt my own sanity. The Mayor, on the other hand, is a coward. He should absolutely speak out against this and ALL violence, terrorism, and threats. We need police now more than ever. Oh and for those of you complying with these ridiculous mask mandates, stop being sheep! Take the masks off and go about your business. If you’re scared, stay home. The CDC just came out and said that the death rate is 0.04% (that’s a 99.96% recovery rate). So how about we open schools and churches and not just abortion clinics and liquor stores? Too much to ask? Don’t worry, I’m done with CA. We are joining the mass exodus out of here. Good luck! You’ll need it if you’re staying here.

  6. So Rich what are you saying, Donald Trump and his followers tagged Slimy Sam’s shack.
    You reap what you sow Rich, Slimy Sam and the rest of the Blue City Screamers, AKA BLUE WOK crew think ANTIFA/BLM and the Hate America crowd worship your pink little butts.
    When the commi’s burn America down they will throw you guys on top of the bonfire pile just to see the surprised dumb ass look on your face.
    4 more years for Trump!

  7. Those who support BLM don’t know the history or the goal of BLM (according to the 3 founders). The first step, according to them, is to defund the police. The ultimate goal, according to them, is to have NO police and NO jails. They are a self-proclaimed Marxist group and terrorist Susan Rosenberg sits on their Board. She has also changed her name.

    The Mayor mentioned the businesses of minority members of our community having their businesses looted and vandalized. He should have mentioned ALL of the businesses instead of falling back on his identity politics that is pervasive in our City Council members and Mayor. They don’t seem to understand their stance is racist and discriminating in nature.

    Instead of taking a knee, the Mayor and others should have stood up and been the leader/leaders we elected.

    We feel sorry for Liccardo, but we REALLY feel sorry for his neighbors. They didn’t ask for this.

    The question that hasn’t been asked or answered is did the Mayor or neighbors call SJPD?

  8. San Jose Inside: My suggestion is that you not directly quote with attribution from private groups, unless there are overarching reasons for doing so. It’s an invasion of privacy. People expect some privacy in a private group. The reporter or reporters who are members of private groups could ask for permission to quote people (then it wouldn’t be “from a private group” rather, it would be to you) or report unattributed excerpts.

  9. I do not always agree with the Mayor. But, he and his family did not deserve this. The neighbors were threatened with violence at their homes.
    This does a disservice to those who peacefully march to accomplish change.
    “Thugs” is an appropriate word to describe the cowards who did this.
    It would be interesting to see the results of any prosecutions.

  10. Fish rots from the head. Right now, hopefully for only a couple more months, the head is an orange skinned coward who’s causing a lot of rot. What we saw described here is some of that rot. Cut off the head, stop the rot.

  11. Oh Wow, I was just looking over that wonder full photo of the neighbor hood repainting SAM’s Club House.
    Not a single black person helping out?
    Nobody’s Else’ Lives Matter I guess, NELM, even if you pander to them by putting a BLM sign in your window.
    Kind of like Jews putting up a swastika for pass over.

  12. San Jose Vice Mayor Chappie Jones has tweeted a condemnation of the vandalism at the mayor’s home a week ago.
    https://twitter.com/chappiejones/status/1301925085276594176

    Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg has expressly declined to do so in a text to me this evening, and declined to say why when I asked. In a separate text exchange with her chief of staff, he said “if she was asked by a member of the media she would certainly say it was wrong. I am not able to explain her position — it is her position.”

    Perhaps The Fly should ask Ellenberg what she is thinking? And all the rest of who have remained silent in the face of political intimidation and violence locally.

    Honestly, I cannot comprehend the difficulty in simply condemning, as Vice Mayor Jones has done, the senseless acts that detract from the Black Lives Matter movement. When did condemning violence become controversial? Why won’t our leaders speak out against it? Do they agree with the violence? Or are they cowards? Those appear to be the only choices. Maybe an intrepid journalist can get to the bottom of it.

  13. It’s because of Trump they did this? Insanity has reached another level of anti-politicall-ness and I don’t even like the guy. Because if that’s so then blame George Bush for Rodney King and Obama for Michael Brown. Wait, you just want to blame Trump and Bush, but not Obama right? It’s not the politicians who do the wrongs that cause civil unrest. It’s the wrong cops in all these cases. Maybe It was the wrongly trained ones before that. Maybe they were taught by the military, but wrongly not demilitarized before they became cops, before that. Maybe it was the wrong way their parents raised them before that. But there are way more well trained, well raised cops than those seen on TV who act professionally and don’t do the things that cause the problems that Trump didn’t. You just dont see those, for that wouldn’t be shown, it’s Good News.

  14. > When did condemning violence become controversial? Why won’t our leaders speak out against it? Do they agree with the violence? Or are they cowards? Those appear to be the only choices.

    Excellent questions, Mr. Gagliardi.

