Leaked emails from 2016 and 2017 obtained by VICE reveal that some officials in the Los Angeles mayoral office have had severe animosity for the city’s Black Lives Matter chapter. Ana Guerrero, Mayor Eric Garcetti’s then chief of staff, expressed her antagonism frequently. In one email to the chief of the Office of Immigrant Affairs that references the mayor’s work with protesters, Guerrero wrote: “I am getting annoyed by all the lefties who are making that their fucking issue of the day. Not as annoying as BLM, but getting close.” In another email from 2016, she expressed her frustration that the civilian police commissioner was associated with BLM and had discussed “structural racism.” Another official, Rich Llewellyn, seemed to suggest that it was “good” to protest against African Americans. Garcetti, who President Biden nominated to be a U.S. ambassador to India, has often been accused by angry citizens of neglecting the city’s problems with racial injustice and police violence.
