Must be the new political norm in San Jose City Hall for within the last 4 months, two City Councilmembers filed temporary restraining orders (TRO) against their constituents.
In late December 2023, Councilmember Peter Ortiz filed the request against social media blogger Robert Saenz for his accusation that Ortiz has failed to represent the Hispanic community while supporting LGBTQ causes. The TRO was granted by Santa Clara County Commissioner Johanna Thai Van Dat.
https://www.advocate.com/news/san-jose-essj-times-restraining
The case is currently going through anti-SLAPP motion.
On March 14, County Commissioner Johanna Thai Van Dat once again issued a TRO against Hai Huynh at the request of City Councilmember Bien Doan. Hai Huynh is known in the community for his charitable support of nonprofit causes.
https://sanjosespotlight.com/fearing-for-his-safety-east-san-jose-official-files-restraining-order/
April 23rd is the hearing date for both parties. In the meantime, Minh Do, Huynh's attorney, had subpoenaed San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez. He also denounced the accusations are baseless and nothing more than political intimidation and harassment.
One interesting occasion filed in the case is reported by San Jose Spotlight as follows:
".....Court filings show animus relations between Doan and Huynh started in December 2022, a month after Doan won his election to the San Jose City Council. Huynh called Doan’s cell phone to discuss a conflict the councilmember-elect had with someone who reported to Huynh. The filings don’t clarify who or what the conflict was about.
“During the call, (Huynh) used an expression that translates literally as ‘Don’t mess with my brother,'” Doan wrote. “In Vietnamese, the expression is understood to be a warning against messing with someone’s business or gang and to threaten physical harm in retaliation.”
Eventhough not specifically naming the individual, it has been speculated that the person whom Huynh defended was Phuong (Peter) Nguyen, the current aide for State Senator Dave Cortese. Nguyen is an activist in the Vietnamese community and has been a loyal supporter of former Councilmember Madison Nguyen. During Covid, Huynh took Nguyen under his wing for he was struggle financially. Huynh subsequently asked Cortese for him to be his aide representing the Vietnamese constituents.
Both RTO cases claiming security threats to elected officials are unprecedent in San Jose politics, especially when they are incited within their respective ethnic groups, Latino against Latino, Vietnamese against Vietnamese. The suddenly tigh security in City Hall under the new mayor at the start of his administration also brings a reality check on the perceived or actual violence nature of political threats in San Jose.
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