    What’s the point of “democracy” if our elected public officials are going to hide from the people and duck the REAL questions that people want answered?

    > Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg has expressly declined to do so in a text to me this evening, and declined to say why when I asked.

    And, meanwhile, the future leader of the free and oppressed worlds hides in his basement and refuses to take questions from even the most craven and sycophantic media cheerleaders.

    I would like to add to Mr. Gagliardi’s questions:

    Does Sam Liccardo, Susan Ellenberg, and the other windbags among of elected city government know the difference between Black Lives Matter, black bloc, and antifa?

    If so, please explain the differences.

    And do they know WHO participated in the San Jose “peaceful protests” and resulted in looting, vandalism, arson, and injuries to police officers?

    Sam? Susan? Susan’s clueless staffer? Anyone?

    Crickets.

    Today would be a fun day to get out all their old campaign flyers, circle the word “leadership”, and have a good laugh at how stupid people were to vote for these NPC’s.

    https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.708354755.7589/flat,750×1000,075,f.jpg

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPC_(meme)

  15. SCC Resident,
    Your ideology is based on piscine pathology? I never realized what a simple minded buffoon you are.

  16. The BLM crowd targeted Sam Licardo’s home because they perceived him to be weak.
    And their perception was correct.
    Sam why don’t you beg for forgiveness ?
    Get on your hands and knees and plead for forgiveness from the Mob.
    You are a weak and pathetic mayor..

  17. Don: Thanks for noting the crickets coming from electeds regarding the attack on their colleague’s home and the implicit intimidation. Just to be clear: I think I saw a tweet from Sergio Jimenez criticizing the attack on Liccardo’s home as well, so good for him. Ellenberg’s silence *even when asked* gives new meaning to the BLM slogan: Silence=Violence. And agreed: it is an outrage that local media is not pursuing the defeaning hush from politicians regarding this issue.

  18. @DON GAGLIARDI

    The time has passed for asking Susan Ellenberg why she hasn’t, or why she won’t, comment on the attack on the mayor’s home, for the only credible answer to those questions is one to which she will never admit. The question to ask now is what, if any, type of Democrat Party-endorsed lawlessness would she consider unacceptable. Is she, as were some members of the Kristallnacht mobs, willing to accept murder as a legitimate campaign strategy? Either she can draw a line at some level of violence or she, in the tacit manner typical of elected cowards, is ready to endorse anything.

  19. Rich Robinson asks “what has violence ever accomplished?” Let’s start with the Bolshevik Revolution. It accomplished a regime change and a system of repression that lasted generations. That’s what your BLM and ANTIFA friends are looking to replicate, Rich. Sit back, have another doughnut, and watch it unfold, Rich. If Harris is ever POTUS, if ANTIFA and/or BLM prevail, snowflake supporters like you, Ted Wheeler, Kate Brown, Lori Lightfoot, and Andrew Cuomo, will be the first on the chopping blocks. You people just don’t get it. But don’t be too sad, Rich, hardly any of you snowflakes/social democrats/progressive do.

  20. Actually, Robyn, Sam did deserve what he got, for being a cowardly knee bender to the thugs that make up ANTIFA and BLM. It should have been a wake up call for Sam, reminding him that when you give in to violence, all you get is more violence. Did you see how quickly he apologized for calling thugs what they are…thugs? He ACTUALLY APOLIGIZED to them for calling them what they are. There is sound medical evidence that proves too much bicycle riding does serious damages to one’s testicles. That’s why a bicycle seat was invented to help prevent that result. Buy one, Sam. We don’t need a Ted Wheeler in San Jose.

  21. Democrat mayors nationwide who respond with weakness and indecision can expect their homes to be attacked and vandalized in the near future.

  22. Hey, LIONS NOT SHEEP, the CDC also came out with the fact that 94% of the people who died WITH Covid all had at least one comorbidity, with the average being 2.6 comorbidities. Of the 6% who died only of Covid, the vast majority were over 65. True to form, the MSM suppressed that news. You have to dig deep to find this latest reversal by the CDC. So, why aren’t all the Newsom/Cody restrictions being cancelled, except for people over 65 with comorbidities? Because public health is not the real issue;for either of them. Total control of the population is the goal.
    Where are the torches and pitchforks?

  23. So, whatever happened to the program to obtain permission from SJ residents to use their residential surveillance footage to ID and catch criminals? Sam was a big champion of that program. Did he not join it? Is there no surveillance footage from his home or any home in his block showing the non-thugs who vandalized his home? Or is Sam suppressing his footage so he doesn’t piss off the “mostly peaceful protesters” who vandalized his home?
    We have been lucky so far that despite being governed by a mayor as gutless as Ted Wheeler, we have yet to be subjected to 100 consecutive days violence, first in the downtown, but now spreading to neighborhoods in all parts of Portland.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *