SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – A San Ramon man on Wednesday was found guilty on multiple gun charges and for threatening the life of State Sen. Scott Wiener over vaccine legislation earlier this year, authorities announced.
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Erik Triana, 51, in January sent Wiener a message through his "contact me" portal on his website which read "Vax my kids without my permission and expect a visit from me and my rifle." The threat was made under the name "Amendment, Second" and he listed his address as the Moscone Center in San Francisco, officials said.
The note was in reference to a bill which Wiener, who represents San Francisco and parts of San Mateo County, introduced just days prior which would allow minors 15-years-old or younger to seek medical care or treatment (including vaccines) without parental consent. The bill has since been withdrawn.
Investigators traced the message to a computer at Triana's place of employment in Pleasanton. Last March, police obtained a warrant to search his San Ramon home and vehicle and they found an unregistered AR-15 assault weapon with nine loaded magazines, an unserialized privately made 9-mm pistol, an unserialized pistol in his backpack with two loaded 9mm magazines and two loaded AR-15 style magazines.
Triana, a father of three, was arrested in April and charged with an eight count felony complaint. A Contra Costa County jury on Wednesday found him guilty of threatening the life of Wiener, two counts of possessing assault weapons (an AR-15 rifle and a privately made 9mm pistol), two counts for manufacturing or assembling unregistered firearms (known commonly as ghost guns), and two counts of having a concealed firearm in a vehicle. The only charge he was found not guilty of was a criminal threat of death or great bodily injury.
"While free speech is a cornerstone of our democracy and a Constitutionally protected right, there is a clear line between political discourse and threats of violence," Contra Costa County Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Kang said in a release. "The jury’s verdict in this case highlights the fact that threats to seriously harm or kill a public servant because of disagreement with their policies is not protected speech and will not be tolerated."
According to authorities, when Wiener took the stand on Sept. 6, he said the threat was unlike any he'd received before because it referenced the late Mayor George Moscone who, along with Supervisor Harvey Milk, was assassinated at San Francisco City Hall in 1978, it contained the specific threat to use a gun and Triana lived in the Bay Area.
"I'm deeply grateful to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, California Highway Patrol, and the court system for taking this death threat – and my personal safety – seriously, and for seeking accountability," Wiener said in a statement following the guilty verdict. "Death threats against public officials undermine democracy. A public official should make decisions based on what benefits the community, not based on whether a decision will get the official killed. Modern politics can be polarized and toxic, but we must never normalize or tolerate death threats."
Triana's sentencing trial is scheduled for September 29 at 8:30 a.m.
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