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Downey mayor reports death threats, calls for action
Downey Mayor Claudia Frometa says she has received death threats online after being labeled the "MAGA mayor."
LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. - Downey Mayor Claudia Frometa says she has been receiving death threats online and is calling on law enforcement, state legislators and social media platforms to take action.
Frometa went public with the threats this week, saying they began after a council member referred to her as the "MAGA mayor." In a video posted to social media, she read one of the messages aloud.
"We’re going to kill her for treason," the message read. "It should have been your family who got stabbed in the library."
That second line hits especially close to home. Last year, a man was stabbed to death outside the Downey Public Library while charging his car.
"As a mother, it shook me to my core," Frometa said.
The mayor says the threats came through official city channels and that the Downey Police Department is now investigating. She says even if charges don’t follow, she wants to make clear that this kind of language is not acceptable.
"This type of rhetoric, political divisions and strife are fanning the flames of hatred and fanning the flames of potential criminal threats," she said.
Frometa is calling on state lawmakers and social media companies to strengthen protections against online threats and to hold users accountable.
"People are hiding behind screens and keyboards," she said. "I don’t want these threats to be normalized."
The mayor describes herself as a First Amendment supporter but says death threats are not protected speech.