On Mon. July 29th – Stand Indivisible with Simi Valley City Councilwoman Ruth Luevanos!
(alert from Indivisible Conejo)” Simi Valley City Councilwoman Ruth Luevanos – shown here (on the right) at last week’s Lights for Liberty protest — is under vicious attack from Trump Trolls in Simi after she posted an “explainer” video about immigration policy to her Facebook page last week.
Ruth is the first Latina to serve on the SV Council, an award-winning educator who mentors other teachers, and a volunteer for both the Girl and Boy Scouts as well as for at-risk youth. She is a terrific person and colleague in our activism, and the rare progressive to hold elective office in Simi Valley (which alone is reason enough to go to the barricades on her behalf!). But these extremists are demanding a recall election (or her arrest) and have even threatened her life … all based on pure “send her back” racism and their misunderstanding of the basic facts Ruth noted in her video.”
What does “law and order” really mean?: “Even as demographics in Simi have shifted, “(Luevanos) is going to find out pretty quickly that they haven’t changed that much. It’s still a law-and-order city,” fellow Council member Mike Judge said, representing those in a city who don’t want to follow SB 54, an actual California law. “Law-and-order” fans in Simi apparently also feel free to threaten their elected officials lives. (FYI: In CA, threats of death or physical harm that cause “sustained fear” can be prosecuted under Penal Code 422 PC, even if the threatener says they were just “letting off steam”.)
The trolls are organizing to descend upon the July 29 meeting of the City Council — and we need to be there, too, to offer messages of support for Ruth and for the truth! We will organize signs for non-Simi residents, and we encourage anyone who has worked with Ruth (and/or has a strong pro-immigrant message) to speak and counter what is sure to be a horrific display of racism and xenophobia.
In the meantime, we also encourage you to flood social media with messages of support for Ruth — on pages such as her official page, “Simi Valley Councilmember Ruth Luevanos,” and the group page “Simi Valley Community Forum Simi Strong — No Rules,” where many vile posts have appeared in recent days. (A good response to the trolls is, “You can’t hold a recall based on your racism.”)
Check the comments for a few examples of the trolling Ruth has experienced so far. The next week, leading up to the July 29 council meeting, probably will be brutal — so let’s make sure the argument isn’t one-sided, and let her know that we’ve got her back!
- When: The City Council meets on will meet this Monday, July 29th at 6:30 p.m.
- Where: City Council Chamber in City Hall, at 2929 Tapo Canyon Road map,
- Agenda info: here
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 