❓WHAT HAPPENED: Cudahy Vice Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez encouraged criminal “cholos” to defend their “turf” against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), causing a major police union to demand her resignation.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Cynthia Gonzalez, ICE, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), and Los Angeles-based street gangs, including 18th Street and Florencia 13.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The video was posted on social media recently and has since been deleted. Gonzalez is the Vice Mayor of Cudahy, a city in southeast Los Angeles County.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Where’s the leadership at? Because you guys are all about territory… And now that your hood’s being invaded by the biggest gang there is, there ain’t a peep out of you.” – Cynthia Gonzalez
🎯IMPACT: DHS linked Gonzalez’s rhetoric to a reported 500 percent increase in assaults on ICE officers and warned that federal agents would prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), representing close to 9,000 members of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is demanding the resignation of Cynthia Gonzalez, Vice Mayor of Cudahy, a city in Los Angeles County, California. Gonzalez appeared to call on street gangs to organize violent action against federal immigration agents.
“I wanna know where all the cholos are at in Los Angeles. 18th Street, Florencia. Where’s the leadership at? Because, you guys are all about territory… and now that your hood’s being invaded by the biggest gang there is, there ain’t a peep out of you,” she complained.
“Dude, [federal law enforcement] are running amok all up in yo streets and in yo city… So, whoever’s the leadership over there, just get your f**king members in order.”
The LAPPL, whose members were targeted by pro-illegal immigrant rioters after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began detaining illegals in L.A., including mass shooters and child molesters, condemned her comments. “The 18th Street and Florencia street gangs are notoriously dangerous Los Angeles-based criminal enterprises,” they stressed, noting that the gangs “rule their ‘turfs’ through intimidation, violence, and murder, and finance their operations through the sale of narcotics and illegal firearms, prostitution, and protection rackets.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has also condemned Gonzalez’s video, accusing her of encouraging violence against law enforcement. DHS linked her comments to a reported 500 percent increase in assaults on ICE officers and warned that any attacks on federal officers would be met with full prosecution. Gonzalez reportedly deleted the video shortly after posting it, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents visited her home following the incident.
The comments made by the Vice Mayor of Cudahy, CA, Cynthia Gonzalez, are despicable. She calls for criminal gangs – including the vicious 18th street gang—to commit violence against our brave ICE law enforcement.
This kind of garbage has led to a more than 500 percent increase… pic.twitter.com/c7yX0xB5o7
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 25, 2025
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.