After years of resisting subpoenas, former L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva testified under oath about deputy gangs in front of the Civilian Oversight Commission Friday.
The commission’s special counsel released a 70-page report last year describing the LASD’s half-dozen active deputy gangs as a “cancer” that has existed for more than 50 years and has cost taxpayers more than $55 million. But as recently as two weeks ago, Villanueva continued to insist that “there are no deputy gangs.”
KNX News’ Margaret Carrero reported that during Villanueva’s sworn testimony Friday, the special counsel played a clip of the former sheriff speaking during a debate with Robert Luna during his failed 2022 reelection campaign.
“‘Deputy gangs’ has become a political buzzword, and it’s just like unicorns,” the former sheriff said in the clip. “Everyone knows what a unicorn looks like. But I challenge you to name one, a single deputy gang member.”
The special counsel then displayed a picture of a unicorn, followed by a picture of Villanueva’s former undersheriff Timothy Murakami, who was accused in last year’s report of being a tattooed member of a gang called the Cavemen.
When asked if Murakami is a Caveman, Villanueva said he’s a human being with an impeccable work history. He also dodged questions about whether other top officials in his department were gang members.
“You’re still trying to pretend that deputy gangs exist, and work in the countryside pillaging and plundering,” Villanueva later told the special counsel.
According to the special counsel’s report, a captain for internal affairs testified that after a group of East L.A. deputies attacked their colleagues at a 2018 party, he was instructed by Villanueva’s chief of staff Lawrence Del Mese (himself an admitted former deputy gang member) not to ask questions about “subcultures” at the station.
Villanueva called that testimony false, saying he was too busy at the time to look into why the investigation didn’t consider the role of deputy gangs in the attack.
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Outside the hearing, Black Lives Matter activists held a press conference to advocate for justice for Niani Finlayson, who was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy last month after calling 911 for help during a domestic violence incident.
The deputy who shot Finlayson, Ty Shelton, previously killed an unarmed man during a suspected domestic violence call in 2020. He wasn’t prosecuted.
“The concern that we have is why Ty Shelton was still on the force after he shot and killed Michael Thompson,” Bradley Gage, an attorney for Finlayson’s family, said at the press conference. “The police commission is here today. We want to make sure that they recognize the problems in the department and take action so that we don't come before you again.”
Finlayson’s family plans to sue the county and sheriff’s department for $30 million.
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